World Problems
The solutions

We have spent a fair bit of time understanding world problems. Now it is time we balance this problem focussing approach with a focus on world solutions. What is the emerging picture of the solution we see today?

How can we solve world problems?
Here are the essential steps to consider and implement in your life in order to solve world problems starting from the individual level and working your way to the society level:

Individual

Learn to forgive and love yourself. This may sound funny, but this is the first crucial step to solving problems in your life: yourself.
All world problems stem from human beings interacting with each other and the environment. And as one great man said, "There is nothing good or bad, only thinking makes it so" Therefore human beings and the way they think contributes at least half of all world problems.
To change your thinking, ask yourself, "Do you love yourself?" Do you see the positive things in yourself and the things you have to contribute to everyone else? If you haven't been positive about yourself, forgive yourself now. There is always a reason for the way you have been. Once you understand the reason, forgive yourself and you will be able to move forward.
Now can you see how beautiful you are as a person? Yes, you are a unique and special person. If you are comfortable in yourself and who you are, you have already solved the first and most important problem of all: you!
Congratulations!

Learn to forgive everyone around you and love them for who they are. To forgive and love people requires you to look at the positive qualities in people and to realise the limitations and reasons other people have in solving problems in their own way.
Stop dwelling on the negative things you may see in others or people will never learn and you don't move forward and improve yourself. And don't think about the negative things other people say about you. It is their opinion and that's their problem. Remember, you have the power to be whatever you want to be.
Just bear in mind we are all drawing on limited knowledge and understanding of how to solve problems. And some people may also be lacking in love. Forgive them and love them for their positive qualities and nothing else. Forgive them as they do not know what they are doing. Your decision to let go and forgive all the people in your life that have not been doing things in a positive way will give you a great sense of freedom. You will feel the weight come off your shoulders.
Now you will be able to think and work on more important, relevant and positive things in life.

Balance everything you do right now. For example, if you socialise a lot, try to find time to be on your own for a while. If you are on your own a lot, find some friends and have a friendly chat. If you spend lots of time studying, go out and have some fun. If you are a construction worker everyday, try something creative like dancing, painting and/or singing. Don't worry if this is not the "manly thing to do". If you are worried about what other people think, then you need to start balancing this by learning not to worry about what other people think. Who cares what they think, especially if it causes no harm to them or yourself.
In fact, ninety-five per cent of the time people are not thinking about you. And even if they are, who cares? How people think is their opinion. Don't worry about what other people think. It is your thoughts that matters most and how you think about yourself everyday is more important and it should always be good. You have the power to decide what you want to think and eventually want to do. Your thoughts and actions today is already the future you want to see become a reality.
And, if you balance things, it will be a better and more balanced future for you and everyone else.

Part of this balancing act also involves facing your fears.
Do you have a fear of something? This is the first indication of some form of imbalance in your thinking and could be one of the things stopping you from balancing yourself. Okay. Start tackling it head on. Understand it. Ask why? What is it that brings the fear? Is this a justified reason to be fearful? There is always a reason for why something creates fear within your mind. Perhaps its a defence mechanism because you think you will not survive because of it? Or sometimes the thing you have a fear of is in fact the one lacking in love (ie. it has its own defence mechanisms). Well, train your mind to understand how this something has the right to exist as you do and how it defends itself. Tell yourself you are not afraid of it. You know how to handle it. If anything, show love towards it by respecting it and learning everything about it. See how not interfering with it can be a form of love. Or if you must interfere with it, show your love. Appreciate the beauty of this thing you think is fearful. And if the something ever tries to harm you irrespective of your efforts, you do what is necessary to deal with the problem in the most positive way you can. If it can't be solved in any rational way, be prepared to attack it at least in your mind until you get to the source of the fear. Your mind may try to give the sensation of pain. But ignore it. Push beyond the false pain threshold created by your mind. Your aim is to give yourself the power to control the situation, not the other way around. You need to know how to solve your deepest fears in a rational and creative/visual way because this is the first step towards knowing how to solve problems in a more balanced way. Show that you are in control of your mind.
NOTE: Use this technique to solve simple problems such as the fear of spiders or understanding differences in people in terms of their cultures, race and ideas.

Next, start educating yourself bit by bit. Greater balancing of your thinking and the ability to face any fear begins with education.
Use education through reading, writing and visualising to help you understand any problems you have or see around you. Don't worry if you can't understand something straight away. Look at different sources for the same type of information. Find sources that are easy to understand. Look at the pictures. Visualise and see the pictures. You will observe a linking together of these pictures to create the bigger pattern. Don't know how to read? Don't be afraid to ask other people to help you. Let people talk to you. Let people give you the skills in how to read and understand the words. All you have to do is listen, visualise, remember and ask questions. You will be amazed at how quickly you will learn.

Now comes the physical needs of your body.
Look at what you need for your body to survive. Ask yourself, "Do I need to eat those Tim Tams everyday?" Tim Tams is a want, not a need. You eat it because it tastes nice and you may use this food to help overcome emotional problems or stresses of the day. If it is nice to eat, try to find a healthy substitute? Because a healthy substitute is likely to give you more nutrients to help you better cope with stresses and make you eat less food. Remember, through education you can learn to find healthy foods. Or see your doctor or dietician for advice. You can, over time, understand how healthy foods can help you to solve problems.
And if you do have an emotional problem, why? Start solving the emotional problem in a balanced way and with love without resorting to food as the solution. Or talk to someone, such as a psychologist, or a friend to help you understand the source of this problem.
As for eating in general, should you eat a lot or a little? If you know you are overweight (as confirmed by visiting your doctor), learn to control how much you need to eat. But don't try to measure the amount of food and cut back on it as much as possible. Otherwise you could suffer from a condition known as anorexia. Or the body may suddenly gain weight too quickly when you eat normally.
You need long-term weight control.
It is okay to balance the situation by letting the body eat what it needs. But find foods that are slightly more filling (reduces hunger), has less calories (ie. won't make you fat), has less fat (to reduce your appetite to eat more food) and contains greater amounts of nutrients and protein (the body learns to stop craving for more food when the nutrients and protein are available). The more healthy your foods, the less you will eat over time. And the more your weight returns to a healthy level and stays that way for a very long time.
But don't get overly focussed on your weight to the point that you don't love yourself. Learn to love the person for who you are (fat or thin). Demand the love from those closest to you to accept you as you are today, or look elsewhere for someone who will love you as you are. Choose your friends to be the ones who are supportive.
By loving yourself, you will always be happy with your body weight and shape. And by eating the right types of food and moderate exercise will ensure your body will look and feel better over time.
Throw away magazines promoting unhealthy images of people who are clearly too thin or too fat. Choose a balanced approach by accepting who you are and eat and exercise sensibly.

Food is just half the problem solved for your body. You also need to exercise. Because the solution to certain problems will require some physical exertion on your part. To tackle problems head on and solve them, you need a body to be strong enough to cope with the physical demands of solving problems set before you.

Also, as an individual, you need to look after your mind. Read positive books (psychology magazines, romance stories etc); socialise; find time on your own to think, listen to music and etc; avoid watching violent films and so on. Where you find problems, search for positive solutions in everything you do. Eat healthy foods and exercise for a healthy brain. Then relax and get plenty of sleep.

Society

Now that we have dealt with the more pressing individual issues, we need to tackle society.
The first thing you will encounter in modern society is the massive focus on making a profit.
Don't blame, or get angry with, people for choosing to make profit their life's work. Part of the problem of modern society is that our survival is tied so intimately with making money that it becomes extremely hard to break free from this system. And once people have worked hard in making a profit to solve their survival needs, they may see the value of earning more and more money because they can get more and more of what they want (eg. a bigger house, a boat etc).
However, as with any want, there is a cost. And often a high cost. This could be due to limited resources to make the thing we want. Sometimes it is the profit mentality of those other people who make the thing we want which we must deal with.
Not everyone can afford having what we want.
And environmentally it is not desirable for everyone to have what they want. There is just not enough resources on this planet to give everyone all their wants. As Ghandi once said, "There's enough for everyone needs, but not enough for everyone's greed."
Also, by staying in the current economic system with increasing human population and dwindling resources unless there is complete recycling and greed of others selling the resources can be controlled, the cost of the things we need will increase.
At some point in the 21st century modern society will have to introduce a new non-economic system: one that will focus on the environment. It will involve recycling and making everything we need at very low cost or freely. The system is likely to be managed by retirees spending half their super funds and in getting governments to contribute half the old age pension to building small houses for the old people. This is followed by infrastructure changes to the environment to ensure adequate trees, shrubs and areas for growing food and protecting water supplies will be integral. Young people (especially the unemployed) can join to help volunteer in growing foods, looking after the environment and keeping old people's homes in order in return for free food and own roof over their heads.
To ensure everyone contributes to the non-economic system but without turning into slave labour for any young individual or group, young people should spend no more than half a day on a particular needy task as agreed by the community. The other half of the day should be given freely for people to spend doing their own thing of developing skills, learning something new, socialising, meditating or simply relaxing and thinking about things. Or be creative and develop new ideas.
Governments should also consider building a small communal complex having recycled computers (with the latest internet software and install older commercial or freeware software to alloy creative minds to write stories, compile personal knowledge etc) and unwanted library books (classic novels, educational material for young people such as encyclopedias) to permit everyone to read, learn and develop new ideas.
As for older people, they too must contribute to maintaining their own gardens, grow their own vegetables and plant where they can new trees and shrubs. This means old people who want to retire to this non-economic system must have a minimum level of physical health and fitness to perform the tasks required.
Should young people want to achieve other things and need access to other resources, getting a job in the economic system will remain important.
To prepare you for the upcoming new system of the 21st century designed to balance society's focus on the economy and making money, you need to consider the following question, "How much money do I need to survive and achieve things?" For example, do you need to climb the career ladder to earn $100,000+ a year from your job so you can purchase a Ferrari when a small Honda hybrid car or Smart car can do the job just as well? Or why not walk, cycle or take public transport to get to your destination? Could the extra money saved help you to achieve more goals more quickly and in a balanced way in other areas? If you can earn lots of money, don't be ostentatious. Try to be modest. People don't need to see how much you have got. What's more important are the things you can achieve for the good of society.
Worried about what other people think if you don't show how rich you are? Again don't worry about what other people think. Money should not be a social status symbol. Let them think whatever they like. You are the one in control of your life.
If you do earn lots of money, what will you do with it? How will you make this world a better place to live for everyone and every living thing on this planet?
Don't have enough money? That's fine. You are in a better position to know what you need. At any rate, this could be one of the problems you may have to solve. Or perhaps you have found an alternative way of living that doesn't require making money (eg a New Age permaculturalist)? At least you are still contributing to a better society by helping to control climate change through the plants you grow.
In fact, your skills in solving the problem of making the things you need without money could be highly regarded in the new non-economic system of the future.

Do you want to stay in the economic system?
Okay. Do you have a big mortgage to pay to a bank? Well, we have to come back to the question of needs and wants. Do you really need to pay for the big house or apartment in the middle of a city? It depends on whether you believe the extra money earned from selling it is important for your retirement because you intend to keep on living in the city or wish to live a seemingly rich and lavish lifestyle elsewhere (ie. stay in the economic system).
But do you need this extra money to retire on? Can you live in a smaller house away from the city and focus on solving a different set of problems such as looking after the environment and helping a community of people to grow food? Moving away or choosing a smaller house will reduce your mortgage significantly. Will a tree- or sea-change be better for your family and the environment?
Or do you feel like a real challenge by going for a cactus change and see what you can do to change the desert-like environment to a more plant luxurious environment?
Now that's an extreme sport!

To influence businesses in the economic system to do the right thing, select the products and services you need to survive which you believe are friendly to the environment and causes the least amount of harm to animal life. Choose natural products. Look towards more organic foods. Choose products and services that are energy efficient and uses the least amount of resources to achieve something. Look for durable products. And are the products fully recyclable? Get enough consumers to do the same and it becomes a powerful way of pushing businesses towards a more balanced approach to producing products and services for society.
It may be true for Sir Walter Raleigh to say, "Whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world and hence the world itself."
But as Dame Anita Roddick said in her book Take It Personally:
'Don't underestimate the power of the vigilante consumer...'

Having trouble finding permanent employment when businesses are more interested in making a profit? Is your boss more interested in minimising your salary and maximising your multiskilling skills and yet wants to make your job a casual or temporary position (to give the boss the power to sack you at any time)?
Alright. Maybe it is time to look for more balanced jobs with long-term potential and security for yourself and society. Which jobs are likely to be around in the next century or two or longer? Information technology could certainly be one area. Education is another. Health is important but the pay is usually atrocious unless you are a surgeon or experienced doctor. But soon the ability to look after the environment and grow food will be better regarded as a critical job of the future.
And if you really want to make a lot of money, management and being your own boss is clearly the way to go. Just so long as you ask yourself, what useful thing can I do with this extra money that will help society over the long term and make this planet a better place to live?
So educate yourself to acquire the skills and knowledge to perform those jobs and make the move.
Alternatively, create your own business. Talk to people. Get advice. Find something you can make or gather and sell to others which people would need and find useful to have. Find something that is aligned to your ideas of a better world. Choose something that creates the least amount of world problems as possible.
Or if you have land in a rural place and enough water, grow your own foods and build your own house. Only take another job if it helps you to purchase additional things to help achieve your long-term goals more quickly. Otherwise, learn to live a sustainable life recycling all the foods and deriving energy from renewable sources. Rely more on books for education rather than purchasing a TV. If you need a TV to achieve your goals, go for a laptop with a digital TV tuner or access the internet for new ideas and ways of getting yourself to think. Power to run the devices is much less than say a plasma TV screen. And a laptop is better for educating the mind than passively watching continuously something on TV. It again comes done to you taking control of how you want to think and solve problems and not relying on others to do the thinking and solving for you.
NOTE: The alternative to our modern economic profit-motivated world is to grow your own food and be self-sufficient. In fact, this will have to be the road our economic society must support at some point in the 21st century. Not only because it reduces the burden on governments to pay for health, roads, aged pensions, unemployment benefits and just about everything else (may not be good for businesses, but it is time profit is kept under control and look for different products and services), but it will be important to solve the climate change issue. Then, one day, when society is sufficiently advanced and sustainable in its population and all its resources, it should be possible for you to choose something you wish to contribute to society beyond merely growing food. Society should then be able to support you no matter what. And it doesn't matter if you don't have time to grow your own food. Society will support you. No competing interests from businesses or governments, no need for security, no big secrets to stop others from achieving their own goals, everyone supports one another to achieve the goals everyone wants to contribute.
Want to know how to contribute? Your education will tell you. Or think for yourself. Just so long as you follow a path with a heart, because your contribution must be positive for others.

After doing all of this, what is really the goal you want to achieve in the world before you die? Find the ultimate goal and work towards it. Don't make it impossible for you to solve. But don't make it too easy either. Challenge yourself. But make sure what you do will help to solve world problems, not add to it.

Beyond our society

Are you worried about growing old and dying? Don't. We all have to go through the experience so don't be afraid. There are things you can do to prolong your life and to get through this moment we all have to experience. For example, stop smoking and drinking or taking in unhealthy substances. Eat healthy foods. Exercise a little more than you do. Do something that makes you happy but is healthy. Find someone to share in your positive experiences and will work towards achieving your goals. Find people who have similar or the same goals as yours. Develop relationships so that you don't have to think about the inevitable. Love from others can help you to cope through life. And when death comes, it will be easier for you. Learn a religion and understand the grander scheme of life and the universe. Understand the cycles of life and death. Start to realise death is not the end as some L-brain people often make it out to be. See it as an opportunity to start a new adventure, a new life. And if that life is to be filled with love and hope, show love and hope in your current life.

On this idea of a possible return to a new life, what will you do to help the poor and destitute right now? Because who knows the person you may become in your next life — will you be poor? Among the things you can do to help the poor is avoid buying things you want. Unless it helps to achieve your life goal (and only if there are no alternatives), choose the things you need and there will always be enough for everyone. If you earn extra money, invite a poor family into your house and feed them, help them by educating their children, show that you are always available to help them in times of great need. Show there is no such thing as poverty. It's all in the mind. Rich people can still be poor because they are alone or don't feel loved by other people. But poor families filled with love and hope are rich people. Everything else are physical things we don't always need. The material side of things is not what makes us rich. It is our knowledge, and our love for each other that makes us rich.

Dealing with those wanting to maintain the status quo

And while we are on the idea of helping people, the ones who need lots of help are the people described as "R-wing" (in psychological terms, the L-brain types). These are the less-imaginative people who are trying to run the show and dictate show things should be because it makes sense to them and it is familiar to their beliefs. And it helps them to stay rich and powerful. These are the controllers of the economic system.
Apart from the few R-wing types in the US military who have a reason to maintain the status quo because of their big secret (and currently being broken), most R-wing people are afraid to change. They are afraid they will lose so much after earning so much from their businesses and dealings with other people when surviving and now getting what they want.
Everyone deserves the love and knowledge to know everyone will survive in the new world order where there are no secrets to be kept from others. And no one's survival should be at risk. The changes we do now and into the future, if not profit-motivated, will be to improve the lives of everyone and all living things.
It is a question of whether we are able to focus on our needs, and avoid the wants we simply don't require.
So break whatever secret R-wing people may be holding from the world. And show to these people how everyone can live in peace and happiness in the new world order.

As for a final few words to cap off this research topic about the human mind and world problems, remember to believe in yourself and your ability to change the world.
Governments and business professionals may say they know the answer and convince you to buy this or that, or join this group or that, or make babies and build a family, get yourself into debt such as a mortgage thinking it will solve world problems. But these people don't have the answers to everything. They only suggest this because they think money and jobs will solve everything. The reality is, it won't. Firstly the jobs themselves have to be aligned to long-term and socially beneficial areas such as growing foods, recycling, education, caring for the elderly and sick, better and more efficient technologies etc. The money is merely an incentive for you to do the jobs so you can reward yourself with the food you need to survive and perhaps to have what you want.
And if that money is not enough to pay for things, it no longer is seen as a reward for your hard efforts.
When you have the right education, you are the one who will have the answer. And change the way you see a problem by changing your thinking. Problems only become problems when you choose to think about them and in the same way as everyone else.
Sometimes you have to think about the problems in a different way, because eventually certain problems will come back to you and affect you in some way. In which case, you need to find balanced solutions right now beyond anything suggested by businesses and governments if you want a permanent and positive future.
If, at any time, you should become aware of these problems (perhaps as a result of seeing suffering in the world, or you have a fear about something, or governments and businesses create the problems) do something about it. Solve the problems head on.
Because in the end the world will be a much better place to live for everyone when you solve problems. All you have to do is recognise you have the power to solve any problem set before you. For it is the human brain that gives you the power to solve anything.
And when solving problem, show how much love the solution can bring to all living things. No solution is great unless it shows true love.