Capitalism in Three Spheres

Capitalism in Three Spheres

While trying to fight against any sort of exploitation, first we must have a clear understanding of the nature of the exploitation.  Today human society is subjected to ruthless exploitation by contemporary capitalists.  Capitalist exploitation has brought humanity to the brink of disaster by spreading its exploitative tentacles into every aspect of human life.

According to PROUT, capitalist exploitation is perpetuated in three spheres – the physical sphere, which we are well aware of, and the intellectual and spiritual spheres.  Each of these types of capitalist exploitation is equally dangerous.

To solve the problem of capitalist exploitation in the physical sphere, we will have to ensure that the movement of money does not become restricted or immobile in the hands of a few capitalists.  The present economic system should be thoroughly transformed, and a comprehensive and completely new economic system should be built in its place.  In this new system money will not be restricted or immobile in the hands of a few capitalists.  The more the optimum mobility of money is kept unrestricted, the more it will strengthen and invigorate the socio-economic life of the collective body.



Intellectual Capitalism

In the psychic sphere there is a noticeable lack of motivation and effort on the part of intelligent and educated people at present to properly utilize their acquired knowledge for the collective welfare.  This is the psychology of an apathetic and elitist class who do not like to move from their privileged position to work for the welfare of the common people.  This psychology gives rise to a special type of intellectual capitalism.

Intellectual capitalism causes several pressing problems in society.  First, the literacy skills of a large part of the population are not developed.  Secondly, the socio-economic consciousness of the indigenous people is not encouraged.  Thirdly, unhealthy inferiority complexes and fear complexes influence the minds of the people so that they are kept psychically weak.  Fourthly, the intellectual and moral development of human beings is hindered, so intellectual backwardness and irrationality become rampant in society.  Finally, narrow sentiments like geo-sentiment and socio-sentiment start exerting a destructive influence on society.  Consequently, intellectual exploitation, dogmatic theories and doctrines, and religious superstition and rituals become widespread.

Intellectual inertia has assumed dangerous proportions.  Taking advantage of this intellectual stagnancy, rapacious capitalists deviously spread a subtle web of exploitation and suck the vitality of society.  Through this process capitalists are able to perpetuate their insidious rule of exploitation.

People have been loudly protesting against capitalism for a long time, and on numerous occasions have launched agitations against capitalist exploitation.  Remaining vigilant about people’s dissatisfaction with the capitalist system, capitalists have continually changed their methods of exploitation.  For instance, they have bought off disgruntled intellectuals and used them as tools of exploitation in their economic schemes.

Capitalism has always adapted to changing circumstances.  Thus we see that in different periods there have been different forms of capitalist exploitation such as feudalism, laissez-faire capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, mixed economy, multinational corporations, etc.  Today even communism, which was once a deadly weapon against capitalist exploitation, has become a blunt and obsolete tool.

Psycho-economic exploitation is the latest form of dangerous and all-devouring capitalist exploitation.  It is a special type of exploitation which first weakens and paralyses people psychologically in various ways, and then exploits them economically.  Some of the methods of psycho-economic exploitation include:

the suppression of the indigenous language and culture of local people;

the extensive propagation of pseudo-culture, exemplified by pornographic literature which debases people’s mind and particularly undermines the vitality of the youth;

the imposition of numerous restrictions on women, forcing them to be economically dependent on men;

an unpsychological education system with frequent political interference by vested interests;

the negation of dharma in the name of secularism;

the balkanization of society into numerous castes and groups;

the damaging of society by the use of unnatural and harmful methods of birth control;

placing the control of different mass media, such as newspapers, radio and television, in the hands of capitalists. 

Both intellectual exploitation and psycho-economic exploitation are great dangers to the human race today.

To counteract this threat, powerful popular sentiments will have to be generated immediately for the liberation of intellect.  For this, the first requisite factor is that intellectuals must keep their intellects pure and unblemished.  Casting aside all their inertia and prejudices, intellectuals will have to mix with the common people and engage themselves in their welfare.  They will have to assist the common people in their development and extend their support to all anti-exploitation movements.  This approach will help to root out exploitation, stabilize the structure of society and expand the intellectual standard of the common people.  Human society will move forward to a brilliant future with rapid steps.



Spiritual Capitalism

Besides the physical and intellectual spheres, capitalism also exists in the spiritual realm.  Some people neglect their family and society and go to caves in the mountains and perform arduous penance to fulfil their longing for spiritual emancipation.  Because of their selfishness, they keep spiritual knowledge to themselves and do not bother to arouse spiritual awareness in individual and collective life.  This is capitalism in the spiritual sphere.  It is ultravires to the very spirit of spiritual practices, which is:

Self-realization and service to humanity.

To a spiritualist, everything – right from the Creator down to a small blade of grass – is the manifestation of Supreme Consciousness.  The state of equanimity is one of the main characteristics of spirituality.  Without attaining this quality, one cannot establish oneselves in the supreme state, and one’s movement towards Supreme Consciousness will be hindered at every step.  In ancient times many people found themselves in this tragic predicament.

Genuine spiritual practice is the birthright of all people.  In all spheres of collective life – economic, political, social, etc. – a scientific and rational outlook is essential.  The inculcation of cardinal human values is an urgent necessity.  This is the demand of the age.  Because such higher values are lacking in social life, there are many incongruities and confusions in society.

Today there is an urgent need for an all-round spiritual revolution in individual and collective life under the leadership of a group of accomplished and idealistic leaders.  These leaders should be endowed with spiritual power, and their ideology should be based on the solid rock of spirituality.  Such highly qualified leaders are called sadvipras.  They will ensure social progress in all countries in all ages.

All genuine spiritualists will have to adjust with the level of the dusty earth inspired by the spontaneous love of their hearts.  They will have to share the wealth of their developed intellects with others to lighten the sorrows and sufferings of humanity.  Through their guidance and leadership, human thinking will take a new turn and move along an entirely new path.  The latent spiritual power in human beings will be awakened.  Through their effort and inspiration, the new people of a new generation will be armed with a bold new optimism and vision of the future, and march forward triumphantly.  

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Largest Land Owners on Earth

“Queen Elizabeth II the largest landowner on Earth.”

Well, that's mighty big o' you, madam. 

Queen Elizabeth II, head of state of the United Kingdom and of 31 other states and territories, is the legal owner of about 6,600 million acres of land, one sixth of the earth’s non ocean surface.

She is the only person on earth who owns whole countries, and who owns countries that are not her own domestic territory. This land ownership is separate from her role as head of state and is different from other monarchies where no such claim is made – Norway, Belgium, Denmark etc.

The value of her land holding. £17,600,000,000,000 (approx).

This makes her the richest individual on earth. However, there is no way easily to value her real estate. There is no current market in the land of entire countries. At a rough estimate of $5,000 an acre, and based on the sale of Alaska to the USA by the Tsar, and of Louisiana to the USA by France, the Queen’s land holding is worth a notional $33,000,000,000,000 (Thirty three trillion dollars or about £17,600,000,000,000). Her holding is based on the laws of the countries she owns and her land title is valid in all the countries she owns. Her main holdings are Canada, the 2nd largest country on earth, with 2,467 million acres, Australia, the 7th largest country on earth with 1,900 million acres, the Papua New Guinea with114 million acres, New Zealand with 66 million acres and the UK with 60 million acres.

She is the world’s largest landowner by a significant margin. The next largest landowner is the Russian state, with an overall ownership of 4,219 million acres, and a direct ownership comparable with the Queen’s land holding of 2,447 million acres. The 3rd largest landowner is the Chinese state, which claims all of Chinese land, about 2,365 million acres. The 4th largest landowner on earth is the Federal Government of the United States, which owns about one third of the land of the USA, 760 million acres. The fifth largest landowner on earth is the King of Saudi Arabia with 553 million acres. 

Largest five personal landowners on Earth

Queen Elizabeth II	6,600 million acres
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia	553 million acres
King Bhumibol of Thailand	126 million acres
King Mohammed IV of Morocco	113 million acres
Sultan Quaboos of Oman	76 million acres

Sourced from the book "Who Owns the World", February 2007


Ten Largest Landowners in US

Land Grab: Media Mogul John Malone recently became the largest individual landowner in the U.S., edging out old friend, Ted Turner.

By Monte Burke

(This article appears in the 3/28/11 issue of Forbes Magazine, on newsstands now. Click here for a Q&A with Malone.)

When asked about the source of his lust for land, John C. Malone laughs. “My wife says it’s the Irish gene. A certain land hunger comes from being denied property ownership for so many generations.”

Malone, the 70-year-old billionaire chairman of Liberty Media, has well sated that hunger. He started his land feast slowly nearly two decades ago, collecting parcels in Wyoming, New Mexico and Colorado. By the beginning of last year he had nearly 1 million acres. But in the last seven months, as property prices and the cost of borrowing have dropped, the hard-bargaining cable magnate’s land grab shifted into overdrive.

In August Malone bought the 290,100-acre Bell Ranch in northeastern New Mexico, after waiting years for it to drop to what he says was a “rational price.” (The ranch was initially listed in 2006 for $110 million, then for $83 million last year. Malone is rumored to have gotten it for closer to $60 million.) Then in February he made his biggest splash, snapping up 1 million acres of timberland in Maine and New Hampshire for a “fair price.”

With that acquisition Malone became the largest private landowner in the U.S., at 2.2 million acres, according to The Land Report, which tracks sales. He surpassed his fellow billionaire Ted Turner, who had held the title for the previous 15 years. Turner owns 2.1 million acres in the U.S. and has an additional 100,000 acres in South America.

The turnover at the top is fitting. Malone (worth $4.5 billion) and Turner (worth $2.1 billion) are longtime acquaintances and business partners. Malone served on the board of Turner Broadcasting in the 1980s and bailed out Turner’s company in 1987. In 2007, through Liberty Media, Malone became the owner of the Atlanta Braves, Turner’s old baseball team. (“I will always think of them as Ted’s team,” says Malone.) The two have neighboring trophy ranches in northern New Mexico (Malone’s 250,000-acre TO Ranch runs east from Turner’s 591,000-acre Vermejo Park Ranch.) And it was Turner, 72, who “first gave me this land-buying disease,” says Malone, when the duo flew a helicopter over Vermejo. Says Turner: “Over the years I’ve shared my experiences with John. I consider him a good friend and have great respect for him.”

So no Hatfield-McCoy here. Malone recently visited Turner, who was “down in the dumps because I still have lots of dry powder and he’s pretty tapped out,” jokes Malone. “I think if it was a race, Ted would concede.”

Turner seems happy to do just that, saying he was glad to see Malone make his latest acquisition. “We’re working toward the same goal–to be stewards of the land and make sure it’s preserved for future generations,” says Turner.

But though their conservation ends may be the same, their means differ. “Ted’s idea of tradition is to go back to pre-European times,” says Malone. Turner famously poisoned a stretch of Cherry Creek–which runs through his Flying D Ranch in Montana–to rid it of the invasive brown and rainbow trout. (He replanted the stream with native cutthroat trout.) At Turner’s ranch bison roam free over land that’s been cleared of most signs of human habitation.

Malone, on the other hand, says, “I tend to be more willing to admit that human beings aren’t going away.” So he believes that trees can be harvested without damaging the ecology and wildlife. (“I’m not an extreme tree-hugger,” he says.) He will continue the sustainable forestry operation on the Maine and New Hampshire land (purchased from GMO Renewable Resources, a private equity firm). Malone is also looking at wind-power opportunities on the property and will keep the land open for public recreation, a Maine tradition. Malone takes the same “working farm” philosophy with his western properties, like the Bell Ranch, where he raises cattle and horses.

Malone wants to “break even” on his land, but there is more than economics involved. “There’s the emotional and intellectual aspect of walking the land and getting that sense of awe,” he says. “I own it, sort of, for my lifetime.”

Like Turner, he has plans to conserve most of it for beyond his lifetime, through perpetual conservation easements. “But I’m not going to kid myself and think that 500 years from now, with population growth, that the government won’t start putting people on the land,” he says. “But at least I tried.”

Landowners

(Members of the Forbes Billionaires list in bold)

John Malone: 2.2 mn acres—With this year’s purchase of one million acres in Maine and New Hampshire, became the new top dog. Liberty Media chairman also owns property in New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado.

Ted Turner: 2.1 mn acres—Land in seven states. Strident environmentalist has more than 50,000 bison. Has begun renewable energy plant (solar) in New Mexico.

Red Emmerson: 1.722 mn acres—Runs family-owned timber company Sierra Pacific Industries, founded by father, “Curly.” Biggest landowner in California. Recently has begun placing some land in conservation easements.

Brad Kelley: 1.7 mn acres—Discount cigarette billionaire owns land in Texas, New Mexico, and Florida, mostly used to propagate rare animal species, like the pygmy hippo and okapi.

Irving family: 1.2 mn acres—Through the timber company, Irving Woodlands, the Canadian family owns forest land in Maine, most of which is sustainably harvested.

Singleton Family: 1.11 mn acres—Children of Dr. Henry Singleton, founder of Teledyne, Inc., run ranchland in New Mexico. Avid participants in local rodeos.

King Ranch: 911,215 acres—Land in Texas and Florida. Farm sugarcane, vegetables, citrus and pecans. The ranch produced 1946 Triple Crown winner, Assault.

Pingree heirs: 800,000 acres—Family’s Seven Island Land Company owns tract of land in Maine bigger than state of Rhode Island. Heirs of David Pingree, a 19^th century shipper.

Reed family: 770,000 acres—Through Simpson Lumber Company, owns timberland in Pacific Northwest.

Stanley Kroenke: 740,000—St. Louis Rams and Arsenal owner owns cattle and recreational ranches in Montana and Wyoming.

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