Medium published my new article “The Day After the US Elections”

We have almost arrived at what Americans call “money time.” A nail-biting election campaign to many is coming to a zenith with the US election day, when the course that the country will follow will be determined. Public health and safety, great economic challenges, the coronavirus, social fractures, and natural calamities are only some of the concerns afflicting the Americans. My piece of advice to whoever wins the election is, first and foremost, to gather America’s leaders together from every state and territory in order to reach a unified decision on how to eradicate the coronavirus from society and the virus of hatred from people’s hearts.

As soon as the lights of the campaign are turned off and the day after begins, America should make haste to rid itself of the mutual animosity that has taken over the nation and to build together an umbrella of unity and love that covers the whole society with a warm spirit of consideration and concern.

With more than 90 million ballots already cast nationwide, the massive early in-person and mail-in voting has already surpassed two-thirds of the ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election. This remarkable level of engagement is paralleled globally as countries around the world follow the American elections as if they were their own, since so much is at stake internationally — in trade, cooperation, development, security, and the advancement of peace, among other things.

Domestically, it is clear that eradicating the Covid-19 pandemic should be the number one priority. A nation free from the grip of the coronavirus will have not only positive repercussions for people’s physical well-being, but it would also provide the foundation for building a mindful and productive society where all basic needs are covered. In the meantime, American society seems to be nearing a boiling point. The nerves of the people are so frayed and circumstances so volatile that any issue could ignite the powder keg of people’s increasingly extreme attitudes from one side or the other right after the election. Therefore, unifying the fragmented pieces of the society is of paramount importance to attain social stability.

Once a special multidisciplinary board of experts is formed by whoever is elected, including leaders of religions and beliefs, economists and scientists, politicians and journalists, all without exception, I would advise them to select a few cities in different parts of the country to pilot test implementation of programs aimed at unifying people above disparities. As test cases, their progress would need regular monitoring and evaluation in order to see what adjustments are needed amidst all the various kinds of situations that might surface, in order to create, sustain, and grow a positive cohesive atmosphere. There is no downside to implementing such an experiment. Rather, it holds the potential to create a new model for far-reaching improvements in social health and collective happiness.

As deepening polarization has given rise to more and more outbursts and anxiety in America, it is precisely this bleak landscape that can act as the necessary backdrop against which to display a new positive shift. I do not think a simple gentleman’s handshake will ease the tensions between factions of the political spectrum. The deep chasm between sides will require a deeper insightful and more fundamental solution. It is not realistic to expect this kind of ideological change overnight or to try to impose one view over others; everyone must be welcome to remain with their own positions. What will make a difference in unifying American society (or any society) is learning how to gain the ability to rise above the differences for the common welfare.

I indeed see a lot of potential in American society — its pioneering and innovative spirit, its values of equality and freedom of expression, and its vast influence throughout the world — to face the challenge of the social division it is experiencing and to realize that in unity everything will become much better for all. In short, as soon as the lights of the campaign are turned off and the day after begins, America should make haste to rid itself of the mutual animosity that has taken over the nation and to build together an umbrella of unity and love that covers the whole society with a warm spirit of consideration and concern.

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My new article on Linkedin “Charlie Hebdo – Freedom of Expression or Freedom to Spread Hate?”

Democratic countries often put the right for freedom of expression on a pedestal. But what if that right is used to spread hate; is it still permitted then? Many countries in Europe guard free speech with champions of liberal ideals, and Charlie Hebdo magazine is one of them. Yet, since human nature is filled with hate, when you let people express themselves without constraints, they express hate. When freedom of speech means freedom for hate speech, then freedom of speech must be restrained. Charlie Hebdo’s caricatures of Mohammed constitute hate speech, and must therefore be banned. Nothing justifies murder, but at the same time, an institution that systematically spreads hate should be shut down; it has no right to exist.

If we want to live in a sustainable democratic society, we must make it a law that hate speech against anyone, a nation or a person, is strictly forbidden.

Whether we realize it or not, humanity is one entity. The various religions, belief systems, races, and cultures are all organs of a single being, and each organ expresses a different facet of that entity. Although the organs of this entity detest one another, they are still connected. In fact, the whole purpose of the hatred is to impel us to consciously build care and love for one another, and come to want to be one entity. Therefore, spreading hatred amidst the organs of humanity is tantamount to poisoning the body. If one organ spreads hatred, it does not justify other organs doing likewise.

When we mock someone else’s belief, we do not contribute anything to humanity; we only increase disunity, hatred, and violence. And more than anything, we expose our own makeup. While it is no surprise to find that we are hateful of each other, boasting about it doesn’t help mend it. Since the purpose of the hatred is to impel us to build the opposite, intensifying the hatred between us is counterproductive to our whole development as human beings.

If we want to live in a sustainable democratic society, we must make it a law that hate speech against anyone, a nation or a person, is strictly forbidden. Currently, even where there are such laws, they are not enforced assertively, and they must be; they are imperative to the stability of society. If you want to express love, express as much as you want. But if you want to express hate, keep it to yourself, society has plenty of it already. And worse yet, you are only fueling the hatred of your enemies for you. Nothing good will come out of it; only pain, death, more pain, and more death.

In today’s world, only those who rise above their hatred and strive to love will win. We are in an era where everyone is connected, and only positive connections last. Negative connections disintegrate and fall apart. If you wish to win, win people’s hearts. This is all we need today.

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Medium published my new article “France, the War Was Fought While You Were Sleeping”

While everyone in the Western world is expressing shock at the recent murders in France by extreme Islamists, I wonder where all those pundits who are so quick to offer condemnation and advice were all those years while they were building the problem that has now exploded. For the past four decades, France has admitted millions of Muslims without assimilating them into society. They have given them every privilege without any obligation, and now they are surprised that the refugees have become owners of the country. What were they thinking? It is time for France to wake up and realize that there is no clash of civilizations anymore. There was, but the French slept through it and it’s been decided against them in their absence. France will become a caliphate, and the rest of Western Europe will follow.

In their ignorance, Europeans let more and more Muslims into their countries, as did America, and now they have to deal with a population that, by definition, does not seek to integrate with them or become like them, but to dominate them and convert them.

Not all Muslims are violent, of course, but Islam mandates its expansion throughout the world. In the end, the whole world must be painted green, the predominant color in Islam. In their ignorance, Europeans let more and more Muslims into their countries, as did America, and now they have to deal with a population that, by definition, does not seek to integrate with them or become like them, but to dominate them and convert them.

Western leaders cannot claim they didn’t know that this was the plan since no one ever tried to hide it. It is written in every book on Islam, proclaimed by every Muslim leader, and expresses itself in their policies. Pluralism is great and freedom of religion is admirable, but blindness to overt, announced hostile intentions? This catastrophic folly will lead to the demise of Western culture.

Today’s Muslims feel so confident, and are so motivated, that Macron’s resistance only emboldens them. His struggle will only lead to more violence, to giving Muslims more privileges, and will show who is the real boss in France.

All this, of course, is bad news for French Jewry, the largest Jewish community in Europe. Jews should not stay in Europe. I am not sure where they might go, but they should not stay there. America is not an option for them; the situation there is already very bad for Jews and quickly worsening, regardless of the outcome of the elections. Some of them may go to Canada, some to Israel, but whatever the case may be, European Jewry is a thing of the past; the little that’s left of them will dissolve and dissipate.

Despite the great dismay, there is a reason for the turmoil. It is how things become scrutinized. Granted, it’s a very painful way, and there are other options, but humanity’s obstinacy leaves no options but to go through it the hard way.

The end result of the increasing tumult is the unification of humanity. The connection between Islam and Christianity, for example, could have happened in much calmer ways, but when all you want is to exploit and dominate, you end up losing. It’s happened to every country that’s ever ruled. When your power weakens through complacency and hubris, the governed overtake the governor, as is happening now in France.

I am not at all concerned about the positive outcome of the process. In the end, humanity will connect and become one entity whose parts work in harmony and reciprocity. However, it pains me that we have to get there so slowly and so painfully.

We are entering a new era, which Covid has “launched.” Despite the dismal outlook, there is much we can do to go through transition (relatively) peacefully. If we focus on connection, and relinquish some of our obstinacy, perhaps my morose prediction will not materialize. If we realize where we are, and accept that our only escape is unity, we will (for once) align ourselves with the trajectory of evolution and the power we will muster through our unity will change things for the better. We will not need to fight against Islam or against anyone else, but only against our own unwillingness to connect.

Nature will connect us nonetheless, through war and bloodshed or by our own volition. How it does so is our choice to make.

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My new article on Linkedin “When Old Values Die, New Ones Are Born”

Nothing was more important to us than stuff. By “stuff,” I don’t necessarily mean objects or accessories, but everything that distinguishes us from others, that makes us special, unique. When Covid came, it locked us up in our homes, made us virtually invisible, or rather, visible only virtually, and rendered almost all our “stuff” meaningless. But since we can’t live without values, because then we’re no different from animals, we’ve started to develop new ones. Now, gradually, as we are compelled to give up on the pleasure of getting respect and admiration as we learn to enjoy positive, reciprocal connections with others.

The atmosphere in the streets and in the media may be the complete opposite, but there are undercurrents paving the way to a new reality. The war on the outside marks the final breaths of the old world, where each one was for oneself.
The atmosphere in the streets and in the media may be the complete opposite, but there are undercurrents paving the way to a new reality. The war on the outside marks the final breaths of the old world, where each one was for oneself.

No beginning is easy, and certainly not the beginning of a new reality. But the sooner we realize that we cannot go back, not now and not ever, the quicker and easier will be the transition. The old values have brought us competition, corruption, exploitation, and pollution. They caused depression, obsession, alienation, and isolation. They also brought us the coronavirus, which is finally killing them one by one.

Suddenly, we must think of other people, and they of us. In the process, we are discovering how good it is to communicate rather than to compete, to give and receive rather than to take and give up, and to connect rather than to alienate.

Those who are currently fighting for their own rights will lose. Those who are fighting to unite everyone above all the differences and all the hardships will triumph. Perhaps not in person, but the way of connection will defeat the way of separation; it is simply that the time for it has come.

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My new article on Linkedin “Disinfecting Our (Social) Environment”

It will take a while but in the end, we will understand that vaccines aren’t the cure for Covid. It is with good reason that the virus keeps changing, that it keeps affecting us in different ways, and that its impact is growing more severe. SARS-CoV-2, aka the “novel coronavirus,” is no ordinary virus. It is the first “spiritual virus” in the sense that it is created by, and feeds on the spirit among people. The more anger, struggles, and rejection thrive among us, the more virulent and violent the virus will become. It thrives in an atmosphere of hatred.

Since the emergence of the virus, tensions have increased throughout the world. Social tensions within countries have become violent clashes; international tensions have intensified; and at least one war has already broken out—in the Balkans. These are treats for the virus. The hatred makes it impossible to beat.

The only way to disinfect the world from Covid-19 is by disinfecting our social environment from hatred. Hatred is the real pollution, and pollution creates diseases. Athletes often use the Latin phrase Mens sana in corpore sano, which means “a healthy mind in a healthy body.” What is true for an individual is just as true for society. If we want to be well physically, we must heal our bodies, as well as our environment, and that includes our social environment.

Just as we wouldn’t want to live in a dirty environment, in a city where the streets are filled with trash, we shouldn’t live in a dirty social environment, where people’s thoughts of one another are, well, trash. Currently, we pay no attention to the quality of our social environment. As a result, the trash comes back to haunt us. If we want to heal our bodies, we must heal our bodies, our environment, and our social environment equally.

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My new article on Linkedin “The Latest Scheme to Divide Israel – Cantonize It”

The latest whim among those who want to see Israel disintegrated is to split it into cantons. “It makes perfect sense,” they exclaim, “We will be like Switzerland!” And why not? Those who want a liberal lifestyle will live in the Tel-Aviv canton, those who want an Orthodox lifestyle will live in the Bnei Brak canton, and so on and so forth. Everyone will have their way and we will all be happy.

The divisions between us will not vanish; we will never agree. But they must not deter us from striving for unity despite them. If we strive for unity as a value in itself, a worthy goal we must achieve, even if only so as to serve as an example, we will find that our rejection of each other is but the reason and the impetus to form unity and solidarity. Without the hate, we’d have no need to build love. Without rejection, we’d have no need to forge connections. And without connection, we are not a nation.

If we do that, we might as well pack up and leave now. We didn’t come to Israel to live in separate tribes; we came here to reunite the Jewish people. We can’t expect 2,000 years of exile not to leave its marks on all of us, but if we don’t want to revive our common identity, we might as well leave now because it defies the purpose of our coming here, and the meaning of being Jewish.

Jews have never been similar to one another. Our forefathers were outcasts from various tribes, and believed that only when we rise above our differences we can achieve true unity. King Solomon called this motto, “Love will cover all crimes” (Prov. 12:10), and RASHI explained that Rabbi Akiva’s motto, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” is the great rule of the Torah.

In other words, we weren’t meant to let our separateness remain, but to rise above it and unite. The whole world consists of separate nations that have no idea how to unite. They fight each other to death; they’ve been through two world wars; they are well on their way to another one, and no one knows how to prevent it. The only way this can be stopped is if people find a way to unite above their inherent and immutable differences.

We, the Jews, were the only ones who ever attempted it, when we first formed the nation, and the only ones who succeeded, albeit for very short periods and with countless clashes in between. Nevertheless, that successful attempt, or perhaps better defined as “effort,” has earned us the mission to be “a light unto nations,” to show the way to forge unity among different and hostile peoples.

Subconsciously, this is why the nations voted in favor of establishing a Jewish state in the land of Israel in 1947. The Holocaust was certainly an impetus, but we shouldn’t be so naïve as to believe that countries that wouldn’t let in pleading Jewish refugees before and during World War II had suddenly become philo-Semites when it ended.

Despite its innate dislike of Jews, the world has given us a sovereign state, a chance to reestablish our nationhood. And since our forefathers were aliens who united, when we are not united, we are aliens. If we embrace our alienation and divide the country into cantons, we will admit that we are unable to connect, the nations will feel that we have given up on the effort to unite and set the example of unity above hate they so desperately need, and that will be the end of the State of Israel.

The divisions between us will not vanish; we will never agree. But they must not deter us from striving for unity despite them. If we strive for unity as a value in itself, a worthy goal we must achieve, even if only so as to serve as an example, we will find that our rejection of each other is but the reason and the impetus to form unity and solidarity. Without the hate, we’d have no need to build love. Without rejection, we’d have no need to forge connections. And without connection, we are not a nation.

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My new article on Linkedin “Is It Too Late for American Jewry?”

American Jews used to think that antisemitism in America existed only on the fringes of the Right. But currently, you find more of it in the mainstream Left. In all likelihood, however, the Left and the Right will unite around the one thing they have in common: hatred for Jews. American Jews are waking up, but by the time they realize that they are reliving the pre-Holocaust days, it just might be too late.

A recent AJC survey highlighted two points indicating that Jews are finally waking up from the illusion of safety. 1) “More than 93% of Democrats, 87% of independents, and 75% of Republicans say antisemitism infects the nation. At least 80% of Jews of all denominations … point to the uptick, as do at least 86% of Jews of all ages.” 2) 31% of American Jews “say they have tucked their Star of David pendant into their blouse, removed their kippot [yarmulke], and avoided publicly wearing, carrying, or displaying other things that might help people identify then [sic] as Jewish.” Additionally, “A quarter of respondents say they avoid certain places, events, or situations out of concern for their safety.”

Antisemitism has been creeping from the fringes to the mainstream in America for several years, but the pace has picked up in the last year or two, and I anticipate that after the election it will become “in vogue” to hate Jews. When that happens, progressives and liberals from the Left will suddenly find common ground with Neo Nazis from the Right, and everyone will agree that they do not need to fight among them since the Jews are the source of all their troubles, Jews are the ones setting them apart, and from here on they’ll know what to do.

If the Jews expect the government, any government, to protect them, they’ve got another thing coming. There is no political sense in supporting Jews: If they restrain antisemitism, then the half of the nation that’s lost the election will turn against the government. But if they can pin the nation’s troubles on the Jews, then what better way is there to unite the nation? This is the exact same ploy that Hitler and numerous rulers before him used in order to unite the nation and divert criticism from the government to a vulnerable minority that everyone hates and envies anyway. The Jews, once more, will become expendable.

Unlike Germany in the 1930s, American Jews, remembering the Holocaust, are very active in resisting antisemitism. They protest, establish defense organizations, and lobby on Capitol Hill. But none of it will help. American Jewry has come to symbolize capitalism in its worst form, where money is all that matters, and when you’ve got it, you “make the world go round.” As long as this is the image of Jews in America, they don’t stand a chance against antisemitism.

Jews should engage in one thing and one thing only: connecting with each other. They have to connect among themselves in order to be an example for the rest of the world. Jews have given the world the most important motto of all, the epitome of altruism: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if they don’t exercise it, or even try to move in that direction, the world has no need for them and it will opt to carry on without them.

I have been warning American Jews for nearly two decades that their fate would be horrible unless they united and became an example of solidarity. I have written two books about the consequences of disunity and its essential role to the people of Israel, Like a Bundle of Reeds: Why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour, and The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, Historical facts on anti-Semitism. I published hundreds of articles and essays, and given dozens of lectures, live and through the internet, throughout the US and Canada. Despite all the historical evidence I had presented, and despite all the quotes where I had shown that our sages throughout the centuries cautioned that unity is our only hope, hardly anyone listened, much less embraced unity as a solution to our problems.

Now, finally, American Jews accept that there is antisemitism, but they still refuse to believe that they have a solution to it. They think that antisemites can choose not to hate Jews, and don’t realize that it’s their hatred of each other that excites the world’s hatred of them. By the time they realize that all they need is not to hate each other, the world might be too engrossed in accusing Jews, too excited about the discovery of the cause of its troubles. I pray that I am wrong, though history, I’m afraid, is on my side.

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My new article on Linkedin “Jews Can Be the Key to American Unity”

Could anyone imagine the day would come when Jews in America would need to hide their religion and cultural background? In America—the land of freedom and endless opportunities, the melting pot where people from all walks of life could converge and coexist in mutual respect—as the Founding Fathers conceived it. How can we now come to terms with the fact that 24% of American Jews say they avoid wearing a Star of David pendant, kippah, and any other Jewish symbol in public out of concern for their safety? This is the disturbing reality revealed by the most recent survey on attitudes of American Jews about antisemitism. Food for serious thought.

“Deep anxiety among US Jews & lack of awareness among the general public about the severity of antisemitism in the US” is revealed in this year’s report conducted by the American Jewish Committee. The survey’s release coincides with the second anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting. The still-bleeding wounds of hatred against Jews are evident in the ongoing attacks on college campuses and hate crimes committed across the country. In fact, nearly nine out of ten respondents believe that the cancer of antisemitism is a worrying problem in the US.

Would trying to avoid being identified as Jewish help us escape from being the target of antisemites? No, because the number of haters is bound to multiply. Divisiveness, clashes, and increasing hostility within American society are the breeding ground of a deep crisis at all levels. America is a very dynamic nation. The effects of the pandemic have damaged and destabilized the economy. Public health and social instability are only some of the concerns afflicting the American public. The mass media in the US is powerful and very influential in heating up the environment. All these elements combine to create an unstable situation in which people’s nerves are so frayed and circumstances so volatile that any issue could ignite the powder keg in the blink of an eye.

In such uncertain conditions, it is entirely feasible that we will see in the near future, unanimous agreement in the entire American population that Jews are to blame for the severe blows the nation may suffer in both the political arena and in the socioeconomic spectrum. Current trends indicate that street protests and pogroms may not be a rare occurrence. It seems less and less farfetched that a new Holocaust is looming on the horizon. I say this in all seriousness. Certainly, some may be in a state of denial, just as it was in Germany when the majority of Jews refused to believe the Final Solution was imminent.

How could another Holocaust be possible? History has taught us the hard way that when things go wrong in society, sooner rather than later, Jews will be blamed and persecuted. However, before the situation comes to this, Jews have the ability and opportunity to apply a special preventive treatment: to rise above all differences and unite. And this must take place regardless of any political preference or other consideration. Instead of allowing politics to divide us, we must come together in solidarity and cohesion. As it is written in the book Maor VaShemesh, “The prime defense against calamity is love and unity. When there are love, unity, and friendship within Israel, no calamity can come upon them.”

American Jews from all sides of the political scene have become so alienated from one another that each faction feels that the other behaves against the interests of the Jewish people and against our core values. Ironically, the greatest of Jewish values is unity above differences! It is famously stated as the greatest law of Torah, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

The inability of Jews to rise above differences of opinion plainly shows how distanced we have become from our true heritage. This colossal lapse must be mended quickly not only because it is our true goal as a people, but because our error in oversight puts us in grave and immediate danger. We may have different political opinions, but we are all Jews, and for antisemites, that is enough.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains that it is the historical purpose of Jews to demonstrate unity and to model corrected societal relations for others. We became a nation at the foot of Mount Sinai only after every person present accepted the condition of being “as one man with one heart.” Jews practiced the method that allowed them to rise above their differences and lived under principles of true equality and mutual concern. But then unfounded hatred and disunity arose causing the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Since then, we have forgotten that unless we are in brotherly love and unity, afflictions will continue to fall upon us until we remember and carry out our mission.

Today, as antisemitism increases yet again, Jews must finally provide the model of social cohesion that only we can. Our ancient calling has become so pressing and relevant in these precarious times that ignoring it will have horrendous consequences.

The threats towards Jews signal an imperative change that needs to happen, a change that Jews must initiate and play the decisive role in it. We must see that our true Jewish power, both to protect our communities and to contribute to the world, lies in our ability to unite above all differences, and that the wisdom of how to do this is more than a simple mechanism for fending off threats and safeguarding our people. It is deeply ingrained in our core values and heritage.

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My new article on Linkedin “Humanity Teetering between Heaven and Hell”

We’re in a new stage in our “relationship” with the pandemic. We recognize that it’ll stay with us for a long time, perhaps forever, and we’re frustrated. Everyone’s exhausted by the virus; nerves are stretched thin and can snap at any moment. This tension manifests differently in different people, but virtually always negatively—increased violence, depression, intolerance, political and religious extremism, and violent protests.

A society is much stronger than an individual. It can provide us with everything we need and much more: security, sustenance, education, entertainment, leisure, fun and games, support when we are weak, and peace of mind about the future. What should we do in return for these benefits? We should do for others what they do for us. Reciprocity is the key to any successful relationship, and the same goes for our relationship with society.

If matters continue to evolve in this direction, they can easily lead to civil unrest or even civil war. In a state where people see no future, when they are hopeless, they are capable of anything, including the most extreme violence just to break out of the dreary apathy that’s pulling them down. If we let ourselves go down that path, life will be hell on earth.

But there is another way. In such a dire state, under a clear threat to everyone’s lives, perhaps we will realize that our worst and only enemy is our own egoism. Not mine, or his, or hers alone, but of all of us as a collective. We, as a society, are very selfish and idolize selfish individuals who present themselves as happy thanks to their selfishness. When we admire selfish individuals, we are admiring selfishness and, even worse, make everyone else admire it.

By definition, a society is the opposite of selfishness. If we want to be individualistic, we should retire to some secluded place, live by ourselves, and whoever survives, survives. But if we want to live as a society, we have to behave as parts of it, namely not individualistically but socially. If we want to live in a society yet behave as though we’re by ourselves and only we matter, society will explode. This is what we’re doing to ourselves right now. If we agree that humans are social beings, we have to act the part. It is common sense.

A society is much stronger than an individual. It can provide us with everything we need and much more: security, sustenance, education, entertainment, leisure, fun and games, support when we are weak, and peace of mind about the future. What should we do in return for these benefits? We should do for others what they do for us. Reciprocity is the key to any successful relationship, and the same goes for our relationship with society.

If we realize that our egos have blinded us to this obvious truth, we will make our lives heaven on earth. This is where we can go, if we choose to do it together. The simple truth is that there is nothing more senseless and weakening than thinking of ourselves, and nothing smarter and more emboldening than thinking of each other.

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Medium published my new article “A Ray of Light Out of the Pandemic”

A huge, thick grey cloud covers the planet and there is no sign of it going away any time soon. This is how people feel after so many months of Covid-19 impacting our lives. Humanity doesn’t see on the horizon a way out and begins to feel tired, drained, and stuck in negative thoughts about what might come next. Our perspectives on the future are uncertain, and bewilderment has become a breeding ground for despair and depression. All this darkness could quickly change if we could discover the source of lasting fulfillment which the current crisis is leading us to reveal.

Only when we connect positively with others will we dissipate the looming cloud dimming the current atmosphere and will transform the climate into a sunny and shiny reality.

The pandemic has caused critical disruptions in mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide as the demand for psychological support has dramatically increased, according to the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, scientists warn of what seems to be an imminent new wave of the coronavirus in the upcoming winter, combined with the flu season. We have started to understand that the lifestyle restrictions are going to stay with us for a long time, at least until a proven vaccine is released, and even then, there will be no absolute certainty about its effectiveness as new mutations of the virus may arise. Our situation is changing the way we perceive and approach our lives.

Some are trying to maintain some sense of normality, going to work — if they are still lucky enough to still have a job — and include in their daily schedules some exercise to stay fit and healthy. But deep inside, the joy and enthusiasm for life has faded. The internal distress caused by the crisis is triggering apathy and bitterness.

The pursuit of materialistic aspirations has lost much of the relevance it had in the past when we craved power, money, and status. Now, the madness of endless competition and the ongoing quest for pleasures have become secondary concerns. And since life no longer offers a clear purpose, people feel overpowered by fatigue. Some struggle to get out of bed, having fallen into depression and powerlessness, while others react with angry outbursts against the pandemic-related restrictions, lockdowns, and preventive measures.

These manifestations reflect a lack of perspective about the future where we fail to see any compensation for the suffering we face. Subconsciously, humanity asks, “Why do we have to endure this situation? For what purpose?” Nature is precisely pointing out what humanity needs to change. It is revealing to us that the way we have lived our lives until now, driven by our egoistic impulses and actions for self-benefit, is no longer possible. The world is increasingly being revealed as behaving like a complex and mechanistic system of cogwheels, where we can only guarantee its smooth functioning by taking into consideration how to mesh the complementary and correct gears of all its elements.

Therefore, we need to adapt to our new reality. We have no control over the virus, but we do have control over how we deal with its consequences as a human society. We must therefore help each other to stay afloat during the plague’s storm. It is imperative to find ways to battle the state of general despair and to organize support systems that will strengthen individuals to prevent them falling into helplessness. The more we invest in the general wellbeing now, the more we will be able to safeguard the mindfulness and good spirit of society. Every country in the world should make all the possible efforts toward making communities more cohesive, where no one is left alone, where everyone has group support as a safety-net, employment, and the option of engaging in physical and social activities such as group games, music, and sports.

We can achieve the desired cohesion in our societies through a fundamental shift in our values: from competitive, individualistic and egoistic to cooperative, connected and altruistic. When our desire to enjoy is redirected, when we stop aiming to fulfill ourselves individually and start aiming to fulfill others, we will find the key to boundless happiness because we will be free from our enslaving self-concern. Only when we connect positively with others will we dissipate the looming cloud dimming the current atmosphere and will transform the climate into a sunny and shiny reality.
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