Day 23: EGOnoMic Brainwashing - Mimicking the Egos

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that if I read and study economic textbooks -- and am able to regurgitate the information perfectly – that this means that I know how economics works and should work

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that the economics within textbooks as provided by the official institutions are only but a fraction of what is possible in terms of economics within this world

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to base my knowledge and information on what I read within books and on the internet only – without actually looking at the reality of the world – as otherwise I would have been able to see that the grand, complex, sophisticated theories have little in common with the actual real world

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not critically look and investigate what I read and what is being taught to me – revealing to me the extent to which I have been brainwashed to simply accept what is fed to me through the education system, an education system which is not best for all and thus will not teach a human how to develop critical thinking skills for the advancement of a world that is Best for All

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to investigate the material I read and draw correlations from what I read to what is happening in the real world and thus realise that our current world economic system is not one that is best for all, but only one that is best for itself

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that the current world economic system only targets growth in terms of production and consumption – without looking at whether all human beings are actually provided for

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that an Equal Money System will never work as it goes against everything I have read in my textbooks

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to – just as with reading my economy material – not really actually study the Equal Money System material and actually see the implications that come with it

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that an Equal Money System is unachievable because I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that “this is the best we can do” – where the best we can do is putting a few people in position of power, influence and wealth while a majority of the population starve and suffer

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to prefer not having to change and not having to do the effort to actually look and investigate alternative solutions – as I was lucky enough to be part of the “few” and so from my stand point nothing needs to change as I am being taken cared for and I can afford to ignore all the suffering from others – without seeing and realising that the same luck could have put me in the position of the majority and that this is thus not a viable reason as to why not to change the system

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that there is a way higher chance for me to reincarnate as  a poor person than there is a chance for me to be born as a rich person or middle class person – do I want to take these odds?

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to resist and fear an Equal Money System as I perceive it to be a direct threat to my current status which I believe I must protect at all costs – which only reveals my true nature, which indicates that all I care about is myself and everyone else can go and suffer as long as I have my piece of happiness

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to separate myself from all other beings in existence

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that I would not want to live the lives of the majority of the population on Earth – including animals and plants

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that it is in fact dishonest to claim a life for myself which cannot be afforded for everyone equally – and where my claim to this type of life is in fact at the expense of the majority, where I cause them to live lives that I would not want to live

I commit myself to study and investigate economic reading material critically in fact – and investigate whether what is being said in textbooks is in the best interest of all life – or not

I commit myself to release myself and others from the belief that “this is the best we can do” and within that I commit myself to show that we CAN do better – we just haven’t pushed ourselves to do so – as currently only those people can make a change in the world and have an influence which already have Money, and they are the ones living the comfortable lives – if the poor had the means and access to push for change, they would have already done so – and thus it up to those who have money to discipline themselves and PUSH for change – as those who are less fortunate have no way of doing it no matter how much they want it

I commit myself to show that what is written in economic textbooks is not in fact common sense as 1 + 1 = 2  -- but consists of some private personalized mathematical system which only serves those who already have money and rejects those without our little money

I commit myself to show that our current world economic system is not in fact designed for humans but is designed as an entity which is only concerned about keeping itself alive no matter what the costs are while a few can reap the benefits of keeping this entity alive

I commit myself to show that an Equal Money System is in fact what is Best for All and should be implemented asap

Day 21: Consumerism: Exploit Thy Neighbour for Thy Self

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that it requires four to six hectares of land to maintain the consumption level of the average person from a high-consumption country -- while the Earth is not practically, physically able to provide this for everyone -- where two decades ago we were at a point where there were only 1.7 hectares of ecologically productive land for each person  -- and within this I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to design an economic system which supports a sustainable life style and not a life style which only sustains a few in abundance while a majority suffer and starve

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that capitalism in its present form can only work as long as we keep on producing, selling and consuming – and within this I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have defined terms such as “growth”, “prosperity” and “advancement” within the limited framework of how much a society is producing and selling

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that using concepts such as GDP and GNI to measure and indicate economic prosperity within a society only reflects the success of the society as a consumer – not as a society of living beings

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created an unsustainable economic system of over consumption of the few at the expense of the majority where the few rich will prey on the land of the weak/poor and seize their resources for the personal gain of the few, leaving even less for those who need it most

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that within making consumerism/consumption the sole purpose/reason within one’s life on earth we are in fact misusing and abusing the earth and it’s natural resources to satisfy a fantasy which cannot be fulfilled – as there is always more to consume and newer things to buy – in fact contributing to poverty and hunger as resources are ineffectively and unequally distributed to those with money only

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that our consumption lifestyle is moving land ownership into the hands of a few – where large corporations take over and swallow smaller ones resulting in job losses and the migration of people to the cities looking and hoping for better jobs which results in more slum areas, health problems, increased crime etc – or where in the case of agricultural takeover, the landless will move to less arable land which may conflict with wildlife, or moving into forests causing deforestation and disturb the natural habitat of wildlife – all as a ripple effect of our consumption behaviour and need to buy and have more

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created and imposed an economic system within this world which promotes consumerism at all end – which results in millions of acres of land being misused and directed towards non-productive luxury  goods for the wealthy while millions suffer and starve in a world of plenty

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world economic system where food and basic essentials are produced conditionally – and that this condition is MONEY – and if you do not have money you cannot have these essentials – which is in fact a crime to Life

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to tell the poor to do as I do and step in the footsteps of globalizations if they want to be “lifted up” into the world of consumerism – where the belief is held that “it worked for me, so it must work for you” – without seeing and realising that the reality of consumerism came about through acquiring massive amount of resources – resources which were not local but which were taken from other societies and people – those societies and people who are currently poor – where the rich took it upon themselves to Exploit Thy Neighbour for Thy Gain – which implies that if the poor should follow the footsteps of the rich, they should invade the land of the rich and take what it is they need and place the rich in an inferior position –  only reversing the roles – which is obviously not a real solution as it merely switches the tables around without in fact changing the problem with a solution that is Bestfor All as Love Thy Neighbour as Thyself

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to consider the outflows and consequences which follow from a lifestyle of consumption – as consumption is linked in with pollution and if we consume at a unsustainable level we produce pollution at an unsustainable level  -- revealing and showing how the human has placed more value in money as energy as delightful experiences within the Mind at the expense of the Physical Body as the Earth suffering the consequences of our idiocy

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that saying to poor people that “they must do as we did” is within this physical reality with the current available resources impossible – as currently 86% of the world’s resources are being consumed by the world’s wealthiest 20% -- implying that if everyone consumes at this level we need several more planet Earths which are non-existent – proving again the unsustainability of our current accepted economic system and lifestyle and showing that it is a system that is doomed to fail as it does not consider all Life in anyway whatsoever

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to abuse the position of the poor for the gain of the rich through migrating high pollution industries to poor countries with lower environmental standards as they will do anything to have more money circulate into their economy – while the rich can continue to abuse and waste at unprecedented levels

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to hide and cover up the harmful conditions within the world through pollution stemming forth from consumption as any increase in disease and decreasing health results in higher sales of pharmaceuticals which provide jobs and create a new form of consumption – creating the idea/belief that a society is doing better as the GDP of a country is growing while all the while living standards are declining but these are not taken into consideration as all that counts is the success and level of consumption within and through which we have defined our value as life – which is not Life in fact but a made up illusion to keep us trapped in a zombie state mode in order to not question our reality but keep us on track in our chase and Pursuit to Happiness which is never-ending as an illusion can never be achieved and made into something real

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that Wars in are in fact waged to protect and maintain our lifestyle of consumption – as our level of consumption is unsustainable inevitably leading to the depletion of resources – where societies will fight and kill one another over resources needed to satisfy our consumption compulsion – where wars are waged for resources to be exported to the West such as coltan which is a substance needed for computer chips to function

I commit myself to change our current lifestyle pattern of consumption to a lifestyle pattern that takes into consideration what is Best for All and the designing of an economic system which is created within the consideration of REALITY instead of ILLUSION and which is actually sustainable which can provide a lifestyle which is obtainable and sustainable for ALL on Earth

I commit myself to expose the consequences and outflows stemming from the Evil of Consumerism and the impact it has on the majority of the population here on Earth

I commit myself to expose the mathematical inconsistencies within propagating and promoting consumerism as THE ULTIMATE LIFESTYLE for ALL – as this is practically unsustainable, where the promotion and promise of this lifestyle is what is keeping millions enslaved in the hope that one day they will ascend into the world of Consumers and Consumerism while this is not practically possible and is merely wishful thinking – which keeps the masses from questioning the current economic system and how it does not in fact consider and provide for everyone in a way which is Best for All

I commit myself to designing and establishing a sustainable economic system which takes into consideration All Life, as plants, animals and humans and not just the monster called Consumer

I commit myself to expose the extensive abuse done unto Earth as the Physical Body we all share in the name of consumption and the pursuit of happiness

I commit myself to expose how the policies and suggestions of the rich to the poor are unsustainable and impossible to the core – as the existence of the rich is in its very foundation dependent on the existence of the poor and as long as we allow a world where some live in abundance in the pursuit of happiness there will always be the other side of the coin where the majority live in scarcity and dismay

I commit myself to expose that a Life of Consumption is really not a Life at All but merely a life of a pre-programmed robot following its every impulse without for a moment considering who it is or what it does and how this affects others

I commit myself to wake up Consumers so they may cease being Conned and Mesmerized by Consumption and live a Life in consideration of what is Best for All

See:  Anup Shah, Effects of Consumerism, Global Issues – for more information

Day 8: Consuming Children as Commodities

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to blame economic theorists for treating children like consumption goods or commodities within their theoretic models, while empirical studies actually show that this truly is how parents make their decision in terms of having a child or another child - where children are treated as any other consumption good.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise the implication of this point; that parents plan to consume their children in order to obtain personal satisfaction.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that a child is not something to be consumed and that the decision of having a child should not rest on the expected satisfaction I'll be able to derive from having a child.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that having children has always been selfish - to fulfil the parents' life, to gain more satisfaction, to have a feeling of accomplishment, etc - without even considering if you would want to have yourself as a mother or a father - only ever considering my wants, my needs, my desires.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise the craziness of the current economic system where the whole system spins based on individuals attempting to satisfy their wants, needs and desires - up to the point where children are but another way of attaining a sense of fulfillment.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to be abhorred at the idea of child trade, where children are traded like an item on a market - not realising that in the very decision to have a child, a parent does the exact same thing, treating a child like a commodity, where a parent tries to answer the question of how much the child is worth to them and what they're willing to trade in order to have a child.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that making the decision to have a child in this way, is actually supporting the manifestation of child trade in this world.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to value everything and everyone within my world and the world in general in terms of how much I'm willing to pay for it and how much benefit and personal satisfaction I would be able to obtain from it - always making value-judgments from a self-interested perspective, not realising that life is inherently valuable, independent of me.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to be surprised when the actual experience of having a child is disappointing, while this shouldn't come as a surprise because an expectation was created based on a desire in terms of how well the child would 'quench a thirst' within self and in the same way where if we buy something it is always expected to be 'more' than what the actual experience is of obtaining, using or consuming the good, where we eventually get tired of the item and want to move on to something more exciting - the experience of having children won't correspond to what we had expected.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that if I make the decision of having a child based on how well the child will satisfy my personal wants, needs and desires, I shouldn't have children in the first place - because the actual experience of having a child will be nothing like what I had expected it to be - yet, contrary to stuff that you buy and get tired of after a while as using or consuming it doesn't provide you with the same amount of satisfaction that it initially did - you can't just toss children in the garbage can or bring them back to the shop for a refund.

I commit myself to the redefinition of the word value, where value is no longer defined in terms of the expected satisfaction, fulfillment and gratification something will yield me, but stands in relation to the value of life itself.

I commit myself to creating a world where the decision to have children will no longer be limited and determined by money.

I commit myself to educating parents and prospective parents so that they may see and understand that children are not just commodities with which to fulfill oneself, but are actual beings that require your support and your assistance to develop themselves as effectively as possible to be able to live a fulfilling life of their own.

I commit myself to show how humanity has accepted and allowed children to become part of the definition of life that has been presented through consumerism as that which is acquired through money as but an external representation of completion / fulfillment / purpose for the individual that give the individual an experience of completion / fulfillment / purpose, where having a child / raising a family has become but part of the consumer's process of the pursuit of happiness which is the pursuit of acquiring goods / things such as a home, a car, a husband / wife, an education, a bank account, a retirement plan, a vacation home, a lifestyle, a social group, so that one can view one's self in comparison with others as having accomplished the 'building of a life' -- where, in this process of the pursuit of happiness as 'building a life', one was so consumed with consuming the pursuit of happiness / building a life that one lost sight of the fact that one brought into this world a living being that had the opportunity to grow into the best possible human it could be that could take responsibility for this world -- an opportunity that was stolen from the child by the parent when the parent passed on the pursuit of happiness / acceptance of the consumerist system to the child.

I commit myself to stop accepting and allowing myself to consume life in my own pursuit of happiness, and stop accepting and allowing everyone else to consume life in the pursuit of happiness.

I commit myself to show how through the media in movies, TV, commercials, life is presented as the pursuit of happiness as the accomplishment of building a life through consumerism and that this presentation / definition of life is used to brainwash humans to occupy themselves with the pursuit of fulfilling a picture in their mind of what life is, to distract them from the abuse that goes on daily in the name of profit for the few.

I commit myself to show how the human allows itself to be brainwashed by the media to occupy itself with feelings of accomplishment and achievement through consumerism because it is too afraid to stand and stop allowing abuse - and to show how the parent then passes on this pattern to the child, producing another consumer engineered by those who abuse life in the name of profit.

I commit myself to value Life instead of the pursuit of accomplishment as it has been presented to me through the media / consumerism as the acquisition of goods.

I commit myself to re-define accomplishment as the creation of a world that is best for all, and to give a world that is best for all to my child so that my child can fulfill its potential as a responsible being that cares for life.