Big offices will disappear. “Working from home” will be the norm. Big #cities will shrink, and offices will be converted to housing. Big companies, global business, big banks, and the financial system will disappear! #Banks will only finance commerce and manufacturing.
Countries will be self-sufficient.

What to expect: the falsehood of the current system is becoming obvious. The #unemployment rate will not fall. #Pension funds will not survive. Flights and meetings will not be restored. All meetings and conferences will be held over video. Mass #tourism will completely die out. Most #hotels will be closed.

Hatred can only be cured by love, which covers all transgressions. There is no love, but you can attract this force from above! We will have to learn to love. There is no choice! With many nationalities living in the US, a real Babylon, how can we come to a common agreement? Only through love…!

Love does not require intelligence. I simply love, no explanation. This should be clear to everyone of the eight billion people, it requires no preparation. Our generation is ready to listen and understand that the solution can only be found in love. Either we unite or die!

The #riots that broke out in America are spreading all over the world, and will not subside. New viruses and terror will come, all just to lead us to love. There is no reason to love, but I know that if I don’t, I will be finished, and so will this world.

In our time, only love can save us, that is, unity above all differences. Even if there is nothing I like about my child, I still love him! Love knows no laws: “love covers all crimes.” This is the kind of love we need to learn!

Revealing love means revealing that there is a force in the world that unites us above hatred. Thus, hatred becomes manifest in order for us to have the need for love. Without love, hatred cannot be corrected. These two forces reveal and complement each other.

We were told at mount Sinai: “If you don’t unite, this will be your burial place.” We are required to execute the law of nature—unity. Total unity is called “love.” Nature will bring us to it by any means! Therefore, salvation lies only in love—connection above any rejections!

What is the reason for the unrest that is happening now in America and China? The Creator wants to show us that the only thing we lack is love. We need to search and find this force of love, because only with it can we achieve such a connection when everyone will be happy!

We need to build life not based on the old model but in a whole new way. Anyone who is not currently an essential worker for society does not have the right to break quarantine. We must not return to the old world, but learn to live in a new world with the #coronavirus!

Currently, across many countries, #quarantine is gradually lifted, and people are happily rushing back to shops and restaurants. A week later they will see a new surge in infection rates. We are trying to return to the old life, but this is a big mistake that will cost us dearly.

The world has entered a period when every day there is a growing responsibility to start the correction. #Coronavirus, #unemployment, and other impending problems and unrest are compelling us to it.

Baal HaSulam: I merited spiritual attainment only because I cared about revealing it to my generation!
Unlike still, vegetative, and animate, at the Human level there is a special kind of egoism made by the Creator, which prevents me from perceiving things outside of myself as having the right to exist unless they benefit me.
Thus, the only way to correct it is by covering the opposite with the quality—the power of love!
From Twitter, 6/10/20

Related Material:
My Thoughts On Twitter 6/7/20
My Thoughts On Twitter 6/4/20
My Thoughts On Twitter 6/3/20

Filed under: Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 6/9/20

“E Pluribus Unum,” the US motto displayed on the official seal of the United States, is particularly relevant in today’s America in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. Its meaning, “Out of many, one,” represents the ultimate goal of any society, and the only cure to racial tensions such as those currently suffocating the US and numerous cities around the world. Is it possible to envision a future positive state from where we are, with society’s wounds still bleeding? Indeed, there is no other alternative.

Socialists, communists, capitalists, rich, poor, people of all the races, colors, backgrounds, and walks of life make up America’s melting pot—a modern-day Babylon with the same internal divisions and struggles that characterized that ancient civilization.

Humanity’s history has been wrought with intense wars and social struggles that erupted due to inequity, discrimination, racism, and xenophobia. All these ailments have one common root: human nature with its intrinsic desire to belittle and even annul the other for self-benefit. From generation to generation, as humanity developed, our egoism swelled until the gaps between us became pronounced and complex.

Today, we have reached such high levels of mutual hatred that if we do not pursue unity to compensate for our hostility, we will destroy ourselves. And based on our life experience, we know that transformational change is difficult because it requires that we leave our comfort zone against the protests of our ego which clings to the familiar status quo. Habits of prejudice tie us down and we resist change.

Because we always extrapolate from the past to envision the future, it’s difficult to imagine a bright tomorrow ahead of us. But if we view our current conditions as a fertile ground for a deep transformation, we will find an invitation at this challenging time to abandon our destructive past and move into a whole new level of coexistence.

Humankind is a family living in one household called Planet Earth, where we are entirely dependent on one another. Thus, we have no other choice but to come to an agreement and cultivate good human relations above anything that divides us—gender, race, religion, ideology, background, or interests. The goal should not be to erase our differences, but to use them as the means to reach a higher state where we complement each other to reach peace, understanding, and support.

In our day and age, hate cannot be cured by separation, and vice versa—separation will never lead to love. Hate can only be cured with love. Such terms as “love,” “inclusion,” and “unity” may sound delusional since no one truly wants to connect. It is against our nature—to receive for ourselves. Therefore, nature is pushing us from behind in the direction we need to go, pushing us the hard way to observe its laws of mutual responsibility and learn from them how to solve our predicaments.

When we look at nature, we see that despite the constant struggles for survival, its elements maintain an overarching balance that fosters growth and prosperity. Moreover, the struggles actually contribute to the healthy evolution of species. The interdependence of everyone and everything in a closed, round world, stimulate and advance the principals of equality and connection as in a close-knit family where every member is different and complements each other. That is the only way to maintain and ensure harmony and vitality for all.
The pressure of our globalized world represents the first time that nature demands from all of us, without exception, to understand who we are, the world we live in, and the urgency of harnessing the force of love between us. Even small steps toward unity and rising above our differences will make a huge positive difference toward becoming “Out of many, one”!

Filed under: Crisis, Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 6/2/20

Today (Tuesday, June 2nd), I had a conversation with a former high profile economist in Israel. The conversation touched on many subjects, one of which was tax evasion. To most people, not paying one’s full taxes does not seem like a big deal. But in fact, it points to a very deep flaw in our society: lack of concern for others. Because even if the government does not use the taxes it collects the way I think it should, it still spends it according to what it sees as the best policy for the public. If I don’t participate in funding the contribution to the public, I exclude myself from the public.

I once went with my late teacher, RABASH, to a doctor. It was a private appointment, which his health insurance did not cover, so at the end of the appointment I paid the doctor. When he sat down to write a receipt, I casually told him I did not need one. He looked at me very seriously and said, “Whether you need it or not, I need to write it,” because that way it is reported to the government and he pays his taxes for the fee I gave him. When we left his clinic, RABASH told me he was very impressed with the doctor’s approach.

That doctor, by his behavior, gave me an example of responsibility for the public. That is the kind of attitude we need to adopt toward the public today, and not only when it comes to taxes, but on any matter.

If we had regarded for the public, we would shame those who avoid paying their taxes. And because nothing is more important for a person than one’s self-esteem, the fear of the public’s contempt would keep people honest and would make policing redundant. Think how much federal or state governments would gain by this, how much they would save on policing, what they could do with the added money for the common good, or how much they could lower everyone else’s taxes if everyone paid their due amounts.

If we exercised socially responsible behavior, we would not suffer from half the problems that trouble us today. Road rage would be gone, crime would be radically reduced, mediation gaps would shrink to the minimum, consumer prices would drop, and everyone’s purchasing power would grow without earning another sent. Life could be so much better and easier if we would choose to shame those who behave irresponsibly toward the public, and praise those who behave responsibly.

Shaming is a terrible thing. But making a person ashamed of being bad toward the public is very, very good.

Filed under: Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 6/1/20

Hatred has overcome modern day Babylon. All over America, stores are looted and burnt, cars are torched, places of worship are vandalized, and people are beaten and shot. Who cares about the coronavirus now? When hatred sets in, fear is trampled, as is reason.

But if there is anything we should have learned from the virus, it is that we are all in this together. You cannot hurt another human being without being hurt yourself. We are living in a circular system, and what goes around comes around, invariably. If America does not wake up very soon, it will fade into the dust of history, as did Babylon and all other great nations of the past.

But America is not gone yet. Its numerous ethnicities are its biggest bane, but also its biggest boon, provided the nation rises to the challenge. For centuries, America has been unable to create equilibrium among blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics, or Native Americans. It tried harder than any other nation in history, but the chasms are too deep.

Now that the fantasy of evenness has been shattered, America must take the only possible alternative: let the differences be, and leverage their benefits. Now is the time to comprehend that hurting Americans means hurting America, that America is all its ethnicities, faiths, races, and colors, and without one of them, it wouldn’t be America.

Rising above differences in order to create a greater whole, a greater America, may not be what every American wants. But what is the alternative? The only option for America today is to find unity above the rifts and make America an example of courage to unite above hatred. Make the world see how people can make peace among themselves if they truly want to. Babylon, too, was overcome by hatred. Now we’ve come full circle and today’s Babylon also consists of countless fragments, which will either disassemble themselves and perish, or rise above their hatred and be the world’s beacon of hope for peace.

[Photo by Julian Wan on Unsplash]

Filed under: Coronavirus, Crisis, Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 5/31/20

The terrible wrong that was done to George Floyd, RIP, sparked a storm that who knows when or how it will end. But using this tragedy to justify killing even more people does not improve anything, and demolishing and looting other people’s property is also not right. Simply, you cannot fight for equal rights by doing wrong.

Currently, the chasm between blacks and whites in America is insurmountable. It is even more so in an election year, when each side tries to fan the flames of hate in order to gain political clout and win over votes.

Like it or not, America consists of blacks, whites, Hispanics, and countless other ethnicities from around the world. America now is like Babylon in antiquity, and will disintegrate the same as Babylon did, unless it acts fast. The solution to the problems of America, as odd as it may seem now, is not to change anyone, but rather embrace everyone’s uniqueness and celebrate the diversity under one American society.

America’s strength lies not in its military might or economic power. It lies in its potential to become a beacon of hope for convergence of nations and ethnicities. If this seems unrealistic at the moment, think how unreal shutting down the entire world seemed in January of this year. Moreover, once we did shut down our economies, look how quickly and positively nature has responded. If we dare to dream and act on our dreams, there is no reason human nature cannot change just as fast as all of nature did just now.

[A work by Lorie Shaull from https://www.flickr.com/photos/number7cloud/49943807607/
Caption: A man leaves a photograph at a memorial for George Floyd on Wednesday afternoon, after the death of Floyd on Monday night in Minneapolis, Minnesota]

Filed under: Crisis, Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 5/28/20

Today we’re celebrating the giving of the Torah. According to tradition, on this day, some 3,400 years ago, the people of Israel stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai and received the Torah. Incidentally, it is written that when Moses came down from the mountain with the Torah in his hands, it was written on two tablets. Afterwards, the Torah was written on parchment, then on paper, and finally on tablets again, so in that sense, we went full circle.

However, what’s really important is what the Torah is and why it was given. It is written that the Creator said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” In other words, the Torah is something that corrects, improves. The word “Torah” comes from the word Ohr, which is Hebrew for “light,” meaning a force, energy that changes our inclination from evil, self-centered, to good, namely giving. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, every other explanation of the meaning of the Torah is a myth.

Another myth concerns the intended recipients of the Torah. The people of Israel who came out of Egypt and received the Torah had descended from Abraham’s initial group. Abraham was not a Jew. In his days, there was no Jewish people. Abraham was Babylonian, and he found a way to mend the evil inclination that was spreading across his country, and offered his ideas to anyone who’d listen. The people who liked his ideas and united around him later became known as the people of Israel. When the people of Israel received the light, the correcting force called “Torah,” they were merely following Abraham’s legacy of correcting the ego, the evil inclination.

Therefore, the Torah is not for the Jews; it’s for everyone, since everyone is egoistic, and everyone needs a force that will correct us, since we clearly can’t correct ourselves. And the final myth for this post concerns the way to receive the Torah—the correcting force. According to Kabbalah, receiving the force has nothing to do with Judaism, and everything to do with unity. To receive the Torah, Israel had to unite “as one man with one heart.” Only after they did this, they received the force of correction for their egos, and once they united, they became the Israeli nation. So anyone who truly wishes to unite with all the people, to bring them all into the heart, will receive that correcting force, and that will be his or her reception of the Torah.

Happy Matan Torah to everyone.

Filed under: Facebook, Holidays - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 5/27/20

I can sympathize with the desire to reopen the economy and return to “normalcy.” The emotional strain of being locked down, the uncertainty and anxiety over the future, the loneliness of millions who live alone in their homes, all those contribute to the longing to resume social and commercial life.

Regrettably, if we reopen too soon and without required preparations, we will suffer terribly. The virus will return with a vengeance, fatality rates will dwarf those of today, risk groups will cover all age groups, and the social distancing will be far more severe and prolonged.

The coronavirus has shown us how alienated we are from each other. Were we not so alienated, we would not feel so lonely, uncertain, and anxious. We would be so much more resilient that we would be able to withstand a lockdown even for the entire duration of the plague. The stress so many of us feel now is not because of the virus; it is because of the emotional remoteness that plagued us long before the virus came. COVID only uncovered it and placed it right before us. If we want to heal ourselves from the virus, we first have to heal ourselves from alienation. Instead of focusing on business, we should focus on strengthening our communities.

When people do not feel alone, it is much easier for them to deal with stress and discomfort. We can and should cater to the vulnerable in our communities, see that they get what they need, and that they do not feel alone. We must remember that keeping COVID away from them means keeping it away from us, as well. If we practice mutual responsibility, we just might have a chance at fighting the most rapid pandemic to ever spread across the globe.

[Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash]

Filed under: Coronavirus, Crisis, Facebook, Globalization, Health - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 5/27/20

As reported on CNBC, “Spain is deploying a basic income to citizens to ease the coronavirus impact.” However enticing, some people say it is “an incentive to stay home without work.” The program is not intended for everyone, but rather to give the least earning and the unemployed a safety net that will guarantee their ability to provide for their basic needs.

I fully agree that in a reality of high, and growing, unemployment, it is necessary to provide a basic income to everyone. However, doing so without anything in return is a recipe for disaster. It is not only an incentive not to work; it will deprive people of a sense of purpose in life, the sense of necessity to struggle and advance. It will make them apathetic and a burden on society. And since there will be more and more people without income, a few years from now, this will be a huge social problem.

But Spain can prevent this dismal scenario from materializing if, instead of just giving money away, it will stipulate the benefits on participating in state funded courses. Spain can use these courses to direct people to jobs it wants to occupy, educate people about Spain’s history and culture and make them more connected to their country, as well as educate them about globalization and responsible social behavior in an age of pandemics.

People who attend these mandatory courses will either find new careers, become teachers themselves to the new arrivals to the government educational program, or go off the program altogether. Either way, they will have learned something that Spain wants them to know, and have become more connected to their homeland in the process. This will make future crises easier to go through and prevent social unrest in the immediate and near future. So in my view, basic income should be given, but only if recipients take classes in required jobs, understanding today’s globalized world, and where they can contribute to their country.

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 5/25/20

A few weeks after the coronavirus started to spread throughout China, South Korea, and parts of Japan, much of Europe and North America derided them for panicking over a new strain of flu. A few weeks later, South America, Russia, and much of Africa derided Europe and North America for the exact same reason. Today, no one is deriding anyone because no place is virus free. In fact, some places have already begun the second wave.

But in all this derision and pain, the best news I see is precisely that it’s everywhere. Now, at long last, we’ve got proof(!) that we are all in one boat. Now we know and feel that either we all swim out of the sea together, or we all sink.

I have no doubt that even as we return to “normalcy” and countries reopen their economies, many of the realizations we had gained during the lockdown will remain with us. Perhaps we will push them to the back of our minds, but they will nonetheless affect our thoughts, desires, engagements, occupations, and decisions going forward. When the second outbreak occurs, the experience will return to the fore, which will remind us of the realizations we had had and sink them in our hearts a little deeper. This, in turn, will take us one more step toward a life of more consideration, mutual responsibility, and connection. Eventually, the necessity to keep our distance will help us bring our hearts closer.

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 5/24/20

“In this moment,” writes journalist Anne Helen Petersen on BuzzFeed “the primary tension in America is how, and when, life is going to ‘return to normal.’ But that ‘normal’ was an economy that … was built on a form of consumption that felt compulsory, …a ‘normal’ in which the vast majority of people still felt economically precarious, burned out, …and most still struggled to cobble together enough savings to protect them from medical or financial catastrophe. A ‘normal’ in which the various manifestations of the gig economy — and the lack of healthcare, labor protections, or the general safety net that accompanies them — have been, well, normalized. So what if we don’t actually want to go back to that?” she asks.

Instead, Peterson argues that “Part of the reticence to reopen the economy is rooted in the very real fear of widespread infection. And part … is a manifestation of a desire to reject that old way of living entirely. There are different ways of being with each other as a society, different ways of caring and knowing and growing. As cheesy as all of that sounds, it’s certainly better than being told to do your part to save the country by going to Disney World or trying to distract ourselves from our exhaustion and fear by buying skincare products.”

As I have been saying since the outbreak of COVID-19, we are at the start of a new era. And that new era begins with rehab from addiction to consumerism and adoption of more pro-social, humane values.

The sooner we adopt them and usher in the new era, the sooner we will overcome the virus. Social distancing reflects our inner distance from each other, our alienation. But if we, as Peterson put it, reject the old way of life and start caring, we will not infect each other with viruses. Just as social distancing does not apply to families, it will not apply to anyone once there is no emotional distance between us.

Indeed, the old “normal” was anything but normal. It made many of us depressed, obsessed, obese, addicted, and lonely. If we only stop for a minute and reflect on our lives and what we want from them, I’m sure we can build together a new normal of connection, care, and solidarity, a world where everyone wants to live.

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Facebook - No Comments →