It is plenty clear that our society is not working as well as it should. This pictorial essay explores some of the factors that affect our society and the reasons for sluggish and peculiar behavior that makes our progress very difficult nowadays.

1. What Is Wrong With Our Society?Well, Let’s See! Laertis August, 2011 Laertis Proprietary 2011 1

2. Kim Kardashian Ties the Knot The reality star marries basketball player Kris Humphries before 440 guests in Montecito, Calif. Julia Stiles: 'Dexter' (the horrible TV Show) Murder Scenes (are) Surprisingly Enjoyable Laertis Proprietary 2011 2 AOL 1st Page News on 8/21/11

3. Libyan Rebels Launch Attack on Tripoli Heavy gunfire and explosions rattle capital as the fight to overthrow Gaddafi reaches a critical moment. Plane Crashes in Canadian Arctic Laertis Proprietary 2011 3 AOL 2nd Page News on 8/21/11

4. Bristol Palin shows off new body art Woman swears off mirrors for a year Lindsay Lohan's hippie-style flub Gay country singer weds girlfriend Urban Outfitters sued over racy photos Laertis Proprietary 2011 4 Other Important Headlines For The Week

5. Major Stock Market problems Possible Double Dip Recession (Some people believe we never got out of recession) Foreclosure panic High unemployment Dysfunctional Government Huge Debt that can devastate our civilization Nasty wars and famines in several places More violence in the Middle East Laertis Proprietary 2011 5 All That Happening In The Midst Of:

6. Albeit the wrong kind! They went from “Let the sunshine shine in” to “Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on your way out” Laertis Proprietary 2011 6 Side Note: The Baby Boomers Are Exiting With A Bang

7. One cannot focus on the serious news alone because things are very depressing and can have negative affects on the airheads among us that cannot deal with stress. But having 14 out of 16 headlines address “fluff” is not exactly doing our society justice or helps to focus the energies of the nation on the right things Laertis Proprietary 2011 7 We Fully Understand That:

8. The Debt? The Wars? The Economic Malaise? The rest of them? Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes to all of them Why then can our Government focus on them? Because the problems they have created are bigger than they can handle! Laertis Proprietary 2011 8 Is It Important To Focus On:

9. Because focus sends the message to our alleged leaders of what is important to us and what our priorities are as a nation. With headlines that are full of fluff the subliminal message is that we all are complacent idiots that do not care what our leaders do or decide for us. No wonder those clowns have no sense of urgency. They think that we worry more about the Kardashians than our terrible situations and troubles Laertis Proprietary 2011 9 Why Focus?

10. Laertis Proprietary 2011 10 No Wonder We Got These:

11. Bad leaders (it’s ancient Athens all over again) A complacent public A harebrained press that highlights useless stories and ignores the vital ones An entertainment industry bend on glamorizing, the weird, abnormal, bizarre, shocking, scandalous, and even disgusting stories that have no value and no merit Laertis Proprietary 2011 11 The Roots Of Our Problems

12. Laertis Proprietary 2011 12 Who Would Have Imagined It: Our Worst Enemy Is Our Own Government!

13. Laertis Proprietary 2011 13 Here Is How The Government Fixes Things: … and don’t forget how well they have ran Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, USPS, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and everything else that they put their hands on

14. Laertis Proprietary 2011 14 At Least Some Cartoonists and Comedians Have The Right Perspective

15. Laertis Proprietary 2011 15 More Humor

16. Laertis Proprietary 2011 16 And Some More

17. Laertis Proprietary 2011 17 At Least We Can Laugh At Ourselves As We Are Going Down

18. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it! When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation Laertis Proprietary 2011 18 Moreover, Many of Us Have Wrong Ideas About Society. We Don’t Understand:

19. Laertis Proprietary 2011 19 And The Wrong Ideas Do Not End There! Here Are Some More:

20. Laertis Proprietary 2011 20 How Our Government Works Now Government officials are paid better and have better benefits than most executives in the corporate world! Unbelievable!

21. Laertis Proprietary 2011 21 Really!!!!!

22. When we were growing up our parents and teachers told us not to make a career working for the Government because a) they do not pay well, and b) only the dummies go to work there because they cannot make it in the regular business world. Well, the dummies learned how to get into our wallets and make a better a life than the rest of us that supposedly have brains. And we have allowed them to do this to us! We deserve it for being complacent and lethargic! Laertis Proprietary 2011 22 An Interesting Point

23. Laertis Proprietary 2011 23 But The Decline Does Not End With The Economy and Politics These pix are mild by comparison to what it really exists out there. We have decided not to show the worst.

24. Laertis Proprietary 2011 24 Believe it or not, he was only 18 in 2011, when he looked like this: He got arrested because he wanted to drink someone’s blood. He was influenced by stories such as this one:

25. Laertis Proprietary 2011 25 Did Your Parents Ever Allow You To Go Out Like this? What is she trying to tell the “viewers”?

26. Laertis Proprietary 2011 26 Once Again Humor Makes It Easy To Deal With It

27. Fact: Every generation complaints that the succeeding generations do not measure up and that they see a decline in morals and decay of values. But is it true? Yes, it is, once a society is past its peak point. All one has to do is visit the Athenian society, Alexander’s successors (all the way to Cleopatra), the Roman, Byzantine, Russian and other Empires to realize that there is a natural degeneration of everything Laertis Proprietary 2011 27 Is Our Decline Real Or Imaginary?

28. There are many factors. All living organisms, all systems, all mechanisms, all theories, all philosophies, all beliefs and even all religions deteriorate over time. Our planet, our Sun, our galaxy and our very universe are all deteriorating right in front of our eyes, although most people do not see it or realize it. Some of them deteriorate faster than others, but in the end they all do. It’s the way of the cosmos Laertis Proprietary 2011 28 Why Do Things Degenerate?

29. Each system (from organisms to galaxies) have their own lifecycle. Empires usually last 250 to 1,000 years. Religions usually last 1,000 to 2,500 years. Major companies typically last 40 to 80 years. Stars and galaxies last a few billion years, but they too get destroyed by other galaxies, black holes and the end of the cosmos (the Big Crunch, which leads to another Big Bang). Everything has a lifecycle, including our planet and the cosmos Laertis Proprietary 2011 29 Key Realization

30. Dr. Edward Deming said that: "94% of all failure is the result of a system that failed.“ The question in manufacturing and in life in general is: “Do we understand the system?” You will be astounded to know that most people do not understand the system (a.k.a. the big picture) they are dealing with. They only understand small parts of the system Laertis Proprietary 2011 30 An Interesting Comment

31. One must attack the system in a holistic way --- fixing all aspects and interrelationships at the same time. Systems cannot be fixed by focusing on certain parts only and ignoring the rest of them. Fixing certain parts of a system only buys one more time ( at least for a while), but in the end the whole system will fail. This is exactly how our Governments work. They are always looking for “the nail” that sticks out so they can hammer it down Laertis Proprietary 2011 31 Fixing A System

32. Laertis Proprietary 2011 32 By The Way, They Cannot Even Do That Right! First, they have to have committees to decide if it is a nail that needs to be hammered down. Then they have to have committees to find their right hammer. Then they have to have committees to decide how much it will cost to hammer down the nail. Then they have to have committees to decide who, how, where and when the action will take place. They finally approve the action. Their action(s) usually leads to a bent nail or broken hammer. Then they have more committees to find out whom to blame. Those are the idiots that govern us!

33. Our planet is a system Our civilization and humanity is a system Our industries are a system (not individual systems, but one system) Our governments our systems Our economies are a system Our environment is a system … … and all those systems are connected into one super-system, which is a part of another mega-system Laertis Proprietary 2011 33 Key Realization

34. Laertis Proprietary 2011 34 One System This is a clue as to what we need to do to save our planet and the human race. This is also the clue to the coming mega-shift that is mentioned on p.44

35. … And Now The Shocker OMG! Laertis Proprietary 2011 35

36. Christianity is declining. A new religion is emerging that is not based on personal Gods Socialism has been declining for a while Communism is on its last leg Capitalism is declining Many corporations are in decline mode The Manufacturing industry has been in decline for decades Our education system has been declining Our planet is now declining Laertis Proprietary 2011 36 In Case You Did Not Know:

37. Laertis Proprietary 2011 37 The Numbers Spell It Out For Us And there are numerous reports and scientific analyses to document the decline

38. That The Pentagon, CIA and other government agencies are having reports to quantify all the impending disasters based on raw materials shortages, energy shortages, food and water shortages, and all other kinds of critical resource shortages that will jeopardize our nation’s security, livelihood, civilization and our very existence on this planet? These studies are not done as intellectual exercises. They are done as true scenarios of where we are headed! Laertis Proprietary 2011 38 Did You Know …

39. Depravity Decadence Self-Indulgence, Narcissism Corruption Callousness Apathy Laziness Materialism Atheism, Agnosticism Laertis Proprietary 2011 39 At The Same Time The Following Are On The Rise: Yes, the world has seen all this before!

40. Audacity Impudence Boldness Disrespect Arrogance Hubris Shamelessness Remorselessness Egotism Laertis Proprietary 2011 40 And These Too: WHY? Because people start believing they are on top of the world (and on top of the food chain). They can do and say whatever they want and they can get away with it without any deprecations or consequences. They do not understand that this is an illusion!

41. Laertis Proprietary 2011 41 But … There Are Deprecations and Consequences For Bad and Thoughtless Behavior

42. No. One can revitalize a system, a theory or an organism for a while, but in the end there has to an end or a conclusion. One can see that in companies, cities, counties, States, countries and entire empires. But interestingly enough, out of the death or demise of the old, something new is born … usually something that is even more exciting Laertis Proprietary 2011 42 Can Degeneration Be Prevented?

43. Because things will eventually fail or end does not imply dong nothing and waiting around for the inevitable to happen. Good people do all they can do to improve a system, maintain it well and advance it to the next level by either extending its lifecycle or by introducing a new paradigm that creates a new lifecycle Laertis Proprietary 2011 43 Clarification

44. Laertis Proprietary 2011 44 New Paradigms Open New Horizons, Create New Opportunities, and Generate Optimism, Hope and Energy

45. Laertis Proprietary 2011 45 Good Question Something big is brewing, but we don’t know what it is yet. It is bigger than The Post-Industrialization Era, or The Information Age, or The Post-Cold War Era or any other descriptor that our intellectuals are using to describe our new epoch and avalanche of paradigm shifts. It appears that this is the mega-shift that will change everything in our lives. We are here now. Is there a new paradigm emerging?

46. Laertis Proprietary 2011 46

47. Laertis Proprietary 2011 47 That’s Exactly The Concept Of The Phoenix Some things have to die in order to improve. The old Babylon, old Athens, old Rome, old Byzantium are still with us in different shapes and forms. The original versions had to die in order to get the civilization we have today.

48. The American Empire is not ready to fall apart or be ruined right away. It has plenty of life left in it because it has some of the smartest people in the world that can figure out and deploy solutions that we are not able to foresee or describe today. There is hope. We all are hoping that the new generations are courageous, inventive, imaginative and resourceful to come up with new answers to our problems Laertis Proprietary 2011 48 Some Good News

49. Laertis Proprietary 2011 49 Reminder: A Key Obstacle To Progress

50. www.lightenabler.com or www.thegrandparadox.com Laertis Proprietary 2011 50 For More Thought Provoking Ideas, Please Visit: