What Happened?

Many of us are seeing our financial foundations crumble as the economic crisis continues. How did we get here, and where are we headed?

Most of us are experiencing a very difficult time. Our financial system is literally crumbling, and our personal assets are disappearing before our eyes.

The world’s leaders are really not sure what to do about it. It seems as if the whole foundation on which the world has stood has suddenly slipped away. People like you and me are shaking our heads asking, "What in the world happened?"

How did we get into a situation like this? How did gas get so expensive, not to mention food, health care, and everything else we depend on to survive? Is there any politician we can really trust? Should we or should we not be fighting the wars taking place all over the world? Is our government really one “of the people, by the people and for the people?”

The Bug in the Program

The wisdom of Kabbalah asserts that everything taking place in our world originates from the program under which we operate, a program that is very simple: How can we get the maximum amount of pleasure for the minimum amount of effort? It is the E=mc2 of everything we do, determining our thoughts, aspirations, priorities and goals.

But here is the “bug” in this program: it’s a never-ending loop. We keep searching for greater and better pleasures, but we are never satisfied, so we never stop searching. It’s as if we were running on an endless treadmill all our lives, hopelessly trying to satiate ourselves with more food, money, power, respect, knowledge, and whatever else we can find.

At this point, our world is moving so fast, we can’t keep up. Our houses and cars keep getting bigger and bigger. Vacations have to be farther from home and more exotic. Even doing something as simple as purchasing a bottle of barbeque sauce takes forever because there are so many choices! Ironically, most of our lives are spent taking care of our “stuff,” or chasing the next fleeting pleasure.

If we take these things into consideration, is it really surprising that CEOs of companies want more and more, even to the point that their greed takes the entire company down (and other companies along with it)? Should it be surprising that accounting firms tell lies because they do not want to lose the income from the big account? Or that our politicians are only concerned about their own precincts because they desire to be re-elected?

The Needed Shift in Human Consciousness

Kabbalah says that as long as we continue to live in a world where we consider only ourselves, this is as good as it gets. If we do not change, we will continue to experience war, greed, a failing economy, and other troubles that we see all around us.

Although we mostly tend to ignore it, the world around us is not a pretty sight. It is never comfortable to look at issues that are unpleasant, but this time, it is vitally necessary. Until we can clearly see what it is that’s not working, there is no way that we will be able to correct it.

Here is an illustration of how our world is presently functioning. Simply imagine your own body. Suppose your heart decided that it did not wish to share any blood with your kidneys, and your feet did not want your body standing on them. Suppose your lungs refused to share their oxygen. Obviously, your body would not last very long.

This is the way our world is functioning. It is polarized. Each country, as well as every individual, is concerned only with its own interests. Our states and cities only care about their own inhabitants. Our politicians care only about advancing their own agenda, as does the healthcare industry, Wall Street, and (as much as we don’t like to hear about it) each and every one of us.

Today, it is becoming evident that we have to start working together. However, it won’t happen by creating more and better social and commercial agreements with each other. Instead, we have to treat the root of the problem: change that selfish program inside us, driving us to think only about ourselves no matter what the cost to the entire system.

Living during these times requires an overall shift in our consciousness – from separated individuals to interconnected “cells” of one, mutual body. Kabbalah explains that one way or another, we will have to undergo this shift in human consciousness. However, instead of letting our present crises escalate and leave us with no other choice, we can implement this change willingly and pleasantly. And if we do so, the next time we ask, “What happened?” the world will look completely different.