From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 5/5/20

Humanity is moving toward an unprecedented crisis. There have been crises before—economic and social crises, when the ego of one country collided with another, or several other countries. But now we’re moving into a completely different type of crisis. We’re moving into a state where humanity must scrutinize, question, and in most cases discard everything that it has built in its entire history.

Everything we’ve built has been based on self-extolment. Now we’re moving into an era when solidarity is the only value that society appreciates, and consideration, the only trait humanity respects.

The coronavirus has exposed our interdependency. Gradually, we will discover that this mutual dependency runs much deeper than the pandemic; it is the very fabric of reality. Soon we will come to feel that anyone who is inconsiderate toward others hurts not only those he mistreats, but everyone and everything, since he is tearing the fabric of reality.

Realizing our interconnectedness will necessarily engender mutual care and consideration. The sooner we adapt to this mode of thinking, the sooner it will become our reality. The more we exert to be considerate to others, the more pleasantly, smoothly, and quickly will we transition to this pleasant life.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 5/4/20

As the world returns to what we call “normalcy,” to the pre-coronavirus madness, we must look for signs that we have learned something from the ordeal. Have we become more one? Have we become more like a family? Have we realized that the ties between us are unbreakable? If we have, we will be able to find our way through the minefield more easily. The mines—the obstacles our egos place in order to trip us—are certain to explode. We must be careful to stir clear of them and warn others not to go that way, too.

We have to use our ego; it is all we’ve got, but we must use it wisely. We must use our desire for respect and praise people who contribute to society and do not wallow in self-entitlement. We must use our desire for knowledge and laud those who help others learn rather than striving to outdo their peers. We must use our desire for money and commend those who help communities make wiser economic choices.

But we can do all that only if realize that we are one humanity, and COVID-19 has shown us that we are dependent on each other, for better or worse.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 5/3/20

The global decline in new COVID-19 confirmed cases shouldn’t mislead us. The coronavirus isn’t gone; it’s just preparing its next move. There is nothing medical that we can do to stop it from sending another wave, more vicious than the first. If we want to get rid of the germ, we have to tackle it at the level that created it: the level of human society.

Humanity has been operating on a paradigm that idolized unabashed selfishness. We admired people who were obnoxious to others and to nature, and turned those bullies into role models. It’s no wonder we couldn’t stop depleting and polluting our planet, since deep down we all wanted to be among those who were doing the most harm. They had all the money, power, prestige, and what they gave in return was lip service that we must curb emissions and guard free speech and democracy.

Nature exposed our hypocrisy and with a single whiff, shut down the world. Now it’s our choice to change how we treat one another and nature, build a new paradigm—of giving and mutual concern—and save ourselves, our planet, and our future. Nature is letting us choose, and the choice is very clear: heaven of friendship or hell of egoism.

[May 2, 2020, Concord, New Hampshire, USA: Children play at Reopen NH rally in Concord. Hundreds of protesters gather outside of the State House to protest New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu to end his stay-at-home emergency order at Reopen NH rally in Concord]

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 5/2/20

COVID-19 marks the beginning of a paradigm shift. Until the end of the previous decade, we lived with a mindset of the survival of the fittest. We couldn’t imagine anything else. The coronavirus revoked it categorically. And the minute we stopped spreading enmity throughout the world, the world began to thrive. The virus has shown us just how poisonous we had been toward our world. We would never have realized this, certainly not so deeply, had it not been for the lockdown imposed on us by the virus.

If we want to cure ourselves from the virus, it is not enough to look for vaccines or drugs. We must adjust to the new paradigm that the virus has imposed on us. Otherwise, the coronavirus, or some other menace, will haunt us until we change.

The coronavirus paradigm is a paradigm of giving. While it tells us to stay apart physically, it will give us no choice but to see to everyone’s sustenance regardless of their status of employment. It will force us to reshape our lives according to a more caring social model, one that regards humanity as a single entity whose members are all entitled to have food, healthcare, clothing, housing, and education. Gradually, people will come to enjoy contributing to the society, and society will come to appreciate its benefactors. Our values will change, our heroes will change, our priorities will change, and we ourselves will change. That new paradigm, a paradigm of giving, will be the legacy of the coronavirus.

[City of Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez loads up food and vegetables during a drive-through food distribution at Goodlet Park in Hialeah, FL, USA as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues on Thursday, April 23, 2020. The City of Hialeah, in partnership with Feeding South Florida, organized the drive-through food distribution. Food is distributed first-come, first-served while supplies last.]

Photo by David Santiago/Miami Herald/TNS/ABACAPRESS.COM]

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 4/30/20

Now that we’re no longer sheltering in place, the focus shifts from health to provision. Many businesses will not survive the coronavirus crisis since there will be no demand for them. Humanity is changing; many things we regarded as staples, we will now regard as superfluous luxuries.

Yet, those business owners need an income or they will not survive and social mayhem will ensue. The state has no obligation to fund businesses that have no demand, but it does have to provide people with basic means of sustenance. Therefore, providing some basic income for every person is a must.

Yet, this income is not to be given as freebies. COVID-19 has shown that we are all interdependent. Yet, we have no idea how to function in a society where everyone’s life is dependent on everyone else. People who have lost their previous careers to the virus will therefore learn about living in an interdependent society in order to become instructors of living in such a society. They will be trailblazers of a new social paradigm of mutual responsibility and solidarity. They will build a basis for a society that all of humanity will later join, since a few pandemics from today, all of us will be in the shoes of those who have lost their jobs today. Few will provide for everyone, and everyone will engage in connection. This is the synopsis of correction.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 4/29/20

Israel’s Independence Day often invokes reflections on the meaning of independence and whether we are truly independent. Evidently, we are not independent economically. In a globalized world, no country is independent, much less a country whose economy relies so heavily on export and import. Israel is also not independent in the military sense or in the diplomatic sense, since we are dependent on America’s support in both these aspects.

Yet, these three facets of our nationhood have never been the decisive factor in our being. Our strength was never in our economic, military, or diplomatic fortitude, but in our unity! The Jewish people formed when Abraham united people from all over the Fertile Crescent around the principle of love above all differences. The ancient Hebrews achieved independence from their innate hatred of each other and formed a nation that was based on love of others regardless of background, ethnicity, or faith. Only when Israel achieved this level of union and pledged to be “as one man with one heart” they were declared a nation. When Israel abandoned unity, they were exiled from the land of Israel.

Now that we are beginning our 73rd year of renewed sovereignty, I hope that this will be the year when we finally achieve true independence—from hating one another. Today, our very lives depend on this.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 4/28/20

As if someone switched off the lights, country by country shut off its gates. Incoming flights were revoked, ships were denied docking, and tourists were told to leave. Everyone went home and was told to shelter in place.

Then the animals appeared. Fish appeared in the canals of Venice, Italy; wallabies hopped in Adelaide, Australia; alligators strolled in South Carolina, USA; elephants marched in Chachoengsao, Thailand; sea lions barked at dogs in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, and sheep ran on the carousel in Raglan, UK. The list of animal sightings in places normally reserved to humans is endless but the trend is clear. Nature whipped us into our homes using the novel coronavirus, then conquered civilization and told us who’s boss.

But we don’t listen. All we want is to go back to our same ole same ole, the very same ole that got us locked down in the first place. Since we aren’t getting the message, we’re coming out of the COVID-19 crisis with the same spirit we had when we went into it—the spirit of unabashed entitlement and alienation from each other. So the next time nature strikes, it will have to lock us down more decisively and painfully until we say, “Enough! We’re willing to change.”

Nature is an encompassing network of forces that is guided by a single principle: balance. These forces act like a stern teacher: When we are stubborn and insist on pulling the wrong way, it forcibly pulls us back. The more obstinate we are, the more that pull hurts. When it hurts enough, we listen and learn, balance is restored, and joy sets in.

Regrettably, today we have become so self-centered and obstinate that we’ve stopped listening altogether, not only to nature, but to anyone or anything. As a society, we are narcissistic, immersed in self-entitlement to the point where we simply cannot see when we are harming others. In fact, even if we did, we would not care enough to stop.

This approach is so opposite from nature’s principle of balance that it is bound to pull it out of us by force. And the more we resist, the harder it will pull.

To change our attitude to nature, we have to start with one another. If we cannot be compassionate to our own species, we will not be compassionate to any species, plant, or land. We will simply not know what compassion means.

Luckily, we have each other to “practice” on; we can “exercise” compassion in our families, communities, and with our friends. We do not need to look far if we want to make a real change; we only need to look at one another.

There is nothing selfish or ill-meaning in the whole of reality; every animal acts according to its nature. The only exception is mankind. So let’s practice with each other how to become considerate, compassionate, perhaps even caring.

The change will not come from governments. In an egoistic society, policy makers are the top of the heap, the “crème de la crème” of egoism. We will not find refuge from self-centeredness if we wait for them to act. The shift must come from regular people who want to change themselves, who feel that human nature needs to be better, and who say, “The change begins with me!”

Then, when we have changed ourselves, we will change how we relate to everything—to all of nature and to one another. Only then will we be cured.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 4/27/20

The derailment of businesses and the collapse of oil prices indicate that we are moving into a different kind of economy where money has no value. It is not that we must replace dollars with gold, but something far more fundamental. In order to live in a sustainable world that doesn’t produce coronaviruses left and right, we must rethink our attitude toward nature and toward each other. And the worst part of our attitude is reflected in the current economy, which is based on exploitation of people, animals, plants, minerals, and even the air.

Instead of the current paradigm, we should appreciate people to the extent that they produce required products and social solidarity. Other than production of staples, we should engage in strengthening the social ties among us, the social solidarity and cohesion. These are the only “products” that will guarantee the survival of our species on the planet. Pride and prejudice will only lead to more natural and manmade disasters. It is time to start learning how to be human beings—connected and caring—rather than how to imitate celebrities who promote nothing but self-entitlement.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 4/26/20

Now that governments are “reopening the economy,” we think that things will go back to normal. This will not happen. Even if businesses open, the volume of activity will not return to what it was prior to the lockdown since people understand that many of the things they thought they needed were actually redundant. Governments may give incentives to individuals and businesses to reignite consumerism, but many people are losing the pleasure in shopping.

Now governments need to mobilize business owners whose businesses will not be sustainable after the lockdown. Instead of their businesses, governments need to “occupy” them in learning how to correct society and make it more connected. During the training, they will receive a livable allowance, and eventually they too will become teachers. The ultimate goal of governments should be to create sustainable societies whose people provide for everyone’s staples while individuals occupy themselves mainly in strengthening social solidarity.

We are moving from a paradigm of measuring success in terms of wealth, to measuring it in terms of happiness and satisfaction, and these will come from social cohesion, not from money. The faster we transition, the easier and more pleasant it will be on all of us.

[Pedestrians wearing masks walk past shuttered businesses on Broadway as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., April 25, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson]

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 4/24/20

Although most countries are beginning to ease up on their #StayHome and Shelter-In-Place orders, I do not think this pandemic will go away just like that. To overcome the virus, we need the rational and conscious participation of people, countries, nations, and the world. Nevertheless, I am sure that we are now on the right track. Finally, humanity is starting to seriously sober up from our selfish attitude toward each other, the world, and nature. We have a good future ahead of us. It will no longer be possible to return to the life we used to have.

No way! After the coronavirus, people will be different. The blow will change them. They will no longer jump impulsively on planes and fly half way around the world to buy accessories. They will be interested in a more in-depth attitude toward nature, toward each other, and toward themselves. Soon, I believe, we will open our eyes and see the whole picture of nature. We have a fascinating journey ahead of us. Every day, nature fine-tunes us more and more for a new attitude toward ourselves, the world, life, death, toward everything. I am confident that humanity will grow up in many aspects from this supposed blow.

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