“The bed-rock of a strategy that can engage the world’s population in assuming responsibility for its collective destiny must be the consciousness of the oneness of humankind.”
Bahá’í International Community, 1995 Jul 16, Realization of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
From The New York Times: Bank Investors Redefine Bad News
“…it has now been a year since the credit crisis erupted, and, so far, the optimists have been proven wrong time and again. Skeptics say it could take years for banks to recover from the worst financial crisis since the Depression. And even when things do improve, the pessimists maintain, banks’ profits will be a fraction of what they were before.”
From Forbes: Wachovia Loss May Spell End For Bank Rally
“After reporting second-quarter earnings that fell short of expectations, American Express said it does not expect to meet or exceed long-term financial targets until the economy recovers because conditions worsened more rapidly than expected.”
So much of the world is overextended.
So many people suffer.
A few get rich as the rest get poorer . . .
I used to work as a telemarketer (Oh, my God, Alex, how horrible !) for one of the major credit card companies. There came a point when they expanded their services into Ireland. The CEO said the Irish appeared to be overly careful in their finances—they weren’t carrying any balance on their cards. I quit the company right after I saw a quote from the CEO: “We have every confidence in the Irish market. It may be slow now but we will educate them.”
Educate them . . .
Time for class kids! Gather round. There ya go. See, this is a wall socket. Some people say its dangerous to put your finger in here but today we’re gonna learn that it’s actually fun !!
We all need education, constantly—from the bottom up and from the Top down.
Sometimes I get a little nutsey and think that the separation of Faith and State has brought ruin to both.
“…material civilization is like unto a beautiful body, and spiritual civilization is like unto the spirit of life. If that wondrous spirit of life enters this beautiful body, the body will become a channel for the distribution and development of the perfections of humanity.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 11
Things sure are headed Somewhere . . . In fact, that reminds me of an old saying, “If ya don’t know where you’re goin’, any road will take ya there.”
“…it is unrealistic to imagine that the vision of the next stage in the advancement of civilization can be formulated without a searching re-examination of the attitudes and assumptions that currently underlie approaches to social and economic development….We are being shown that, unless the development of society finds a purpose beyond the mere amelioration of material conditions, it will fail of attaining even these goals. That purpose must be sought in spiritual dimensions of life and motivation that transcend a constantly changing economic landscape and an artificially imposed division of human societies into ‘developed’ and ‘developing.’ “
Bahá’í International Community, 1995 Jul 16, Realization of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
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Our Evolution 
What if “bad” news does not exist? What if only love and light are reality and everything else is superfluous?
Your question made me search this out:
“In creation there is no evil; all is good. Certain qualities and natures innate in some men and apparently blameworthy are not so in reality. For example, from the beginning of his life you can see in a nursing child the signs of greed, of anger and of temper. Then, it may be said, good and evil are innate in the reality of man, and this is contrary to the pure goodness of nature and creation. The answer to this is that greed, which is to ask for something more, is a praiseworthy quality provided that it is used suitably. So if a man is greedy to acquire science and knowledge, or to become compassionate, generous and just, it is most praiseworthy. If he exercises his anger and wrath against the bloodthirsty tyrants who are like ferocious beasts, it is very praiseworthy; but if he does not use these qualities in a right way, they are blameworthy.
“Then it is evident that in creation and nature evil does not exist at all; but when the natural qualities of man are used in an unlawful way, they are blameworthy. So if a rich and generous person gives a sum of money to a poor man for his own necessities, and if the poor man spends that sum of money on unlawful things, that will be blameworthy. It is the same with all the natural qualities of man, which constitute the capital of life; if they be used and displayed in an unlawful way, they become blameworthy. Therefore, it is clear that creation is purely good. Consider that the worst of qualities and most odious of attributes, which is the foundation of all evil, is lying. No worse or more blameworthy quality than this can be imagined to exist; it is the destroyer of all human perfections and the cause of innumerable vices. There is no worse characteristic than this; it is the foundation of all evils. Notwithstanding all this, if a doctor consoles a sick man by saying, “Thank God you are better, and there is hope of your recovery,” though these words are contrary to the truth, yet they may become the consolation of the patient and the turning point of the illness. This is not blameworthy.
“This question is now clearly elucidated. Salutations!”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 214
@Liara
Then there were no specialty of “good” news.
Actually it’s the “bad” news that helps us to identify and justify “good” news.
@amzolt
Wow!! You have found a really good one.
It’s very true that there are few rich and all others are poor.
A post of mine about credit card shows how the general person becomes more poor by feeding them already rich.
Just thought you may like this one: http://personalfinancesolution.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/credit-card-secret-how-you-drain-your-money-yourself
Cassandra,
Welcome to the blog!
Your post is very appropriate!!
I worked for a time at a debt reduction service.
It’s interesting that the credit card companies have systems to, as you say, drain our money but when our company contacted them about a person who was drowning in debt and they feared they receive nothing, they were willing to work with them and reduce the amount of total interest accrued. Still, the people had to stick to a strict schedule of payments.
Cassandra, thank you for sharing your perspective. Another way to look at qualifications like ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is to imagine that many human beings perceive the world in terms of ego goals. Such goals really have nothing to do with our best interests. The ego is not who we are at soul-level. The ego is what compels us to establish taste preferences.
If we shape goals based on what we believe to be good or bad for us, then we remain blind to our soul purpose.
If you take the view that humans would benefit from detaching from goals as the ego understands them, then you may also believe this requires you to view your goals as meaningless. This may seem extreme, but reorienting how you process thoughts in the mind enables you to reframe opposites such as; near-far, right-wrong, important-unimportant and necessary-unnecessary. Everything you perceive takes on completely new meaning but only when you deliberately choose to dissolve or detach from your understanding of who you were.