Medium published my new article “A Bailout Plan for a Country in Pain”

Look around, we need a bailout plan, and we need it fast. COVID-19 is winning on all fronts, the economy is crashing, anxiety is rising, and aggression is winning. But there are things we can do, if we have the guts, gumption, and grit.

If people stay home idly for more than a few months, they will begin to lose their ability to commit. Once they are in that state, it will be virtually impossible to train them and make them productive for society, and they will remain a weight on the back of society.

First, we need to free the world from the illusion that the coronavirus is a passing phase. It is here to stay. It may not remain the coronavirus that we know today, but its quelling impact on the capitalistic world we’ve known for generations will remain. So whether we like it or not, capitalism as we know it is over, and the sooner we get over the withdrawal phase, the better.

Next, the majority of the job market that we know today will not survive the transition. Anything that is not essential for regular human sustenance will fade, though perhaps not immediately, and the remaining occupations will shrink in size and volume to a fraction of what they are today. Alongside the demise of the old job market, a new scope of jobs will emerge. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman referred to them as jobs that “create more value with hearts and between hearts.”

These jobs will be occupations that deal exclusively with bringing people together, increasing mutual responsibility within communities, mutual care and concern, and a sense of accountability and affinity even among strangers. To engage residents in the process, another aspect of this new social work will deal with providing knowledge about the shift that the world is going through. The information will be given via courses that will explain the nature of the change we’re going through, why all of a sudden the economy came crashing down, why we must be responsible for one another like never before, the benefits of such a change of mind and change of heart, and what would happen had we kept going the way we did until the outbreak of COVID-19. The two kinds of training — for enhancing solidarity and providing knowledge — will run side by side and will keep people busy at least as many hours as they would be occupied had they kept working as before, perhaps minus transit time.

Third, the transition period between the capitalist era and the new era must be as short as possible. Human nature loves rest and becomes accustomed to it almost instantaneously. As a result, if people stay home idly for more than a few months, they will begin to lose their ability to commit. Once they are in that state, it will be virtually impossible to train them and make them productive for society, and they will remain a weight on the back of society.

Fourth, alongside the shift in the job market, society will transform its values from admiration of the powerful and narcissistic to esteem for the empowering and altruistic. This will not be a society that worships superheroes, but one that honors those who bring it together in solidarity.

Fifth, preparing the next generation for life in the new world will require changes in the approach to learning, teaching, communication between teachers and students, and between students and students. As in society, so at school, the most commended students will be those who excel in helping their peers work together. The idea isn’t a novel one; it’s been around for more than a decade. Perhaps the best expression of the practicality of collaborative learning is a quote that patent lawyer Lawrence Ebert J.D. found in an essay about high-school cheating: “In no industry is collaboration considered cheating. Only in school is this a problem. What are we teaching our kids?”

We have very little time to make the change. COVID-19 is pressing and old certainties are crumbling. Fringe groups have become mainstream and extremities the norm. If the bailout plan begins without delay, it can take us across the water to the other bank in relative calm and safety. If we let the current carry us where it is going, we will drown.
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My new article on Linkedin “Where Have All the Chain Stores Gone?”

From high-end venues such as Neiman Marcus through discount retailers such as Tuesday Morning, to car rental giant Hertz, veteran businesses all over are filing for bankruptcy faster than anyone can update the list. Here are just some of the big names that COVID-19 either crushed or handed them the final blow: J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, Stage Stores, Brooks Brothers, J.C. Penney, Tuesday Morning, GNC Holdings, Lucky Brand Dungarees, Gold’s Gym, Pier 1 Imports, Hertz, CEC Entertainment, and this is hardly the beginning of the list.

The heroes of tomorrow will not be movie stars or Instagram icons; they will be people who bring people together, who promote solidarity and mutual responsibility.

It’s not as if the coronavirus started the trend. Just last year, Gymboree, Payless Shoesource, Forever 21, Diesel, and many other big, medium, and small retailers filed for Chapter 11. While it is true that these stores fell prey to the online commerce revolution, it is still a sign that we are seeing the end of an era.

Accelerated by the virus, a process of abandoning the brands and embracing the basic is happening the world over, with America as the trailblazer. It is not only that people’s need to show off their high end tech-gadgets and trappings is diminishing; they also need less of them. The coronavirus-induced lockdown landed a big blow on sales everywhere, and some recovery is to be expected, but the general trend is downward.

People are changing; they are losing interest in buying gadgets that are here today, gone tomorrow, and leave nothing but emptiness in their wake. Instead of stuff, people are beginning to look for meaning in more lasting engagements, and mainly in human connections. It is simply that life has become so cold behind the text messages, and so limited behind the cellphone screen, that people need some real connection—connection of the hearts.

The heroes of tomorrow will not be movie stars or Instagram icons; they will be people who bring people together, who promote solidarity and mutual responsibility. The most admired individuals of the emerging era will be those who quietly make others feel that heart to heart connection is what makes them happy, what gives them confidence, and what they would like to feel from now on.

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Question: Today, nature separates us through the coronavirus. In theory, considering our inner nature, it seems that we are supposed to enjoy it because everyone wants to be one of a kind, to show their individuality.

On the other hand, we are striving for communication, we want to get out of quarantine and begin life as before. What is the essence of this conflict?

Answer: Firstly, I don’t believe that our period is already post-coronavirus. We haven’t passed it yet and it isn’t known when we will pass it.

The coronavirus mutates, as all viruses breed and multiply, appear and disappear. People will seem to be getting ill again, but in fact, slightly different variations of this virus will manifest themselves in this way. Not soon yet we will part with the virus.

On the other hand, the virus separates us a lot. It gradually weaned us from being physically close to each other. I see how the queue is in public places now: at the post office, at groceries, at the box office, etc. Nobody crowds each other. On the contrary, everyone is trying to stay at a distance, not leaning against one another.

In general, this is commendable, since our past willingness to go literally over each other’s heads is bad, ill-mannered, and did not give anything except a false idea that we are close to each other.

The current state is more polite, helpful. Against this background, you can develop a real rapprochement between each other and feel that we can really be closer, but internally, more helpful, sociable, but on a different wave—more sensitive, coming from the heart, and not from the external movements of the body.

Therefore, I see a lot of positive, healthy manifestations from the coronavirus communications. Ultimately, the virus must show that we need to get closer internally, and then we will find the cure from it that we are looking for.

This is a new evolutionary stage in the development of our desires.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era,” 4/23/20

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Question: On one hand, the coronavirus showed how high the value of human life is, and on the other hand, how easy it is to inflict a blow on it. How do these two opposites fit together?

Answer: This is what always happens in life. On one hand, it is priceless; on the other hand, it is worthless. We cannot solve this paradox because we do not understand the true value of life.

It exists not on the animate level, but rather on the spiritual level, which is higher than the corporeal one because it is eternal, perfect. Only there can we compare, correlate, and weigh our lives and yearnings.

We do not really know anything about our earthly life. We do not know the meaning of our actions or the meaning of our behavior. We do not know what is really happening to us. It seems like we live, get up, go to work, go home, have hobbies, and raise children. What do we do in this life? Nothing.

Only if we seriously want to know the meaning of life and start to build our lives based on it and in accordance with it, then we can really say that we exist.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 5/17/20

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Question: We see that even being on his deathbed, a person continues to think about nonsense and does not change his values. It is scary even to imagine what scale the crisis should be in order to change us with its pressure. Who or what will make a person radically change the values of this life?

Answer: Changing the values of life is possible only under the influence of a higher power, a higher light, which lifts us above our world, pulls us out of purely animal desires. In this case, animal desires are replaced by human desires, proceeding from the next level of nature. Then we can talk about our growth.

And so in man the desires of our world prevail, nothing else. He simply does not understand what the Kabbalists are concerned about. He thinks: “If you live – live, if you die – die. What can you do? This is life.” And only if the higher light shines upon a person and under its influence does the person begin to think and make other decisions.

Who comes to study Kabbalah? Those people who have questions about the meaning of life. They are already from the next level, the so-called “faith above reason.”

We live in our flat knowledge: It is what it is. But there is still a level called “faith above reason.” It is not blind faith to believe, to be religious. This is the next level of perception of reality.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 5/17/20

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Question: Eventually, after forcing us to unite through a virus, would we need a method of connection, or is it enough for us to unite under the blows?

Answer: No, that’s not enough. Under the blows, you can only advance at the beginning when you are brought to the methodology. Afterward you would want to move yourself.

Therefore, movement without blows will become your permanent state. Moreover, it will not occur under the influence of blows, but under the influence of attraction to future good states—from your aspiration forward.

We still have a lot to learn in the method of our connection, and then we will just see how we can literally continuously rise in our understanding, in our feelings, in our confidence in ourselves and in the world. This is such an exciting prospect that you should not give it up.

Question: What should a person do in order not to wait for the next blows, but to move in a good way, without suffering?

Answer: To learn what he needs to do. To be integrally interconnected as possible with at least a small group of people because it isn’t yet possible with the whole world.

This way the person will avoid the blows. And further, try to attract anyone to this integral relationship, and in this move higher and higher together with those whom he attracts to unity.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 5/10/20

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Question: During the coronavirus epidemic, our planet has calmed down. It became less seismically active. The isolation of people in their homes and the fact that they do not work in plants and offices has allowed us to listen to the Earth and what is happening inside it.

Now scientists can finally make correct measurements. It turns out that human activity has caused all the unrest, anxiety, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, and so on.

Among other things, we know how nature reacts to everything. All of a sudden, in Santiago, Chile, a puma was seen walking around the city and a deer walking in the suburbs of London. Wild animals practically approach cities.

We wanted to invest billions, trillions of dollars in gradually restoring nature, planting trees, cleaning the oceans, etc. So, maybe these trillions should be invested in keeping people at home and nature will restore itself as a result? That is, to allocate funds for educational programs, to educate people all the time, for a lifetime. And nature will recover by itself.

Answer: Great idea. I totally agree with you. The main thing is not to put your hands in it. And everything will be well.

Let nature recover. Do not interfere and it will recover. You cannot imagine what it will do! The globe will rotate in a different way, the sun will shine in a different way, birds, anything you want, everything will change. We will measure the main parameters after a while, I am not talking about the atmosphere, and we will be surprised, it will be as if we are on another planet!

Everything that we decide, we decide through our egoism. Nature cannot handle it. We can do nothing good, nothing until we correct our egoism! And only after correcting our egoism can we act, to the extent of our correction, in the right way.

Most importantly, correct yourself and not nature. By correcting himself, man will step a bit aside from nature, and he will understand that he does not need to interfere in anything! Only to fit in beautifully into this integral picture of nature.

We do not understand its integrality, its perfection. We just need to turn off our brains, put away our hands, and stop using them until we correct our egoism.

Question: In what would you invest this fortune of money, donations that were spent on restoring nature?

Answer: In restoring human nature. That is, for training, for correction of human egoism. Nothing else! This is our biggest enemy, and it will not supply us with anything good in the future. And in the near future. Nature will smash us heavier than this virus.

How many billions, how much money, have we invested in our development, and you will see how now, in the near future, we will have to get rid of all this and leave only the most basic and necessary for our existence. And nothing more!

Question: Who can draw up such a program to correct man, correct his egoism?

Answer: It does not need to be made; it exists. We must now apply it seriously to all living creatures on Earth.

From now on, we must not do anything to another person if he does not want it. As Hillel said: “That which you hate, do not do to your friend.”

Imagine what the Earth will be like when we achieve at least this! This is only the first part of the program when you do no harm to another person. And the second part of the program is when you do only good to others.

Nature requires this from us. It will lead us to this. Today we are for the first time in the history of mankind at a level of development that has never existed!

The program itself does everything. Everything is resolved at different stages. It is being implemented, and everyone agrees. What can we do?

And now we do not need to ask what we can do but how we can help this program. How to approve of it and make it desirable. And then in every family, in every community, in the city, in the state, on the whole Earth, there will be a friendly atmosphere.

That is all. We just need to try and let nature work on us. We must understand and support it with our inner strength and aspirations so that all this happens.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 4/6/20

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Question: There are surprising statistics in China. A huge number of divorces happened while sitting at home due to the coronavirus. Then suddenly, other statistics appeared.

For example, in the city of Wuhan, where it all began, after a long period of complete isolation, the blockade was lifted, and it turned out that people want to marry three, four, five times more than usual. What happened?

Answer: People want a reliable partner because they have become convinced that home is important, and they will have to stay at home who knows when and for how long. They want to have a reliable partner with whom the person can really see himself sitting in such confinement next time because they feel that they are not out of this virus yet.

I feel that this is very important to them. And it doesn’t matter whether or not there will be a virus and when, but there is a need to be with a person who is reliable, good, convenient, simple, easy, with whom you practically do not feel confined.

Question: So it appears that the marriages that are being made now will be stronger?

Answer: Yes. These marriages will be stronger. Because the person felt what it means to be with the one with whom he was. These will be very interesting marriages.

How well they are going to be, I don’t know. But I think that a person, who has lasted a month or two with a family or even without a family, just with a partner in such confinement, already understands what he needs.

Question: So the recipe is, perhaps, not to get divorced, but to imagine that you will be in such a situation with your beloved. You will find yourself one on one; will it be good with that person or not? Is that the right way of thinking?

Answer: Of course, as it is with nature. The virus forces us to be integrally connected: I give to nature and nature gives to me. So it is with my partner: I give to my partner and my partner gives to me.

Question: And then the marriages will be strong?

Answer: Then I’m not afraid of the virus.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 4/13/20

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Question: Life before the virus gave us cars, mobile phones, modern medicine, all the benefits of mankind. Will humanity evolve in a new life or have we reached a peak?

Answer: No, we can continue to develop technically, but also socially.

Industrial, technological civilization has gone far ahead in comparison with social development. We remain wild animals and use all modern technology to suppress each other.

We need to develop good relations between us, and in this we are lagging behind.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 5/3/20

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The Reason for Hating Each Other

Question: Throughout the history of the development of the Jewish people, hatred has always manifested among them. It began in Egypt with the confrontation of the “mixed multitude” (Erev Rav) to the exodus of the Israeli people from Egypt. This confrontation continued in the desert between the tribes of Israel.

At the end of the 10th century BC, a division began between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which led to contention between them.

Later, the hatred that erupted in the ruling elite led to the destruction of the First Temple. Then there were the Maccabees’ war with the Hellenistic Jews, the split into parties, the fall of fraternal love at the time of the Roman Empire, and the collapse of the Second Temple.

In medieval Spain, the first inquisitors were Jews. In the sixteenth century, neglect and harsh statements on the part of the Jews toward the greatest Kabbalist the Ari were documented. At the beginning of the twentieth century there was a rabbinate prohibition on the publication of the books of Rav Kuk and Baal HaSulam.

This list continues on and on.

Today, the confrontation is already observed in the state of Israel itself, numbering about 50 parties of right and left blocs. What is the reason for the hatred between Jews?

Answer: This hatred is ideological, natural, and manifests on completely different levels. The fact is that the nation of Israel was assembled from representatives of all the peoples of Babylon, who, at the call of Abraham, formed one large group together.

Abraham called them to unity above all the contradictions that existed between them because of their natural origin, character, etc. People worked very seriously on themselves in order to become as one whole, as one family, or as one man with one heart. And they succeeded in it. In those days, everything was a little different.

In this way they moved forward for many years, constantly fighting within themselves to suppress their personal egoism and rise to the level of friendly connection with others.

Thus they went through a period called the “Egyptian exile” or captivity. Their egoism rose so much that they were practically detached from each other; egoism pushed them apart. This is the “Egyptian exile” when Pharaoh (egoism) rules over them. But then they managed to overcome their mutual rejection, which led to their exodus from Egypt and their subsequent unity, but at a different level.

In order to rise above the egoism that developed in them during the period of the Egyptian exile, they had to receive a new force from above, the upper light, the so-called light of the Torah, that is, the force of bestowal and love, the force of reciprocity and attraction.

They received it and started working with it in order to stay together. Every day their egoism grew bigger and bigger, and they grew above it each time. Gradual development of altruism above egoism, mutual connection above hatred, led the nation to unity in strength and volume, which is called the “Temple.”

In addition, their state was called the entrance into the Land of Israel. “Land,” “Eretz” comes from the word “Ratzon” and means “desire,” and “Israel” means striving for the Creator.

Having risen to such a level of connection, they could build a relationship between themselves called the “Temple”—a common home, a common heart. The people were in this state for a very short time since egoism in them was constantly developing. They could not resist it and began to move apart, until the Temple collapsed, which means the connection between them collapsed.

For more on this topic, read my books A Very Narrow Bridge: The fate of the Jewish people, and Like a Bundle of Reeds: why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour.
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From KabTV’s “Systematic Analysis of the Development of the People of Israel,” 7/29/19

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