A. The stock market crash which Maitreya says is inevitable will obviously lead to changes. These have been predicted to take the form of a reorientation of priorities by governments around the world. Adequate food, housing, health care and education, as universal rights, will become the aim. This can hardly be called "hardship". To achieve this for all, of course, will require a fairer distribution of the world's resources and therefore some sacrifice on the part of the presently richer nations.

Q. Maitreya says market forces are 'blind', but current economic theory simply points to the law of supply and demand, and present thinking does equate this with freedom. 

A. The Master: It is a question of where you stand initially: this is the basis of your movement in response to supply and demand. One man will demand ëx' from life and his demand will be met quickly, with little expenditure of energy. Another demands ëx' plus other factors, and a greater amount of energy is required to fulfill his needs. People make different demands on the law of supply. Some demand more of life, command greater resources, and if these are met it can only be at the expense of those who demand, or can demand, but little. This is the blindness of market forces, which take no account of differences in status (economic, social or other) of those who make the demands. Hence the operation of these forces contains inbuilt inequality; they are intrinsically divisive. This is why Maitreya calls them ëësatanic.'' If everybody started from the same point, there might be some logic to them. But nobody does. You already have rich and poor people, and rich and poor nations.

Q. Maitreya has said that in Islam no interest should be charged on capital. Since the Western economies survive on interest, should the West do away with its economic system? 

A. The short answer to that is yes. It is a completely irrational system which has brought us to the verge of destruction. Maitreya calls market forces - which are the basis of the Western economic system and another term for ëgreed' - the forces of evil. He says there is nothing more destructive than the blind following of market forces and any nation which does so will reap destruction. The philosophy of market forces presupposes that everyone stands at the same level, with the same amount of money and the same needs. The fact is that the gap between the developed world and the Third World is getting wider every day. The nations of the Third World are supposed to conform to market forces - and if they go to the World Bank or IMF for aid, as a condition of that aid, inevitably, is some reorganization of their economy which takes a major account of market forces. This is destroying the economy of the Third World, so much so that, the year before last, $40 million million more went from the Third World to the developed world in repayment on loans than from the developed world to the Third World in new loans. It is nothing to do with aid. It is usury.

Q. You say that the present economic and financial order is going to break down - what do we do? Do I take my money out tomorrow? 

A. What we do is share the resources of the world. The major gambling in the world is in currency and in ëfutures'. The value of any currency bears little relation to the industrial base of the country to which it belongs. This is true for all the developed nations. If you have bonds and shares and do the gambling yourself. If that is what you do, my advice is: "Get out tomorrow!" But if you simply have your wages on a weekly or monthly or yearly basis in the bank, you are going to survive in the normal way, but your life will change because the life of every one will change. We in the developed world cannot any longer continue to destroy the resources of the world - they are finite. If we want our children to live half-decent lives we have to preserve these resources. That means we have to create a sustainable economy - which is perfectly possible. For years, groups throughout the world have been advocating such an economy. There are various measures by which this can be done - mainly a simplification of our living habits and styles.

Q. What would an appropriate socio-economic system for the coming age look like?

A. To my mind it would have to reflect the inner connectedness of people with one another and with the planet. A sustainable sufficiency would have to replace the present system of over-production, competition and waste. Therefore, interdependence and co-operation, social justice, freedom and sharing would be the keynotes of a viable spiritually-based system. It would also have to take account of, and provide opportunities for, man's individual initiative and creative enterprise but not at the expense of social justice and group good. Maitreya, through His associate, has said that the unification of Germany is the symbol of this future social system: not capitalism versus communism, but social democracy or democratic socialism with full participation of all peoples in their own government. Housewives, doctors, artists, teachers, etc, would play their full part in government of the people, for the people, by the people; something never achieved before, East or West.

Q. Can you give us some idea of the economic transformation of our lives which will take place? 

A. The redistribution of resources is the problem which is at the heart of the economic and, indeed, the spiritual crisis overhanging the world today. This spiritual crisis is focused in the political and economic theatre. That is why Maitreya comes, in the first place, as a political and economic teacher. Although his teaching is non-religious, it is about the spiritual life, about right human relationships. When we share the world's resources we take the first step into solving the ills of the world, and the first step into our divinity.

The method, as I understand it, will be a sophisticated form of barter in which the nations pool their excess resources and redistribute them fairly and justly according to need. Nothing will be imposed, it is up to us, and many different ideas will be floated. As a basic minimum, the aim is adequate, correct food, housing, health-care and education for all as universal rights.

Q. How do you envisage the immediate aftermath of the Stock Market Crash in the West ? 

A.  After the preliminary shock, the nations will meet together to discuss the means of coping with the future in ordered fashion. Those who have stood most emphatically behind the rule of market forces will find themselves outvoted in the dispensation which will pertain, and those advocating co-operation will gain the ascendancy. This will not happen overnight. The process will be gradual, but will not be long delayed. Already there are those in various governments who are awaiting the time to act.

Q. Will the Stock Market Crash be followed by hyperinflation or deflation?

A. Deflation

Q. When the stock market crashes (1) How can we protect ourselves from the effect of a stock market crash? (2) Will there be a shortage of food, medicine water, gas electricity, and jobs etc.? (3) will there be pensions in the future?

A. (1) Everyone will be affected to a greater or lesser degree. The best protection is not to invest in the stock marked. (2) Not if properly organized and people do not hoard. Obviously, jobs in some sectors will suffer, as now. (3) Yes.

Q. How will a financial breakdown of developed markets result in a more fair distribution of wealth to under- developed countries (2) and when?