Imagine if a €20 000 car cost R20 000 instead of R340 000, Imagine if a $2 500 laptop cost R2 500 instead of R40 000.
This is where we should be targeting our energy; how to make South Africa strong financially and economically.
South Africa is already strong in natural and environmental resources, why continue down a road of ruin?
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Let people of SA be central in decision over fracking. David Lipschitz letter to the Cape Times published Fri 11 Mar 2016
According to your newspaper (March 10), the government will release their fracking findings today. Should fracking go ahead? Should we be concerned about the environment? Can there be compromise between environmentalists and frackers?
The problem in South Africa is much bigger than mining. We all know about the "resource curse."
Mining countries are worse off than countries without mines, even in Africa. The mining and mineral rich countries are growing slowly. The others are growing fast.
Why? Because countries without mines rely on their ingenuity, whereas countries with mines rely on their mines, and forget their minds.
Colonialists came here, initially for the bounty from our soil, and then for our mineral wealth.
They took huge amounts of money and built their empires and their houses. Think castles, chateaux, mansions, manor houses and stately homes with their hundreds of rooms, many servants, and huge grounds. And not only their rich got rich, but many of their people got rich, too.
Nkandla fades into insignificance when compared with the grandeur of these massive houses and estates.
And through all this, the masses of South Africans remain destitute, dependent on the state. If the state decides to frack the Karoo and the coastal waters around Cape Town, then the state must give the profits to the people so that the people become as rich as the state. We know that this is never going to happen!
We cannot blame the colonialists. It is a fact of the past, applicable in "white" countries and in "black" countries; applicable to white-on-white colonialism and black-on-black colonialism, applicable to religious colonialism and any type of colonisation where one people wanted something that another people had, or has.
We are in the 21st Century, a century with more possibilities for the people than ever before if we choose to grab hold of the opportunities and the future, rather than corrupting our minds by staying in the past.
So we can either spend the billions of dollars that would have been invested in fracking our gas resources to pollute our world and our minds for another 30 years - before we run out and then deal with a worse environmental disaster than the one we already have, probably with even bigger unemployment, more crime and more destitute people - or rather take the decision to immediately clean up our act and install the alternative, clean energies, that we have now.
Our costs will be a lot less. Our health costs will be a lot less. And government will be doing its job of governance, looking after the land and its borders and the environment, thus making it as clean as possible so that its people can have healthy minds, healthy bodies, and so that we can all be employed.
The problem in South Africa is much bigger than mining. We all know about the "resource curse."
Mining countries are worse off than countries without mines, even in Africa. The mining and mineral rich countries are growing slowly. The others are growing fast.
Why? Because countries without mines rely on their ingenuity, whereas countries with mines rely on their mines, and forget their minds.
Colonialists came here, initially for the bounty from our soil, and then for our mineral wealth.
They took huge amounts of money and built their empires and their houses. Think castles, chateaux, mansions, manor houses and stately homes with their hundreds of rooms, many servants, and huge grounds. And not only their rich got rich, but many of their people got rich, too.
Nkandla fades into insignificance when compared with the grandeur of these massive houses and estates.
And through all this, the masses of South Africans remain destitute, dependent on the state. If the state decides to frack the Karoo and the coastal waters around Cape Town, then the state must give the profits to the people so that the people become as rich as the state. We know that this is never going to happen!
We cannot blame the colonialists. It is a fact of the past, applicable in "white" countries and in "black" countries; applicable to white-on-white colonialism and black-on-black colonialism, applicable to religious colonialism and any type of colonisation where one people wanted something that another people had, or has.
We are in the 21st Century, a century with more possibilities for the people than ever before if we choose to grab hold of the opportunities and the future, rather than corrupting our minds by staying in the past.
So we can either spend the billions of dollars that would have been invested in fracking our gas resources to pollute our world and our minds for another 30 years - before we run out and then deal with a worse environmental disaster than the one we already have, probably with even bigger unemployment, more crime and more destitute people - or rather take the decision to immediately clean up our act and install the alternative, clean energies, that we have now.
Our costs will be a lot less. Our health costs will be a lot less. And government will be doing its job of governance, looking after the land and its borders and the environment, thus making it as clean as possible so that its people can have healthy minds, healthy bodies, and so that we can all be employed.
Life or Death Matter. David Lipschitz letter to the Cape Times published Tue 8 Mar 2016
According to the City of Cape Town web site, dam levels are at 38.7 percent and last week they were at 40.5 percent. In 2014 they were at 81.2 percent. Theoretically Cape Town has 21 months of water left, assuming no rain, but with dams silting up, who knows how much water we really have?
See http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/water/pages/weeklydamlevels.aspx
Cape Town's dramatic population increase over the past 20 years, together with hardly any increase in dams, combined with the drought over the past two years, and lack of imagination in the City of Cape Town council and at provincial level, had led to the problem.
Some people are calling for "Level 3" water savings. If the City implements Level 3 water savings, there will be an even more dramatic reduction in income for the City.
Many people have already installed pool covers and with a reduction in watering allowances on gardens, people are seeing a 50 percent-plus drop in water consumption, with an associated decrease in income going to the City, even with the massive price increases for large, home based water users.
At Level 3, people might find ways to stop buying City water altogether! People and organisations are already finding ways not to buy electricity due to the massive price increases, together with less Eskom and municipality electricity being available. Cape Town's lack of water is a big problem, made much worse by decades of bad planning, and bad thinking! Desalination could solve our problem, but government isn't thinking about that - yet.
If people were allowed to install rooftop solar electric systems on their houses, and if we were allowed to feed our excess electricity into the grid at a reasonable price, the excess electricity could be used to desalinate water. This is much cheaper than building new dams, and dams take years to build and need rain and mountain water - and we just don't have this time, nor, with climate change, can we expect the needed rain to materialise anytime soon.
If the City runs out of water, we'll all be dead within four days, so perhaps allowing rooftop electricity is truly the answer to many of our problems! Many people have planned their retirement, but isn't it better to plan to be alive next week?
See http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/water/pages/weeklydamlevels.aspx
Cape Town's dramatic population increase over the past 20 years, together with hardly any increase in dams, combined with the drought over the past two years, and lack of imagination in the City of Cape Town council and at provincial level, had led to the problem.
Some people are calling for "Level 3" water savings. If the City implements Level 3 water savings, there will be an even more dramatic reduction in income for the City.
Many people have already installed pool covers and with a reduction in watering allowances on gardens, people are seeing a 50 percent-plus drop in water consumption, with an associated decrease in income going to the City, even with the massive price increases for large, home based water users.
At Level 3, people might find ways to stop buying City water altogether! People and organisations are already finding ways not to buy electricity due to the massive price increases, together with less Eskom and municipality electricity being available. Cape Town's lack of water is a big problem, made much worse by decades of bad planning, and bad thinking! Desalination could solve our problem, but government isn't thinking about that - yet.
If people were allowed to install rooftop solar electric systems on their houses, and if we were allowed to feed our excess electricity into the grid at a reasonable price, the excess electricity could be used to desalinate water. This is much cheaper than building new dams, and dams take years to build and need rain and mountain water - and we just don't have this time, nor, with climate change, can we expect the needed rain to materialise anytime soon.
If the City runs out of water, we'll all be dead within four days, so perhaps allowing rooftop electricity is truly the answer to many of our problems! Many people have planned their retirement, but isn't it better to plan to be alive next week?
Friday, July 15, 2016
Humbling to hear other side of Islam. David Lipschitz letter to the Cape Times published Fri 15 Jul 2016
I was very lucky to hear Professor Dr Taj Hargey, from Oxford University's Muslim Education Centre, and who has a doctorate in Islamic studies, speak five times in Cape Town recently.
The first time was at Temple Israel Wynberg where The Open Mosque Community's Muslims celebrated Iftar, ie broke their Ramadan Fast.
Dr Taj spoke about the connection between Judaism and Islam.
Then I heard Dr Taj three times at The Open Mosque, where I prayed Iftar, Eid (end of Ramadan) and Jumu'ah (Friday prayers) with my Muslim half-brothers and half-sisters.
And then I heard Dr Taj speak at the Methodist Church in Rosebank about "the close connection between Christianity and Islam".
At every one of these talks, Dr Taj reiterated his belief in "the L of IsLam". The vertical part of the L (ie the |) signifies the connection between Allah and mankind. The horizontal part of the L (ie the _) signifies the connection of siblings with each other, families with each other, tribes with each other, religions with each other, etc. This is very similar to the Cross in Christianity, which has the same strokes as the "L" of IsLam.
I was truly humbled to hear the other side of Islam, as opposed to what we read in the mainstream press on a daily basis. My personal belief is that our way of life is made up of three parts: religion, community and soul. In the Torah, in the Shma, this is represented as Mind, Heart, and Soul. In Christianity, this is Church, Body (of Christ) and Spirit. In Buddhism, this is Dharma, Sangha and Buddha.
Fundamentalist belief lives in the religious practice, and in my humble opinion, religious practice without community and without spirit is only one third of a whole way of life.
The first time was at Temple Israel Wynberg where The Open Mosque Community's Muslims celebrated Iftar, ie broke their Ramadan Fast.
Dr Taj spoke about the connection between Judaism and Islam.
Then I heard Dr Taj three times at The Open Mosque, where I prayed Iftar, Eid (end of Ramadan) and Jumu'ah (Friday prayers) with my Muslim half-brothers and half-sisters.
And then I heard Dr Taj speak at the Methodist Church in Rosebank about "the close connection between Christianity and Islam".
At every one of these talks, Dr Taj reiterated his belief in "the L of IsLam". The vertical part of the L (ie the |) signifies the connection between Allah and mankind. The horizontal part of the L (ie the _) signifies the connection of siblings with each other, families with each other, tribes with each other, religions with each other, etc. This is very similar to the Cross in Christianity, which has the same strokes as the "L" of IsLam.
I was truly humbled to hear the other side of Islam, as opposed to what we read in the mainstream press on a daily basis. My personal belief is that our way of life is made up of three parts: religion, community and soul. In the Torah, in the Shma, this is represented as Mind, Heart, and Soul. In Christianity, this is Church, Body (of Christ) and Spirit. In Buddhism, this is Dharma, Sangha and Buddha.
Fundamentalist belief lives in the religious practice, and in my humble opinion, religious practice without community and without spirit is only one third of a whole way of life.
Protect the past. David Lipschitz letter to the Cape Times published Thu 18 Feb 2016
One of the reasons we know so little about the past is because it has been destroyed and burnt so often. And then we have people who spend huge amounts of time trying to find out about their past or the world's past or the universe's past.
We should be past destroying the past, so that we can fully understand the present, and always remember the good and bad of the past. And one person's "good" past might be another person's "bad" past.
If we are to grow and eliminate racism and other challenges in our society, we must protect the past, perhaps move it to a special museum, but never destroy it. It will always be there!
We should be past destroying the past, so that we can fully understand the present, and always remember the good and bad of the past. And one person's "good" past might be another person's "bad" past.
If we are to grow and eliminate racism and other challenges in our society, we must protect the past, perhaps move it to a special museum, but never destroy it. It will always be there!
It all starts at home. David Lipschitz letter to the Cape Times published Wed 27 Jan 2016
Until we find ways of making women true partners in our still male dominated society, often with women of the same race and religion maltreated by their men, how can we have a hope of eradicating racism?
Respect needs to begin in our homes!
Respect needs to begin in our homes!
If you have failed matric I can help you, please give me a call. David Lipschitz letter to the Cape Times published Fri 8 Jan 2016
I have so many friends whose kids are now grown-ups, completing matric this year. And I am hearing about all their success and it is truly wonderful.
People probably won't let the newspaper or their friends know if their kid has failed, and those people and their kids need the most help.
Just to let you know that there are people around who can help you. Seek them out and ask them.
And if you don't find someone the first time around, keep trying.
And if your kid (or you) has failed and they need a shoulder to cry on, tell them to give me a call! I might have a long queue of people needing help, but we have the internet and we'll find a way to share and use it to help us.
As an entrepreneur in business for 21 years, I have failed many times, picked myself up, dusted myself off, perhaps given myself a pep talk or two, turned to my wife and close friends for help, sometimes engaged a psychologist or psychiatrist or social worker, learnt to do Tai Chi, meditation and Reiki to calm myself down and see things I would never have seen.
And I also failed first year at university (I changed degrees because of it), but I did a lot better at university that at school, and just because you did badly at school or university, doesn't mean that you must give up.
For me university was freedom.
At school, we pretty much had to tell the world what the teacher or education system had told us. At university, we finally got the opportunity to tell the world what we thought. And as we progress to postgraduate Honours and then Masters degrees, so that freedom became more and more and the world became a bigger and bigger "oyster".
And if you can't get into university, or you can't afford to go to university, then read a very difficult book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. This book is about a very special university, called "the university of life".
If you're a failure, or even if you're a success, convince people to believe in you.
Show them you are special. Show them a project you've done, or an invention or something that makes you unique.
It doesn't matter what it is. It only matters that you are exceptional at it.
And keep at it.
The best things in life take time and effort.
And so far, I have now been to three schools, four universities and one tech, and on a number of other training programs in various parts of the world. I still want to do a doctorate one day. I don't give up when I "fail" and neither should you.
In any case, failure is a judgement by someone else of your "achievements". Edison and Tesla and Einstein and Lipschitz (me) failed many times before they achieved (or will achieve) greatness.
Life is incredible.
If it was perfect, it wouldn't be life.
Life is difficult. Life is painful. Life is costly, especially the financial mistakes (most mistakes seem to be financial in one way or another).
But life is also beautiful, challenging (in a positive way), and with good friends and good relationships, and with caring for oneself and one's family, one can also be happy with oneself and with what one does and has done.
If you need my help, please ask. I don't know if I can help, but I do know a lot of people and perhaps I can refer you to someone else.
And the Cape Times has hundreds of thousands of readers, so who knows, perhaps they'll publish your letter asking for help?
For the parents: if your child doesn't know what they want to study, or if they are drifting or if they can't find a job, please also let me know and I'll organise a webinar (an online seminar) for them all.
I have an approach which has worked for many people looking for work.
For the kids and university students and drop outs and out of work people: the previous paragraph applies to you too.
I can't offer you a job, but maybe I can help you invent one.
So remember: we are all in this together.
Just as sunny weather ("good") or rainy ("bad", until it doesn't rain and we have a drought) or storms or earthquakes affect us all, and just as pollution affects us all, so too positive and negative energy affects all of us. Without earthquakes the world wouldn't exist. As painful as earthquakes are, they are a part of life on this place that we call home.
If you need help, ask. If you ask, and the person you ask says "get your head down" or "get to work and you'll feel better", or if you feel that you can't ask, then ask someone else.
And if you have asked "everyone" and you are still at a loss, then learn to meditate. Join your local meditation group and learn to meditate as this slow process is the fastest way for us to truly learn to understand ourselves, IMHO.
Good luck in all your futures and in all your endeavours.
There is so much work that we all need to do, especially YOU, to make this world a better and safer and cleaner place.
Just because you can't find a job doesn't mean that the job doesn't exist.
It just means that you need to invent the job.
Oh, and if you are depressed, I understand. I was in "the valley of the shadow of death" (refer Psalm 23) for 18 months a few years ago during my depression recovery "process".
I know what it's like; and I discovered my true friends, colleagues and mentors who helped me through it.
And I know it's a very scary place. But you (we) are here for a reason.
You (we) need to find that reason and act on it.
Love and respect to you all, especially the "failures" who pick themselves up, and make themselves into successes, no matter how hard it is, or how long it takes,
People probably won't let the newspaper or their friends know if their kid has failed, and those people and their kids need the most help.
Just to let you know that there are people around who can help you. Seek them out and ask them.
And if you don't find someone the first time around, keep trying.
And if your kid (or you) has failed and they need a shoulder to cry on, tell them to give me a call! I might have a long queue of people needing help, but we have the internet and we'll find a way to share and use it to help us.
As an entrepreneur in business for 21 years, I have failed many times, picked myself up, dusted myself off, perhaps given myself a pep talk or two, turned to my wife and close friends for help, sometimes engaged a psychologist or psychiatrist or social worker, learnt to do Tai Chi, meditation and Reiki to calm myself down and see things I would never have seen.
And I also failed first year at university (I changed degrees because of it), but I did a lot better at university that at school, and just because you did badly at school or university, doesn't mean that you must give up.
For me university was freedom.
At school, we pretty much had to tell the world what the teacher or education system had told us. At university, we finally got the opportunity to tell the world what we thought. And as we progress to postgraduate Honours and then Masters degrees, so that freedom became more and more and the world became a bigger and bigger "oyster".
And if you can't get into university, or you can't afford to go to university, then read a very difficult book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. This book is about a very special university, called "the university of life".
If you're a failure, or even if you're a success, convince people to believe in you.
Show them you are special. Show them a project you've done, or an invention or something that makes you unique.
It doesn't matter what it is. It only matters that you are exceptional at it.
And keep at it.
The best things in life take time and effort.
And so far, I have now been to three schools, four universities and one tech, and on a number of other training programs in various parts of the world. I still want to do a doctorate one day. I don't give up when I "fail" and neither should you.
In any case, failure is a judgement by someone else of your "achievements". Edison and Tesla and Einstein and Lipschitz (me) failed many times before they achieved (or will achieve) greatness.
Life is incredible.
If it was perfect, it wouldn't be life.
Life is difficult. Life is painful. Life is costly, especially the financial mistakes (most mistakes seem to be financial in one way or another).
But life is also beautiful, challenging (in a positive way), and with good friends and good relationships, and with caring for oneself and one's family, one can also be happy with oneself and with what one does and has done.
If you need my help, please ask. I don't know if I can help, but I do know a lot of people and perhaps I can refer you to someone else.
And the Cape Times has hundreds of thousands of readers, so who knows, perhaps they'll publish your letter asking for help?
For the parents: if your child doesn't know what they want to study, or if they are drifting or if they can't find a job, please also let me know and I'll organise a webinar (an online seminar) for them all.
I have an approach which has worked for many people looking for work.
For the kids and university students and drop outs and out of work people: the previous paragraph applies to you too.
I can't offer you a job, but maybe I can help you invent one.
So remember: we are all in this together.
Just as sunny weather ("good") or rainy ("bad", until it doesn't rain and we have a drought) or storms or earthquakes affect us all, and just as pollution affects us all, so too positive and negative energy affects all of us. Without earthquakes the world wouldn't exist. As painful as earthquakes are, they are a part of life on this place that we call home.
If you need help, ask. If you ask, and the person you ask says "get your head down" or "get to work and you'll feel better", or if you feel that you can't ask, then ask someone else.
And if you have asked "everyone" and you are still at a loss, then learn to meditate. Join your local meditation group and learn to meditate as this slow process is the fastest way for us to truly learn to understand ourselves, IMHO.
Good luck in all your futures and in all your endeavours.
There is so much work that we all need to do, especially YOU, to make this world a better and safer and cleaner place.
Just because you can't find a job doesn't mean that the job doesn't exist.
It just means that you need to invent the job.
Oh, and if you are depressed, I understand. I was in "the valley of the shadow of death" (refer Psalm 23) for 18 months a few years ago during my depression recovery "process".
I know what it's like; and I discovered my true friends, colleagues and mentors who helped me through it.
And I know it's a very scary place. But you (we) are here for a reason.
You (we) need to find that reason and act on it.
Love and respect to you all, especially the "failures" who pick themselves up, and make themselves into successes, no matter how hard it is, or how long it takes,
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