Question: We must constantly satisfy our desires. You said that when the quarantine ends, people will lose the need to satisfy themselves with all sorts of shopping, etc.

But we can see that now when a slight easing has begun, people have started flooding restaurants and shops to fill the accumulated void. I even know for myself that shopping therapy is a pleasant thing that is quite accessible to many. What is wrong with this and why should it end?

Answer: It’s not about whether it’s good or bad. I evaluate everything in relation to the goal that the individual and society as a whole should achieve. Therefore, I cannot say that we are acting correctly, behaving correctly.

Nature will have to correct us and precisely direct us to the final goal of development. And it is not sitting in cafes, restaurants, and bars or running around to sales, but working on ourselves, learning together how to get closer to one another internally, and creating a single system of ourselves, like all of inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature and the entire cosmos. We cannot even imagine how much they are connected in all their diversity.

Therefore, we need to understand that we should also be linked to this system and not look at it from the outside as some higher creatures, the masters of life. We need to know what is happening to us, what nature wants from us.

And it wants absolute unity between us so that we are as one person with one heart and, at the same time, connected to its inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels, adding to them our level of “man.” Then everything together will be one completely closed integral system.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era,” 4/23/20

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The Element of Freedom in the Rigid Program of Nature

Question: According to Baal HaSulam, the law of mutual guarantee is the basis for the interaction of all living organisms and is built on the balance between reception and bestowal.

Moreover, the law of reception is that each member of society tries to get everything he needs to live in the way his individual, egoistic system requires. And the law of bestowal is that each person cares about the welfare of the entire society.

If a person does not observe the law of bestowal, then he is hit by disasters and problems sent to him by nature. How can a person observe this law?

Answer: How to observe is one problem. And the fact that a person is obliged to observe this law follows from the image of nature that is revealed to us.

We see in front of us an absolutely integral picture: one single nature in which man is included with all his egoisms, scientific and anti-scientific “isms.” It turns out that we can not dodge and escape from the integral picture of nature. Whether we want it or not, we are inside this system and cannot exist outside of it.

This system is constantly evolving: from the inanimate level for hundreds of thousands of years, to the vegetative level for tens of thousands of years, to the animate level for thousands of years, and at the human level for literally decades. In other words, the higher nature is organized, the faster the stages of development occur in it.

The only question is when do we begin to discover ourselves in this system? We see that we are opposed to it for a very simple reason. We are not instinctively involved in nature because it affects us with the element of freedom.

We can agree or disagree with the way nature works on us, and to this extent, we determine our fate. It turns out that we are unhappy people. Nature is given to us, we can live in it, work, reproduce, create anything imaginable—unlike animals—on the next, conscious level. And we do not know what to do with it.

We create everything based on our natural egoistic nature, acting to the detriment of others and ostensibly for the benefit of ourselves. We do not understand that integral nature forces us to become different. For the benefit of oneself means for the benefit of others.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era,” 4/16/20

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Each spiritual action begins with a counteraction opposite to it, as “the advantage of light revealed from darkness.” Otherwise we cannot feel anything because everything is perceived only in contrast. Therefore, darkness precedes light, and confusion and misunderstanding occur before clarity and awareness. And this is so in everything.

Look at our life: how long will humanity suffer in order to realize the evil of egoism and finally decide that we need to free ourselves from it because it is the source of all our troubles. Although we don’t know how to do this, apparently we will be forced to turn to the Creator by all of mankind.

It is said “the advantage of the earth (desire) is in everything.” First of all, the desire should reveal the darkness, and only out of the darkness will we comprehend the light. This is exactly what is happening in our life.

The whole evolution of mankind was due to the growth of egoism. And today we have come to what is called the “last generation,” the generation of the Messiah (Mashiach), which is obliged to awaken a higher power that will pull us out of our selfish desire.

And we understand that we are not able to do this because egoism is our whole nature, our whole life. We do not know how to think differently and only reveal our evil, but we are not even able to imagine how to get rid of it.

Therefore, today’s condition is unusually important, unique, and has never happened in the entire history of mankind. Gradually it is dawning on us that it is no longer possible to exist as before as it has been for thousands of years. All our development has led only to the realization that we can no longer remain within the selfish nature and it is necessary to rise from it.

But where to rise to and how to do it? Kabbalists say “faith above reason.” However, what is it and how do we achieve such a state where bestowal becomes higher and more important than receiving? Man is not capable of this. And here we are aware of our complete helplessness and we understand that there is no hope except for our Creator.

Humanity begins to reveal that egoism is a force from above, and there is a higher power opposite to egoism, which we need to ask for help to turn the power of evil into the power of good, into anti-egoism. Then we will live well and happily in the new world.

But so far it is extremely difficult for us. It is easier for a person to believe that the world will cease to exist at all than to imagine that he can live according to the laws of an altruistic nature. How could it be that between everyone, in any place and any state, I only reckon with how much I can give to my neighbor, and not what benefit I will get from him?

Altruism is a different nature. If it clothes in us, then we will behave differently, and if not, then we won’t be able to. Therefore, the only way out is to realize that it is impossible to continue existing in a selfish nature and we must move on to a new, inverse approach to life. Everything that happens brings us to this. Let’s try to quickly understand that there is no other choice and that it all depends on our prayer.

Indeed, it is easier for a person to imagine the destruction and collapse of the world than one’s life according to the laws of bestowal. Our whole world is built on the power of egoism and its destruction will occur by the same egoistic force. There will be nothing new. We have already experienced terrible wars, disasters, and troubles in this world.

Somewhere in the world, some kind of misfortune is constantly happening, and everyone understands that the world could collapse. But at the same time, the same force of egoism will remain that is has led the world to death.

It is much more difficult to change the program the world works according to, the nature of the relationship between inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature and people, so that all of this works in reverse, in bestowing to one’s neighbor. Everyone should begin to reckon with others and take care of their welfare. This just does not fit in our head, it is impossible to imagine.

Indeed, for this I need to feel the desire of others and try to fill them. And this is the way everyone should act all the time. To do this, another program must be loaded into this huge computer, in the inanimate, vegetative, and animate world and people.

We cannot imagine that. No attempts by socialists and utopians to create such a world have been successful. Such a revolution can be accomplished only by the Creator, who will give us a different nature. This is what we should try to ask for, and as quickly as possible.

And if not, then the suffering that is now beginning to unfold, more and more decisively pushing us to rectify the world, will oblige us. But this is a very difficult, long and painful journey, full of suffering. In fact, it is called the “path of suffering”.

Let’s go the better way of the light. To do this, we need to draw the upper force from above to clothe in us. We need to demand, to ask, the Creator to give us the power of bestowal. Otherwise, we will not succeed. We will try to come to correction ourselves until we give up on this work. Then our cry will reach the Creator, and He will give us His altruistic force. This is called the exodus from Egypt, from our egoism.

But if we do not ask and do not oblige the Creator to help us, we will not be able to change anything and will suffer from our egoism more and more every day.

It is not necessary to hope that the coronavirus will disappear soon. It will not leave us, and in addition even more serious problems will come. Money, resources, and groceries will soon end—humanity will suffer terribly. And besides, hurricanes, clouds of locusts, floods, and drought are coming.

All of this is so we understand that only when we appeal to the Creator do we have hope to be saved from all problems and troubles. And then when we begin to turn to Him, we will understand that the main thing here is not getting rid of problems and misfortunes. Indeed they came for this to convince us to turn to the Creator. Therefore, it is a pity to ask Him for material benefits, it is better to ask Him to bring us closer to Him, because all happiness is there.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/1/20, Baal HaSulam, Shamati 34, “The Advantage of a Land”

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The general director of the World Health Organization said that false news spreads faster and is more contagious than the coronavirus itself. Therefore, we have to fight not only against epidemics but also against an “info-demic.”

The Secretary General of the UN said that the info-demic is our common enemy and offered to fight it together. What makes a person give out false and confusing information?

The fact is that we all live in a world of lies. Lies spread around the world and are passed from one person to another consciously or unconsciously. Everyone twists information the way it is convenient for them, hiding things that are not beneficial for them. That’s what everyone does.

It’s like the children’s telephone game: When the news is passed along the chain, not a single word of what the first person said reaches the tenth person. But when we grow up and become adults, we continue the same game, only the lies become much more serious.

Therefore, it is not surprising that our world is full of lies and you cannot rely on news that protects either the right ones or the left ones, stipulating the opposite side. Today, there is no independent media.

The coronavirus brought us to the fact that no one believes anyone because of false news spreading in all directions. The problem is that the media is no longer focused on the public, but is politicized, and it is conducting a war between the right and the left, between different interested groups.

Therefore, they always have money for this war; they no longer depend on whether the readers will buy this newspaper.

Today, newspapers do not depend on buyers at all, but receive funding from financial and governing circles. Therefore, there is no confidence in the information distributed in the media.

They print some unconfirmed medical reports about drugs against the virus. But why do people believe this lie and even seem to need it? There is a joke that if we now started eating only pure, organic food, we would be poisoned because we are no longer used to good, natural products that existed hundreds of years ago.

There is a great deal of truth in this joke, and the same applies to the media. We are not used to the truth, and every generation gets what it deserves. We accept the lie and enjoy it. We do not even pay for this false news; we get it for free. Lies beget lies: The generation is corrupted, and feeds on spoiled food.

But otherwise, there would be nothing to eat at all. So in the store we buy vegetables and meat, realizing that there are only chemicals and antibiotics inside, but there is no choice. You have to eat something. We live in a synthetic world.

No one needs the truth, after all it does not matter if a person would know it. The truth cannot be passed on, sold, or used if everything around is false. The truth in our world is like a foreign currency that is not accepted in this country in any store.

If I tell the truth in this world of lies, I will be known as a liar. This happened to King Solomon at the time of the First Temple. No one wanted to recognize him as a king. He made wise speeches, but everyone around him was so stupid that no one believed his words. Not until he reached the Sanhedrin, where the great sages gathered, did they already understand and recognize him.

In only one place in the whole country did they realize he was a wise man worth listening to. But today we do not have even one such place: not in the government, not in banks, not in any organization or party, and not anywhere else. Everyone is playing the same false game.

A Kabbalist lives inside his little world of truth and everyone around him thinks that he is irrational, detached from reality, and they do not listen to what he says. And that is a good thing because in the old days, the prophets were burned at the stake.

How is it possible to tell if the news are true or false? I follow the news but only in order to feel the trend of development and its speed. That is, I take into account not the news itself but its direction.

People are terribly confused by the news that spreads communications. In fact, this is not a means of communication but a means of disconnection.

What kind of correction should we make in society in order to return to truthful news? This requires a lot of painstaking work. After all, we are already used to eating spoiled foods, have learned to digest them and still feel good. The body is used to making corrections so that we even accept rotten food as relatively fresh. And if we consume really fresh food, we will have indigestion.

Therefore, here we need a very long way. And it is not only about food for the stomach, but also for the mind, soul, and heart. We must gradually get out of this lie with the help of integral education that the Kabbalists talk about. We need to explain to everyone that we live in a world of lies, and we need to get out of them because it is impossible to continue in this way.

The coronavirus will lead us to feeling the point of truth, to the final revelation of the falseness of life. We will see that such a life is meaningless and hopeless both for us and for our children. We are already approaching this insight. If we continue in the old way, we will destroy ourselves.

This end is already close because humanity understands that it has lost its way and direction and that there is no means to correct the situation; there is no cure for the virus. Or we decide that there is no choice and we must reveal the meaning and purpose of life, the correct way of existence, and find where the truth is in our life.

Human beings are the most intelligent, developed, knowledgeable, and have made our lives such that they are completely depreciated. And this is because we are guided not by reason, but by feelings, and cannot overcome our emotions by reason. Therefore, feelings play with us, pulling us in different directions, as they say, “Let’s eat and drink because tomorrow we will die anyway.” Let’s hope that this attitude will change.
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From KabTV’s “The World,” 5/26/20

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Question: Under the primitive communal system, basic desires dominated a person: food, nutrition, sex, safety. Then came the period of the era of civilizations, in which the desire of man for wealth prevailed.

During the Middle Ages, desires for power began to dominate. In the fifteenth to twentieth centuries, the period of the Renaissance, scientific discoveries, discoveries of new continents, etc. occurred marked by a desire for knowledge.

And now, in the twenty-first century, we see that we are at some new stage in the development of our desires. What are these desires? And for what?

Answer: In actuality we have come to a state where we have nothing more with which to fill ourselves. Absolutely nothing. Our world can give us nothing more. You can, of course, fight each other for a better place on the council, in governments, etc., but this is not growth.

Our growth has come to an end, since we have already mastered everything that is on Earth. And although we know little about it, we will not learn anymore, because we are closed in ourselves.

We are a thing in ourselves. The only thing we can do, and this is given to us as people living in our so-called world, is to reach the next level of the universe. But for this we must become one whole, if not completely, then at least to some extent.

As soon as we start internally getting closer so as to help each other ascend, unite into one common whole, we will immediately feel the integrity of our world. It will manifest itself in all of us, and we will feel ourselves existing at the next level of nature.

Question: But from what will a person receive pleasure?

Answer: From whatever higher levels of nature will be revealed, and this will fill him. This enjoyment of the integrity of nature, the enjoyment of how the different, opposite properties of nature complement each other and unite, will fill us.

Question: Take, for example, two people. One enjoys basic desires for food, sex, and family, and the second for knowledge. He can sit all day in the laboratory and spend all his life researching some bugs or inventing a vaccine, and this fills him. What is the difference?

Answer: It doesn’t matter. It is clear that everyone is engaged in what nature pushes him toward.

And then we will find a single whole between us and see that, acting each at his own level, we reveal the general integral force of nature, called the Creator. The comprehension of this force, which manifests itself in a variety of variations, but at the same time is one common whole, this is the source of the highest pleasure.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era,” 4/23/20

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Medium published my new article “Capitalism Is Over, What’s Next?”

It has been dying for a long time but we didn’t know it. We thought we were practicing it; we thought it was the most advanced economic system humankind has ever conceived, while in fact, it has long been kaput, or as Webster’s Dictionary defines it, “utterly finished, defeated, destroyed, unable to function.” Indeed, capitalism has been destroyed by the very force on which it intended to capitalize: the human ego.

We must develop a more inclusive thinking where we calculate our actions according to the benefit of our communities, cities, countries, and eventually the world, instead of only our own.

When it first dawned on humanity, capitalism was the right thing at the right time. It facilitated progress, healthy competition, and in many cases, a chance to build a good life based on one’s willingness to work hard. But for the past several decades, the link between labor and income has been shattered and crushed, replaced by financial wizardry and exploitation of financial power for political gain, and vice-versa. And just to demonstrate the disconnect, ask yourself this: If every industry and every service in the country is breaking record lows right now, how come Wall Street is breaking record highs? This is what a shattered link between labor and income looks like. Very few gain from it.

Now, thanks to the coronavirus, it is becoming evident that capitalism has run its course. I believe that the tide in stocks we have seen after the initial drop when COVID-19 first struck is the Swan Song of capitalism. Like the sudden apparent recovery of a dying man before the final collapse, Wall Street is currently celebrating. But it will be short lived. Very soon, it will begin its final decline. It may be a longer process or a shorter one, but either way, capitalism has run its course.

To me, the more troubling question is “What’s next?” Because if we are not careful, the signs are pointing to a new dark era. Radical forces are becoming increasingly brazen and seek to overthrow democracy and capitalism, and install totalitarianism. It may take the form of communism, fascism, or Nazism, but whichever it is, it will not benefit the regular folk.

Yet, this will happen only if we stay idle. It is evident to everyone that the world today is an integral system whose parts are all interconnected. Everything that each of us does affects all of humanity. In such a system, caring only for ourselves is a prerogative we cannot afford. We must develop a more inclusive thinking where we calculate our actions according to the benefit of our communities, cities, countries, and eventually the world, instead of only our own. If we are aware of this then we have no excuse to sit by and let events develop on their own. We need to spread the word that we are all responsible for one another.

The violent struggles we are seeing now are counterproductive to the cause of mutual responsibility since they only increase hatred and separation. Being interconnected and interdependent means we care for one another. And just as I wouldn’t act violently toward a member of my family with whom I disagree, so I must avoid violence toward others, on whom I rely, even if I do not like them for whatever reason.

I am not endorsing socialism, and certainly not communism of any sort. Nor do I have a particular political affiliation. My interest is the well-being of humanity. Accordingly, I am endorsing caring, mutual consideration, and mutual responsibility.

The resulting economic system after the demise of capitalism will be something we have never tried before, since we have never cared for one another unless they were family (and even then, not always). There is no clear outline to this new economy, since we have yet to begin to care for one another, but as soon as we start caring, we will know what we should do.

It is a bit like a first time mother. Until she has her first child, she has no idea how to be a mother. But as soon as the child is born, she suddenly knows. She feels what she should do because her love guides her motherhood.

The same is true for a society that is based on caring. Until we begin to build it, we will not know what it should be like. But once we take our first step, the knowledge will come through our care for one another.

It is possible, and it is urgent. If we wait, the radical, totalitarian forces will gain too much traction and set society off on the complete opposite track.

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Baal HaSulam, “The Peace“: Thus, I have evidently proven from the perspective of empirical reason—out of the practical history unfolding before our very eyes—that there is no other cure for humanity but the acceptance of the commandment of Providence: bestowal upon others in order to bring contentment to the Creator in the measure of the two verses.

The first is “love thy friend as thyself,” which is the attribute of the work itself. This means that the measure of work to bestow upon others for the happiness of society should be no less than the measure imprinted in man to care for his own needs. Moreover, he should put his fellow person’s needs before his own, as it is written in the article, “Matan Torah” (Item 4).

Question: How can we move from some pragmatic calculations that now in the time of crisis no one can put together, to understanding the connection and higher level we must take upon ourselves, which involves complying with the laws of the upper governance, becoming included in them, and helping everyone feel some kind of support?

Answer: Rising to the next level of perception of reality comes down to the fact that we enter the sensation of eternity, perfection, infinity, and most importantly, into a single, common, perfect, integrated reality.

If we begin to feel nature as an absolutely integral system, we will also know our place in it, where my cell is located in it. In this way, I will understand the meaning of my existence in relation to the great union of individuals, and everything will become clear to me.

The main thing is to separate yourself from your individualism, your egoism, and look at nature from an integral aspect so that you see the whole picture as one unified whole. This is a completely different perception of reality where I do not feel separate objects and phenomena but see the entire picture.

Then I can understand myself in a completely different way: Where am I in this picture? And I am not in it. I feel separated from everything. So, I am experiencing it incorrectly. It means that I am in a kind of unconscious state, detached from true life, from the whole vast picture of nature. How can I perceive it correctly? This is what I want.

And if I begin to perceive it correctly, I will see my place in it and discover what I lack to become integrally connected with everyone. It will become clear to me what my job is, what my duty is, what my connection is with the others, and how others are connected to me. I will come to the level of this eternal, perfect, integral, unified nature and  understand the meaning of it and my existence.

And right now, I absolutely do not understand what all this is for. I look at everything: it exists, it turns, and I am with them. But why, I don’t know.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 5/17/20

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As expected, the coronavirus will stay with us for a long time.

Many countries, seeing a decline in the number of cases, began to relax restrictions and remove quarantines. But as soon as this happened, a new wave of illnesses immediately arose.

There are many examples of this: the United States, Russia, France, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Germany, South Korea, and many others. Wherever the economy opens, the virus returns.

We need to prepare for the fact that we will have to live with the coronavirus for years, and therefore, we need to rebuild the economy accordingly. First of all, we need to find out which industries are absolutely necessary for life since we must provide food for all.

But 20% of the working population is enough for this, and the rest do not need to work. There is no need for designer clothes, expensive cars, or travel. The world should return to a normal modest life as it was before the 20th century, before the explosion of consumption and the development of many industries that are not necessary. If we don’t do it, then nature, the virus, will do it for us, and we will pay a much higher price for it, both in terms of money and in human lives.

80% of jobs will be ended one way or another, the only difference is whether it will be a spontaneous process, accompanied by huge losses, or we decide in advance that we are starting to reduce unnecessary production.

We see that people have stopped using and buying luxury or fashionable things that used to cost a lot of money, but were not necessities.

It’s okay if these businesses remain closed for a few months; still no one is buying anything. So why try to resuscitate them artificially? I’m sure people won’t rush into jewelry stores right now, even if they open them.

The state is trying to compensate everyone for their losses, but in a few months the money will run out, and then what will we do? Therefore, it is better to do the research now and understand that this is not a temporary problem, but a new form of life for a new society, a new family, a new state. It should not be like now when all sorts of interested circles put pressure on the state, and it opens the treasury to them and hands out money.

If we pay for the jewelry stores losses today, tomorrow there will be no money left to feed the hungry, which will be 50, 60, or 70% of the entire population. Now the main thing is to mobilize all forces and funds to provide everyone with the necessary food.

Water, electricity, gas, and food must all be completely accessible. Then you can think about clothing for those who need it. Open free public kindergartens and schools instead of paying for the jewelry stores that lost customers. Otherwise, we will empty the treasury in a few months, and that would be the end.

We also need a program that helps young families buy housing at an affordable price. It is necessary to build housing for ordinary citizens, and not speculate in apartments and land. This must be a real revolution, and it will happen anyway. The only difference is whether it will happen gradually, according to a well-thought-out scientific plan, or under the onslaught of an angry crowd that went out into the street to destroy everything around and establish a new order.

There have been no planned revolutions in history that were carried out on the recommendation of scientific experts. But now we see that there is no way out and we need to do something because it is obvious that if not 80%, then 40% will probably be out of work.

Those who will remain working must be provided with safe conditions so that they do not infect each other with the virus. After all, they are our breadwinners. The rest of us will stay at home and learn how to live in the new society. This new life is now years ahead, and we need to get used to the fact that we are not working, but learning. Study will be work.

This is an inevitability that we will have to accept, whether we like it or not—the coronavirus will bind us to it. We need to explain to people where this is coming from and why human society must undergo such changes, metamorphoses.

Humanity is changing and growing. We have already gone through a lot of changes and social formations in our history, and now it is time for such a change, which has not yet happened. And we must actively participate in it ourselves.

Before, formations were replaced spontaneously, because the time had come, from slavery to feudalism, then to capitalism. And now we are moving to the next stage, ceasing to live for the sake of earning, and starting to live for the sake of building a new person. This is a big revolution, because we are egoists and used to living by earning from each other. Now we will have to live to help each other—and this is a radical change.
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From KabTV’s “Global Perspectives,” 5/14/20

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Question: Did nature plan a pandemic to restore order in the world?

Answer: The fact that the coronavirus comes from within nature itself, like all other viruses, is clear to us. But the fact that we allow it to manifest itself is already our problem. After all, by our bad relationships, we ourselves cause all the imbalances in nature, and then viruses appear.

It does not matter how it started. Why do we need to know? If we are in more corrected states with each other, no negative qualities of nature will have control over us.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 5/3/20

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Thrive Global published my new article: “Corona – the Virus That’s Reprogramming Us”

By forcing us to rely on one another for our health, the virus is teaching us that we can trust one another, that we can build supportive communities, and that we can find pleasure in people more than in stuff.

We may not notice it because it’s who we are, but the way we think about life, the things we want, value, prefer, our aspirations, manners, fears, reactions, all those are “programmed” into our psyche through the social environment we live in. When COVID-19 forced itself into our lives and locked them down, it affected all of us. To some, its impact was physical, but to everyone, it is emotional. The social and behavioral implications that the coronavirus has wrought are just beginning, but they will be far reaching and enduring. We have entered a new era. The sooner we adapt, the better for all of us.

The coronavirus will not let us return to unbridled consumerism, to unchecked exploitation of the planet and each other.

Even if we want to return to our previous way of life, the presence of the virus will make it very difficult. Wherever we go, there is a chance we might catch the virus or transmit it to another person, even if we wear a mask and keep our distance. Gradually, the virus is forcing us to reconsider things we used to take for granted, such as going out to bars and restaurants, hopping a plane to go on vacation, buying new gadgets just because they’re new or because our friends have them, etc.

By forcing us to behave differently, the virus is actually “reprograming us.” Who would have thought just a few months ago that we could envision a life that’s not an endless pursuit of immediate (yet dissatisfying) pleasures? But now, if we only had our basic sustenance guaranteed, many would gladly opt out of the bandwagon and say, “Stop the world, I want get off,” to paraphrase on Leslie Bricusse’s musical.

The coronavirus isn’t yet another epidemic. Just like a computer virus, it is reprogramming our operating system and changes our very essence. But not in a bad way; on the contrary, it is slowing down our lives so we may discover hidden pleasures that we’d missed before. By forcing us to rely on one another for our health, the virus is teaching us that we can trust one another, that we can build supportive communities, and that we can find pleasure in people more than in stuff.

The coronavirus will not let us return to unbridled consumerism, to unchecked exploitation of the planet and each other. It will teach us how to build a good, sustainable life for ourselves and for our children. If we follow its directives willingly, we will complete the transition quickly and easily. If we remain obstinate, we will complete it painfully and slowly. Either way, COVID-19 will win. It will force us to lock up what’s not essential for life, and open up what’s essential for happiness.
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— Published on July 3, 2020

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