What do you think are the most critic issues today in the world? On a personal and on a social level.
Love
Paulo
Tradução do blog
Traducción del blog
Traduction du blog
Free eCards
Free Texts
Free Postcards
Free Wall Calendar
Virtual Exhibition
Pirate Coelho
Internet Books
Time and money and personal space
- In the space of two weeks one man can earn thousands
he can travel in taxis to the airport and eat a meal costing more than what he paid the taxi driver
who, in the space of two weeks, does not earn enough to pay his 500 £ mortgage, he cannot afford to buy a shed to keep tools in, to grow in his garden, his dream, to have the TIME to dig his garden and feed his children on healthy food…the children…who have too much time, wander through street to street and damage cars and parked taxis, because there are no green open spaces…they have all been built on, with houses that no-one can afford to heat…and there are green spaces outside of town/city which the children cannot afford to pay a taxi to, to see god’s creation, and their parents have to spend money on mobiles, and playstations so the children do not get bored in town, where they refuse to go to library or gallery, because it is boring where no-one killing each other for drugs like in the movies and on the street.
Dear Paulo,
We say, the world is changing, but not necessarly.
The taste for Power doesn’t seem to change.
Sometimes it looks like every country wants to rule, to control the world or at least try.
America, Europe, Asia etc.
- doesn’t matter who, they all want to prove they’re own right. They don’t really communicate, they don’t listen.
This is the reason why there’s war!
The need for Power is so much bigger than the need for love, the need for God.
God, love, it’s still a taboo.
Why?
Why, the more modernized the world, the closed headed it becomes?
I know that the are many people who have a craving for the better world, but it’s still not enough.
How many there should be?
There should be more and more and more every day.
When love will win over Power?
When the people all over the world will evolve to become true homo sapiens??
When we look at simple things, like a garden full of flowers, beautiful day at the park, or when we hug the person who’s closed to us, aren’t we happy?
or when someone closed to us dies, don’t we feel like there’s the end of the world?
Shouldn’t we concentrate more on people, on love, on life, on these special moments when we feel like we’re.. in haven?
There might be a haven on earth if.. we really wanted it to be!
“Life is short,
you better slow down,
the music won’t last….”
love and peace
Agnieszka
I think many problems are not comparable and equally important in today’s life. It is really hard to pick a single one and call it the most important.
I think poverty, war, and global warming are very important problems that cannot be really compared. One can think of many other important issues.
For me the most critical issue is the social distance between riches and poors, everyday bigger … how to change that ? I pay properly my assistant and others that work for me - is it enough? I don´t think so. But I don´t aggree that giving people things help them. It´s better to teach them how to fish …
There are countries where the citizens deserve the making of a stable and responsible government. There are people in countries that are suffering from violence, have nothing to eat, or have a place to live. All the groups who want to govern their country need to get there act together and do something for the people, these groups need to forget about power and focus on developing and harmony.
Most Critical in my opinion is the desire to find Peace and Love. Wars are a result of this, Hate, Evil, Sadness, Loss, Loneliness…folks are searching for Love and many have no clue that it’s missing.
Today I think we are walking too far away from community and towards individuality. Everything seems to lead us to “be the best” at any price.
I agree with Gregory Caine,on the issues.But people do not know the difference any more between needs/wants on a personal level. Control is at the root of it all…and greedy goverments..Blessings Tania
PS I meant to say thanks for asking - I was multi-tasking trying to put kid to bed
We have hope
whilst we have dreams
and the more we fight for our individual dreams
the stronger the warriors become
and we will not put up with these injustices
LOVE
all ways
xxxx
I think more should be made of the similarities between religions rather than the differences. I have sometimes needed to refer to another’s religion to understand my own better. I’ve sometimes found the wording in another’s religion a bit easier to understand and ultimately it illuminated what my own was trying to say. There is a poster at one of our hospitals where the one point being made by each religion in their own words - it makes you realise how at the heart of it its all the same.
Likewise how you can have so many different cultures but when you see a mother with her children, they often play with them, laugh with them in the same way throughout the nations. Makes you wonder why people think they are so different from eachother when they really aren’t. I wish people would stop arguing about stupid points of difference.
More should be made of the destructive nature of those 7 deadly sins: Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. I think attention to these would help repair the divide between rich and poor etc.
Kathleen xx
For me, the greatest issue that the world is facing today is indifference. This is truly the opposite of love. By neglecting others and just focusing on themselves, everything evil just follows, greed, selfishness, war and the like. When people would only stop and think, start thinking about others first before oneself; that’s the greatest trait of our Lord Jesus Christ and by making their life deocentric “God-centered”, the world will truly be a better place.
Kirstin
p.s. I love agnieszka reply. I totally agree.
One of the most important issues in the world today is to convince ourselves and others of the infinite power Love has. Love can solve any problem, can heal any wound as it is the most powerful and yet the simplest “weapon,” the shield we all need for protection!
Love is flowing everywhere but we don’t feel it. The greatest conquest is to be able to feel Love with our hearts, to convince our minds to surrender to Unconditional Love.
We torment our souls with worries and fears, coming from anxiety and hatred. But we alraedy have the solution: Love, that love which enjoys life every single moment, emphasizing the good things and forgiving everything else!
We are afraid of a fatal cataclism or of destroying each other, but love has already solved all these. When we allow Love to pour the divine nectar in our souls, the world is saved, we are saved! Good things never disappear; maybe they seem to fade away because they are not always under the same form but everything evolves, we evolve.
The whole world needs more and more people to believe, to feel the blessings of Love overcoming all obstacles in order to become a great place to live in!
In the Light there is enough room for every soul, abundance is infinite for God, for the Spirit.
We are blessed but we don’t realize that very easily. This is the great challenge: to believe and feel joyful, enthusiastic and hopeful!
In essence, human beings are very simple. In a way or another everyone wants to be loved, but we should learn how to love too… :-)
With respect and appreciation,
Carmen Larisa
The great challange of our time is for people to discover ….what does it mean to be human….And how to relate, not to hide behind power, fear or function. The humanity has to discover how we can live together with our different kind of cultures, religions, colors and experiences. Essentially it is also a work for justice and validation based on this. People who is “weak” in the eyes of society, people with different kind of disabilites/difficulties, elder people, people who are immigrants or refugees - has the right to find a place where they can live a life in diginity with who they are. And be seen as a source from whom we can learn from - and not a burdon - with a price on.
A danger today is that we have all the schools and universitys where people can have more knowledge in order to have more power. But the question is.
How do we find the source - where we use our competens and understanding - for the common good, for the people, for humanity?
So we need different kinds of places/schools/invirements- which helps people to come out as individualls…..in our different kinds of practial, artistic, emotional,verbal, fysical, social and intellectual capacity….
Many doesn´t find the meaning in their lifes. From an early age. They doesn´t find the coherence- they are searching and are/ feel - needed for. They doesn´t find a place where they can reveal their dreams and gifts and are wanted and accepted and understood. The symtoms of this - lack of meaning - in many peoples lifes - causes symtoms. In the emptiness and inner void that needs to be filled. Somehow. And that leads many into the destruction. Within the power of drugs, violence, or sex… ..and the hunger for Money and power/control. Which creates more of a value - towards the things/objects/status - around - us - than a value towards - ourselves and our planet. The trademarket with human beeings is a symtom of that. And is important to fight against. Trafficing, prostitution, children beeing used and abused, etc etc etc…….It is important to find the root to the ache, though. We use very much of our resources to deal with the symtoms. Which of course is very important. But we seems to forget too often. To also find the way….. To the roots. And the causes.
In love and respect/Ninni
ya, it’s very difficult to pick one amongst all those problems we are having globally.
to my opinion, the most one - is that,
people are loosing the God’s grace called - AWARENESS.
loosing that one, loosing everything.
I remember one dearest friend of mind, passed away 2 days beofre the day he promised me to come to see me and my baby, back in dec 1999, he said, it is important to have Awarness.
Having it runnung in ourselves, keep us away from troubles, having less difficulties, and making others around us happier, even though they might feel pain at the beginning. or even us - who have awarness would feel a lot of unconvenient and sadness and difficulties at the begining. but when one realize it fully, no regret will ever came into one’s heart.
i am sure of it.
with it, i always keep this dearest friend of mine, Benny, in me.
(dedicated to Benny Sekundiatma - died 21 Dec 1999 in a motorbike accident)
Regards,
Liany
Freedom.
Freedom from norms, cultures, anything.
Human soul is crying, it is weeping, trapped in a mortal body. It needs reassurance that it is immortal.
Fear of Death, fear, pressure, incapability to express, acting when one wants to explode–all our goodness are hypocrisy, we offer a seat to a lady not because we are sympathetic, but because others will say we are impolite. And why we are not sympathetic? because we are selfish, too caught up in our own small issues that will never have a solution.
Freedom from money, from clay, from bondage, from economy. We really need it.
Short question, short answer:
a) on a social level: To develop and to increase without damaging neither ourselfes nor our environment.
b) on a personal level: To develop and to increase without damaging neither ourselfes nor our environment.
Environment means everything that is around us (people as well as nature).
The world is perfect!
I love it!
Many years ago, when I was a little girl, my father wrote in my ‘memory book’ that we should always remember that the world does not revolve around us, but that we are all part of the same world, each of us playing our part in keeping it turning.
We lose sight of who we are as part of the whole when we think too much about ourselves, when we focus on our own needs before those of others. We forget that to love is to put others before ourselves, that sympathy is not enough, but that empathy might just make it. To put ourselves in the place of the other person, of other people, we may begin to understand - and to act on that understanding - in the best way that we can.
For me, this rings true whether on a personal basis or for society as a whole.
Dear Kathleen
I also agree with You -
we should concentrate on our similarities not indiferences between religions or any other issues.
Everybody should remember that:
There are many paths that leads to God!
but - there’s only ONE WAY - THROUGH LOVE!
because GOD IS LOVE!
and
the more open we are, the more we can see,
the closer we get TO THE LIGHT.
love
Agnieszka
P.S. Dear Kirstin - thank You
Unequal distribution of resources. The huge gap between rich and poor.
Governments and people who abuse power, gaining it for selfish reasons rather than for the greater good.
I think there is a lack of a universal realization of what the greater good is… including love, dreams, personal legends, self-realization, treating your neighbor as you would like to be treated, helping those who are less fortunate, etc.
Also, the manipulation of society through television, magazines, etc. Things that tell us what is important in life instead of letting us decide for ourselves.
I really agree / admire all the above comments. For me, Poverty, Global Warming, Gap between the have and have not is the most critical issue we are all facing todays. But, we all can contribute something and be a part of the solution.
all the best,
rAj
The most critic issues today in the world were fully defined and described in a poem entitled “The Paradox of Time” by an Unknown Author. Here it is…
The Paradox of Time
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life; We’ve added years to life, not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space; We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; We’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice; We have higher incomes, but lower morals; We’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are the times of tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or to just hit delete…
Author Unknown
The most critic issue for me is the blame game, which extends to both our personal and social lives.
We have stopped caring, whether it is for our own country or others, we just want more and more and never really care about what we are giving as citizens and as another living being.
We all blame governments, systems, religon,and others but has anyone of us looked deep inside to find out why is everything the way it is?
we are the government, the system, the religon and the others…correct yourself and trust me we will have a better place to live and a fabulous place to go to when we die.
Correct yourself
best wishes
amna
We put price to things and forget human values, act as society wants us to do it and don’t think about what is the best for all that is around us. You talk about love, but nowadays that word means in many cases to get the most expensive present… you talk about green, without thinking how much money someone can earn building blocks of flats… or a better road, because it means “progress”. I think that is a funny word… we advance they say, towards what? In my poor opinion, I think that even if we can send rackets to the moon or wherever, we are going backwards destroying all that is really worth.
Remember Babel (has just come to my head), God wanted us just to spread and grow, think what just not to be able to understand a languaje means. People say that we mature with ageing… but as small children we want to be the owners of “the true”, the best in everything even if we have to step on one or two that are on our way. What matters a drop of water or another country? We want to have our swimming pool and that country is on the other side of the world, it doesn’t affect my “now” and my “here”, I’m a doctor and it is not important if I like my job or not, when I go out, “the other” respect me… for what I do, not what I am…
Hi Paulo !!
Goodevening !! according to Indian Time..
I read all the comments and thoughts above and i do agree with them.What i think the most critical issues on personal and social levels are still ( in almost all developing and underdeveloped world) the big question of -food and shelter .Condition of girl child is miserable in most places. Unequitable behaviour towards women despite saying otherwise..
i dont want to sound like a feminist , but still the basic issues even today are same as they were a 50 yrs back.Empowerment of women is required more than anything else.
want to say a lot but i think this much should do .
hugs
Ranjana
It is apparent from the above comments that many people have strong opinions on the, in their view, terrible state of affairs of the world.
To your mind, has the world been better before? If so, when and why?
The most important issue today is to come together as a PLANET- to realize that we are all ONE, that we are ALL LOVE and that POSITIVITY pushes people in the right direction…We must surround ourselved with LIGHT and fight for IT without violence, without strife….We are ALL made of EACH OTHER…..We are all made of LOVE…..The quest is to get LOVE out more and to push through the fear of communicating LOVE- to ourselves, to others, to the PLANET….
ALL LOVE=cat
On my MAC desktop, I have a “stars eye view” of our beautiful blue planet. This perspective, confirmes something that I have believed for a very long time….we are both insignificant and significant at the same time. by this I mean that we may think that we individuals make no difference at all to what is going on in the world, VERY WRONG, we make ALL the difference and all it takes to solve the problems (or challenges) of our time, is for us ALL to see it that way. I have said this before, we cannot continue to take from this world, without giving something back in return. What right do we humans have to eradicate entire species of animals through our recless behaviour, to polute the worlds oceans, rivers, fields, forests, mountains. Let’s ALL start sharing the responsibility, instead of leaving it to the few. We have to watch the birth rate too…it’s the quality not quantity that counts. Let’s all control our EGOs. Love to you all, Paul x
Bonjour Paulo,
Pour moi, le plus critique se résume à “un monde de communication qui ne communique plus” car on confond beaucoup ce qu’on appelle de la “Com” et en france, on a un président expert en la matière…
On oublie le principal dans ce mot “communication” et le principal c’est la relation humaine…on oublie l’humain au détriment de l’information uniforme et surtout de commercial à tout prix…
On parle de fracture sociale et de fracture numérique. Moi personnellement, je crois que beaucuoup ont compris comment utiliser ce monde de communication à des fins moins nobles que le simple contact humain et que ces manipulateurs augmentent la fracture sociale…
Je crois qu’il faudrait créer un groupe de résistance pour contrer ceux qui détournent les moyens de communication pour leurs fins personnelles et transmettre avant qu’il ne soit trop tard aux générations présentes et futures le vrai sens du mot communication, celui ou c’est le coeur de l’humain qu’on veut toucher pour l’encourager dans sa beauté unique et pas pour le manipuler ou toucher seulement son porte monnaie…
Bien à vous
Patricia
Dear Yza
This is Great!
Where did You find it?
It’s the truth, and nothing but the truth!
:-)
love
Agnieszka
Actually there is something above all that for me personally really gets to me and that is the abuse of children whether it be physically, sexually, emotionally. I can’t handle vulnerable children being hurt. Vulnerable people in general being hurt but especially kids.
Kathleen xx
Thanks, Agnieszka
Yes - we can do it
LOVE
we can do it all
all is love
we will see it
we will all see it
we will see it all
we were born in love
and if we lose something
we take a moment to go back
or turn around and look
and we pick up where we left off
to be who we were
before we allowed things to distract us
not to realise we are what is missing
blessing to all
xxxx
Dear A.V.C.
I know you would say, there always was hunger, there always was war etc.
but for me, as I wrote before, the more modernized the world, the further we go,
the worse it becomes.
Now we have everything, all kinds of THINGS,
but actually we don’t have anything.
I remember when I was a kid, the values of life were deeper, better.
Kids were playing with each other outside - doing simple things, not playing on the computer etc. The adults had more time to be with them, to talk to each other, not just to watch TV,or DVD.
People were much more open than now, more happy.
They had time to go for a walk, to the park.
They concentrated on each other more.
Even the food was healthier, tastier.
Life was simple, yet beautiful I guess.
:-)
love
Agnieszka
A wise man once said, “No man is an island, entire of itself”…these words have a special meaning today on a global and personal level. Human beings do not thrive when isolated from others; happiness mathers when shared with others.
Poverty > now is the time to join with other countries in a historic pact for compassion and justice to help the poorest people of the world overcome AIDS and extreme poverty.
A pact including such measures as fair trade, debt relief, fighting corruption and directing additional resources for basic needs - education, health, clean water, food, and care for orphans - would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries.
visit http://www.one.org
Dear Paulo
My field is international security. But rather than focus on state security, I have always chosen to delve deeper into the realm of human security.
Be it trafficking in humans, poverty, population movement, domestic violence, rape, forced labour, drug trafficking, the selling of organs or even our food trade, one singular foundation emerges; inequality.
so much injustice in the world is based on inequality. if you speak with many of the ‘realists’ of my field, they will tell you that inequality must always exist, as it is an axis for the international arena. apparently it is this inequality that strives individuals to grow.
The gap between the rich and poor, the powerful and the weak, the criminal and the victim however, does not need to be so large.
With this is mind, I would suggest that on an international, societal and even individual level, inequality is amongst our most critical issues. This inequality enables human injustices to occur in unimaginable ways.
Christina
Ranjana, I totally agree xx
(I’ve tried posting this answer on your Facebook, but not the whole thing could fit in the limited space there, so I thought I may as well post it here, since it regards the same question. Regards, Katarina)
Dear Paulo,
On every level people are getting further away from people and that is true for societies and for families alike. Communicating has never been easier, yet our thoughts and deep feelings are seldom offered. We have forgotten to take time to listen and share, alienating ourselves from people closest to us. People live with fear of being judged, because they are judgmental to others, so they decide to stay quiet. Not to mention that people even don’t recognise honesty any more.
Sure this is so easily corrected. Instead of playing a role for every single aspect of life, we should trust our nature more. Everyone likes to feel a friend and if we offer our true self people will respond to sincerity. We shouldn’t stop. Because for every five that don’t have time or haven’t yet found an ability to see and feel without being directed and told what they are seeing, feeling and believing – there is someone who will understand it, and whose life will not only be touched for a moment, but someone for whom that moment will be a cherished memory or even a defining moment in their life.
It’s worth loving others. It’s so rewarding to know this inside our souls. To some of us loving comes naturally, because it is as instinctive as breathing, but it can be learned. And the only way to teach the others is to love them.
World has a chance only if we get closer to each other.
Thank you so much for accepting me as a friend here.
Your words are truly a reflection of who you are.
It’s an absolute honour to feel even closer to you than your books have always made me feel.
Love,
Katarina
I believe the most critic issue is to pursue your dream. Few people i believe do that. But Only then i believe your life can be full of joy and contentment. I had a discussion just yesterday with my father who was trying to convince me that to follow my dream, to become a musician, is madness and that leaving my computer engineering studies and a future in his company for an uncertain future - in his mind - is idiotic and i will understand it after a few years if i become more mature.. i am 23 years old…
i guess what i am trying to say is to embrace our differences, because even nature is full of differences and yet so beautiful!!! we all can be so beautiful if we become who we trully are. If we accept and love who we trully are. Dare to be different and you ll make the difference, in your life and in others’.Only in this way will we make a difference in the world, if we fill in the great gap in our soul and find a great meaning in our lives
Love to all of you,
Annie
I agree with you all that the world has become worse then what it was in our childhood…but I will say the same thing, we have all agreed to live the way we are, start with yourself;
lets take enviornment today; all of you who have given your comments above, lets pledge today, not to use plastic bags for a week.
lets see if we can atleast stick to this habit.
Life is beautiful, and best wishes
amna
Hopi elder’s Prayer (extract)
“You have been telling the people
that this is the Eleventh Hour,
now you must go back and tell the people
that this is THE HOUR….”
we have moved too far away
from what we truly are
our essence is Love
to Know this
is to Know our True Self
to see the Light that shines within
to see and to Know that this Light
shines within each and every soul
for then who is the other?
it is a time of Transformation
we must Become the Light
we must Become the Love
beyond the mind - the body - the thoughts
otherwise all is Illusion
and we become lost in the Illusion
it is Time to wake up to the Reality
of what we truly Are
“….
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
Information Overload, Empathy, Nationalism, & Consumerism.
Nationalism and consumerism both create the illusion that meaningless differences are important. Canadians are not innately better than Americans. Nike shoes are not innately better than Asics. Humvees are not innately better than Ford Explorers. They’re all different, yes, but not necessarily better, and many people have a hard time making that distinction.
Empathy enters into it when meaningless differences prevent you from being able to feel for someone, because you believe them to be significantly different from you.
Animals don’t speak english, but they breathe and have children. Who’s to say they don’t have feelings? We have more commonalities than differences, when compared to chimpanzees. Why don’t we empathize with them more when their forests are destroyed?
There’s just too much to care about these days. The internet floods our senses with input. If we cared about every wrong we read about, we’d be immobilized. It’s a sad state of affairs… but there’s always hope.
Simplify your life. Buy less. Create fewer differences. Try to read positive media. Try not to judge people. Try to get to know people. Knowing without preconception leads naturally to understanding & deep empathy.
Personal issues, I feel, affect the social crisis in a massive way. The most disturbing aspect in my own personal view is that it starts with oneself (yes a cliché, but it does). I find that there is hardly no accountability in the world today. Its always pointing the finger. No body takes responsibility and everyone is looking at winning to benefit the self. When some ones wins its almost guaranteed some one has lost. and in that way there is compromise, some one always loses.
The food crisis is blamed on the power hungry, the power hungry blame the west, the west blame ignorance…. and so on.
Claiming responsibility and holding oneself accountable to the issues and dilemmas will create the opportunity for solutions and creation of wealth. In turn integrity is at work.
Be unreasonable and challenge, know the consequences and accept them. Acknowledge the outcome and take responsibility.
Keep it real
Dan
Dear Agnieszka and Amna,
My parents claim that “the world” was better during their childhood too. I have always wondered what they based their view on.
To be concrete, what standard are we really talking about here, and during what years would they have been prevailing? Did they apply all over the world during these golden years?
To further exemplify the problem: we often refer to the “dark middle ages”; but I assume that your view of the better world was later than this?
All I know is that the universe never moves backwards.
Dear A.V.C.
Please read Yza’s - “paradox of time”,
it might help. :-)
lots of love
Agnieszka
Paradigm
In this life and on a very personal level, the greatest social issue is that I am less than social. Living has allowed me to grow cynical to the point of not wanting to be corrupted by society anymore. What I see I don’t like and the reasons that these visions before me are so abhorrant lie in the erosion of society.
Circular devestation is generated within the structures of society and personal priorities are lost in the whirlwind.
Parents are no longer parents and ergo the adults of the future will be less willing to assume the role of parenting or have the capabilities to do so because the role modelling was both distorted and absent.
We are within the generation of excess, collusion and self. The big picture is revealing a divide - a chasm between western lifestyle and human existence of greed and selfishness. Enterprise and global communication combined with the superficial needs of our so called society has made us lose touch with how and why we came to be here, and what we really can survive on. Loving and nurturing have been replaced with busy - ness. How can that not be the greatest social issue of our time?
Dear AVC,
I definitely dont belong to the middle ages dark or bright.
There is no scale for deciding which era was better or whose childhood was in better times, but both your parents and I atleast had a carefree childhood, atleast my parents wouldnt freak out when I spent hours playing out in the park, trust me the kids nowadays atleast cant do that in my country…
So i think i can say that i had a carefree, enjoyable childhood.
Every thing we do at a personal level affects society,
thus the social level.
My most critical concern today is that PEOPLE IN CONTROL of the MEDIA particularly TELEVISION, the GOVERNMENT particularly PUBLIC GOVERNANCE for the People, the JUSTICE System particularly the so-called Administrators of the Law, the ECONONY particularly the CAPITALISTS,& INVESTORS… DO NOT CARE ENOUGH.
Their Primary Focus is on making wealth for themselves & their empires or dynasties; accumulating personal power and all the glory that go with it.
It is really good that we have Warriors of The Light,
writers like Paulo Coelho, artists, musicians,the Meek & the Humble who are AWARE that the Best Things in Life are still free …and who continue to make us believe that there is still Hope & Love & Faith to go on with our Life on Planet Earth.
Dear Amna,
I am glad that you had a carefree, enjoyable childhood, I did too.
I merely question whether that tells us anything about the state of the world today. After all, our planet has existed for some billions of years.
I think the critical issue in the world today is understanding the difference between need and want. Think about it, when was the last time you actually needed something that you wanted?
Often times we get so focused on what we want we neglect what we need. People are paying $400 for a PS3 when they are also struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table.
We all spend far to much time worrying about what others think of us, trying to keep up with our neighbors and advance our status in society. This leads to jelousy, deceit and resentment, which are the root of almost all the conflicts in society. If we tended to our personal needs, those things that strengthen our body, our mind, and our spirit, there would be no reason to compare ourselves with anyone else. We would be happy with who we are, and also happy with who others are and not just accept, but rejoice in our differences.
Hi all
Us you can see we all have an answer for this question and it make very happy to know that many of us feel like this, everyone is correct in his or hers own way.
Saying that we need to realize that we all have a responsibility to do what is necessary to change the word and make it a better place.
We also need to continue to do what is right for all human been, animals and our planet.
I leave you with this line from a Warrior from the past:
As a great Warrior that still alive in many of us today say: Be the change that you want to see in the World. (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi).
IF
and equilibrium
Hi Paulo,
I feel that all world problems find their roots in the hostile emotional world of the average human.
If the average human being is hostile, the society he builds will be hostile.
The average person has an extremely high amount of violence inside of him, the evidence of which can be seen in spontaneous violent mobs, lust for violent video games, violent sexual games etc.
The biggest issue in the world today is the human’s total lack of interest in introspection and WATCHING his actions, watching the CONSEQUENCES of his actions.
The biggest issue is the thrill the average human gets out of fooling others.
How can a society go on, if its average citizen is hellbent on fooling everyone he comes across, hellbent on manipulating everyone and the entire system?
Vikram Madan
Dear Paulo,
On a social level:
Materialism; although this may not sound very original, if you think it trough it’s the root of many of our planet’s problems. Poverty, destroying the earth’s environment, wars and so on…
On a personal level:
I don’t know how to summarize it; but you mentioned this problem in ‘The Witch of Portobello’. It’s about the structure of today’s society. The ant colony theory of Edna’s master. I guess it’s a more of a problem on a social level…but to me it feels very personal as well…Reading that was such an eyeopener to me..It was like:’Yeah, that’s what I felt all these years, why it was so hard for me to fit in or find my way in this society workwise. For you to acknowledge that feeling was beyond great…
I really hope that this ant hill will slowly crumble…let’s all do our part…
By the way, the world is wonderful, the problem is that we complicate things too much.
If you don’t believe me, go out for a walk and take a look around you ;)
Completely agree with Chus,
If one strives for a change into positivism, one cannot be negative about the lack of change.
If you want to see such change, be positive.
To my view the world is, has always been, and will always be, nothing less than perfect.
I think Gun Crime is the main concern for the world now, every year in america, more than 11,000 people are killed by guns !!!!
It is also a rising problem in my country, britain, it needs to be dealt with, we have even earned the nick name “Little America”
And what about greed?
Tom, I remember when my children were small, all our friends used the tv and videofilms as babysitters, I hated it and didn’t want that to my children, today there are DVD’s; Play Stations and things like those. Do you know what children play with? what kind of things do their heros do to win whatever? I see what you’re talking about as a matter of education, parents work too much and teachers feel that it isn’t their problem.
Differences create envy and hate, a world of big people and small people where the big “have everything” and the small “see up” to them, not with admiration but hate.
You all have to excuse me… I talk to much!!!
Love to whoever reads this ;)
Dearest Paulo and friends,
I’ve been very much a silent observer, watching everyone’s comments over this week.. I don’t now why but i haven’t felt the need to write much, until now. With everyone’s opinion’s we have covered the majority of the problems in the world, from poverty, to AIDS, to inequality, and even a lack of love. For a very long time i saw all these things as challenges to change, or even help people to change, so that we all live in a better world. Over the last few months, i’ve begun to see that maybe the world is perfect. If you think about it, throughout time every age had its challenges, and as soon as it was delt with, another one came about. Why is that? The only answer i could come up with is that, these things have to exist. For as we all stand up to these challenges, dreams are created. Besides, good cannot exist without bad. Bad things happen, they happen everyday, all around us, somethings can be prevented, others not, but nevertheless, they happen to us all. But you know, good things also happen. They happen everyday, all around us, and we just have to remember see them. We should be grateful for that and strive for our dreams for each one of us has the power to make a difference in our own lives. The way i see it, this week’s question is incomplete. As much as it lovely for all of us to discuss how the world is becoming and how worrying it is right now, which most of you feel very strongly about, we should rather be focusing on how to fix it. I mean lets take poverty for example, what are you doing to help? When last did anyone help someone hungry on the street? I’m not asking that any one person to rid the world of poverty, thats not possible, but rather for you to make a difference where you can. If everyone here, does his or her bit, for any problem, the world would be better..and even poverty could be sorted. And as for love.. Before we ask others to love more, have we asked ourselves, do we really love? Maybe our feels of lack of love is a reflection of ourselves. Do we love the most we possibly can? Do we love ourselves completely? Do we love everything and everyone? I think we should all look inside of ourselves and make ourselves better people. I think if i see AIDS as a problem, i should help fight against it. I think if i find poverty is a major problem, i’ll help the next hungry person if i can. I think we should stop worrying about how imperfect the world is, start seeing that it is perfect, and that we ourselves can make the world better simply by starting to perfect ourselves.
Thank you for being
Yajna
PS Paulo, i recommend that you ask how everyone would fix these critical issues that they’ve mentioned.. Who know’s, maybe alot of good will come out it, that might actually change the world :)
I honestly think..its that people don’t care any more, to what is happenning to other ppl as long as they are ok..
selfishness, is what is the matter with the world.
the most critical issue today, bothe on social and personal front is man’s disconnectedness from himself. due to the toils of our previous generations, the world is in a position of surplus now. oppulance is there but because of the ‘greed’ which again originates from man not knowing himself, unqueal distribution results in hunger even now for millions.
then there is information overload, which does not let a man rest.
the most critical issue on which everything else hinges is that man has no time for himslef, to fathom whether all that one does it really worth it. it’s high time meditation be intoduced everywhere, in shools, colleges, offices, even parliamnets. the qulaity of action emanating from a mediatative state of being, can be a great boon.
We’re giving in to adult hood. Forgetting the magic of fairy tales, games, cartoons, believing… We’re trying too hard to believe in something greater than us…so hard that we’ve forgotten the great in us. Forgetting the magic in our hearts…
Dear Yajna
That’s what brought me to write about believing in the first place.
You try, you do your best, you love and love and love,
and help when it’s needed, and still it’s not enough.
Yes, I do help when I see someone hungry on the street.
Some things cannot be fixed by one or even 100 people.
It will help a little but that’s not enough.
I also think that we should do it anyway,
not thinking if someone else is doing it,
because if I do it ,
you do it,
he and she does it,
then there are more and more everyday
and so on.
I also see very much that WORLD IS BEAUTIFUL,
but when you asked what is wrong - you answer.
I love life, I love people, I love everything around me, every little flower, I love sunset, I love sunrise, I love every moment in my life,
and most of all I love God.:-)
But as a human being - I have moments,
moments of doubt, even if there’s only a few in a whole year.
But they pass and I go on believing, go on loving,go on living, go on dreaming.
I believe the most in one thing - LOVE HEALS.
love to all
Agnieszka
To fall in love!
What does it mean?
Will flowers be so beautiful
If not for the sun?
Will love be worth anything
If not for the other man?
love
Agnieszka
Yajna, very well said.
that people forgot compassion to one another is pretty critical already but that they are afraid as well make it harder.
Late but to think: Striving for fulfilling matherial values. Everything seems to be commercialized - advice, clean water, free time activities. Because of posessions we are losing the connection to the others and also our inner voice. Catched by things, the money-language did not make us happier or better, but created selffishnes. No time or use to speak to those we might not need for something, no time to do something just for pleasure, no time to share our inner wealth and gifts. There is no use to discuss about differences - there was and always be huge diversity among people - but the money-just-for-money attitude keeps us blind and insensible to those who most need our attention.