From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 7/20/20

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines education as “transmission of the values and accumulated knowledge of a society. …Education is designed to guide [children] in learning a culture, molding their behaviour in the ways of adulthood, and directing them toward their eventual role in society.” But to find that definition, you’d have to scroll down the page. The encyclopedia begins the entry on education by declaring that it is a “discipline that is concerned with methods of teaching and learning in schools or school-like environments.” This is the prevailing interpretation of education, and it’s very misfortunate for all of us that we forgot about the real meaning of the word.

Therefore, I would like to offer a definition that is both concise, yet offers much more than accumulation of notions that are here today and gone tomorrow. The education I am talking about is called “Integral Education” (IE), where “integral” means whole, complete. According to the definition of IE, “Education is the process of man’s adaptation to the laws of nature.”

IE will not teach you social manners; it doesn’t deal with table manners or other social norms. IE teaches how to sync oneself with the laws that govern all of reality. While regular education strives to adapt the individual to society, IE strives to adapt human society to nature. In the process, each person learns the integrality of nature, how everything is connected, what it means for each of us as individuals and for all of us as a society, and how and what we should adapt in our lives in order to be congruent with nature and thereby achieve long lasting confidence and happiness.

Today, nature is manifesting itself as a closed system that surrounds us. It is most evident in the way the coronavirus has emerged as a pandemic within weeks, but it was also evident in the rapid spread of anti-racist protests and basically every trend and phenomenon that manifests today. This omnipresence of phenomena is nature’s way of saying that everything is connected, integral, and we are accountable for one another whether we like it or not. If we grasp this, we will achieve a whole new level of existence. If we do not grasp this, we just might not survive as a species.

According to IE, we can divide the laws of nature into three basic laws:

The first, and most important law, is the “law of integrality,” which states that all parts of nature constitute a single, interconnected system.

The second law is the “law of mutual complementation.” This means that all the laws that appear as contradicting are actually complementary through the interactions between them.

The third law states that “Every being in nature necessarily obeys these laws, except for humans,” who can follow them only according to their level of development, and according to their own free choice.

Potentially, man is the zenith of creation. Man is not only an element in the integral creation, but has the potential to grasp it to the fullest. However, this is only in potential. Before one receives the proper education, which fosters this perception, man is at the nadir of creation: the most vile, ignorant, and noxious element of creation. However, man is created in this ignobility on purpose, since only when one acquires nature’s wholeness consciously, having risen from the depths of detachment to the heights of connection can one appreciate the beauty, subtlety, and true meaning of nature’s wholeness. When one achieves that consciousness, one is regarded as having “graduated” and earned a “degree” in Integral Education. That person will never feel alone, weak, insecure, or unhappy, having achieved the ultimate goal of life—connection with all of reality.

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Jews Down Under published my new article “Antisemitism and Pandemics”

Be it a plague or a war, a flood or an earthquake, a revolution or a financial meltdown, in the end, there is always one culprit: the Jews. In America, too, many already blame COVID-19 on the Jews, as is the case with the riots engulfing the tormented country.

In the 1950s and ’60s, the Jews stood shoulder to shoulder with the blacks in their fight for equal rights. No one remembers and no one gives them credit. Now, too, they stand shoulder to shoulder with the protesters. No one will remember and no one will give them credit.

The Jews donate to various charities and NGOs more money than any ethnic or racial group. But what do people say? “First they stole it, now they’re giving us the crumbs to buy our gratitude.” Of course, not everyone says it, but a great many do, and an even greater many tacitly agrees with them. It’s always been like that and it’ll always be like that until we learn what fundamental flaw we Jews have in our approach.

Jews are the only nation that has ever been tasked with bringing peace and love to the entire world. We gave the world the most altruistic motto ever conceived, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” yet we display the complete opposite of it: internal enmity and odium. We may sympathize with stranger’s pains, but we loathe our own co-religionists. And even though they don’t verbalize it, deep down, this is what Jew haters hate about Jews: that Jews hate each other.

When we became a nation, we were given a task: Unite “as one man with one heart,” and thereby become “a light unto nations.” For centuries, we have been trying everything to avoid our vocation. We talk about morals, ethics, justice, but we refuse to talk about love.

Morals are a miserable surrogate for love. Just as a mother doesn’t need morals to tend to her child because her love guides her, if we cultivate love among us we won’t need morals, and we will treat each other beautifully.

Then, and only then will non-Jews say, “Now we respect them.”
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Medium published my new article “How COVID-19 Is Transforming Humankind”

The Fort Myers Police Department makes heart out of police cars to thank health workers at Lee Memorial Hospital

Recent reports point to “serious brain disorders found in mild, recovering COVID-19 patients.” Likewise, Melinda Moyer wrote in The New York Times: “Among patients hospitalized for Covid-19 in Wuhan, China, more than a third experienced nervous system symptoms,” and “French researchers reported that 84 percent of Covid patients who had been admitted to the I.C.U. experienced neurological problems, and that 33 percent continued to act confused and disoriented when they were discharged.” Clearly, the coronavirus isn’t only a respiratory infection; it is affecting who we are.

The novel coronavirus is forcing us to reconsider our values, our priorities, our relationships. Gradually, we will realize that lasting happiness and satisfaction cannot be found in accumulation of wealth or property.

Today, it is already recognized that the virus is spreading in the air, not just in droplets that fall up to six feet from the carrier. It is infecting everyone, every single person, though in different ways. It does not mean that we will all suffer or get sick, but we will all feel that we are changing — externally and internally — in our behavior, thoughts, and actions. In everything we do, something will be different.

At the moment, we focus mainly on the more superficial changes — the impact on our senses, such as blurred vision, loss of ability to smell and taste, etc. But the impact goes far beyond the physical senses. If you look within you carefully, I’m sure you will already find that you’re already not the same person you were before the outbreak of the virus. Notice how your thoughts have changed, your ambitions, your hopes, and expectations. COVID isn’t just a virus; it is reprogramming us, our psyche.

The novel coronavirus is forcing us to reconsider our values, our priorities, our relationships. Gradually, we will realize that lasting happiness and satisfaction cannot be found in accumulation of wealth or property. Having a bigger pile of bricks and wood written to my name won’t make me satisfied, and certainly not happy. Neither will having more zeros in the bank, whose worth is only pleasing when they make you feel superior to others.

We may not even notice that we have changed, and certainly not why, but in a few months, when we look back at who we were in the beginning of this decade, we will see how far we’ve gone. We will not feel that we have changed because of the virus; we will simply foster different values than we do today.

The virus is imposing its changes very subtly. It is levying a sense of social responsibility on our psyche. The idea that I am not wearing the mask to protect myself, but for the safety of others — so I will not infect them, since I may be an asymptomatic carrier — is foreign to the mindset we’ve been raised on. But in the mindset enacted by COVID-19, it is a given.

The social and emotional changes that the virus is creating are already underway. The more we go along with them, the better we will feel along the way.

But the virus will take it further than the duty to wear masks. Since it’s destroyed the entertainment industry, ravaged the culture of dining out, and landed a devastating blow to the whole notion of physical shopping, it is in fact compelling us to enact social responsibility on the economic level, too. The country will have to help those who cannot find income get their bread regardless. At the same time, the country must oblige them to give something in return.

We will have to learn that in a society of mutual responsibility, we get what we need, but we must also give. Moreover, only those who give earn the right to receive. This doesn’t mean that we all give the same, since not all people are the same, but it will be taken for granted that every person must make a minimum effort for the benefit of society. Soon we will realize that this is how it’s supposed to be; it’ll seem natural to us, and we will not even remember that we once thought otherwise.

The social and emotional changes that the virus is creating are already underway. The more we go along with them, the better we will feel along the way. The more we resist, the more aggressive the virus will become. If we play ball, we won’t even feel it as an illness, not even as mild as a cold. We are transitioning to an era of social responsibility, prosperity, and happiness for everyone, and the virus is our scrupulous yet caring hidden guide.
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The Times of Israel published my new article “The greatest danger to the Jewish people (that you probably didn’t know about)”

The longer the pandemic lingers, the more the world will turn a blaming eye toward us, the Jews. Anytime affliction grows around the world, it directs its anger at the Jews. A few days ago, far-right white nationalist Canadian politician Travis Patron released a video stating, “What we need to do, perhaps more than anything, is remove these people, once and for all, from our country.” He’s not alone, and these ideas do not come only from the far-right. There is ample evidence of antisemitism on the left, as well, and even people who aren’t known for their extreme views express or share anti-Semitic social media posts.

Just like the Jews in Germany before World War II tried to convince the Nazis that they were good Germans but to no avail, Jews today are trying to convince the world that we are good people. They say that Jews donate to charity more than any other nation or faith, that they contribute to high-tech innovations that advance the world far above their proportion in the world, that Jews have given the world many great physicians, thinkers, artists, and entrepreneurs, and that they are ardent human rights activists. But the world largely responds with contempt. It may be ironic, but it seems very natural for anti-racism protesters to yell “Dirty Jews” at counter-protesters, as The Jerusalem Post reported on June 15. In other words, many people don’t even relate to antisemitism as a type of racism.

Jew-hatred is irrational. It doesn’t need justification (though one is always found) and it always grows when times are hard. But there is a very good reason for it, though most Jews and most non-Jews are unaware of it.

The first Hebrew, Abraham, left his hometown, Haran, in ancient Babylon, when his countryfolk rejected him. Midrash Rabbah, Maimonides, and many other sources describe Abraham’s findings—that his people had become alienated from each other. He tried to bring them together, to help them rise above their egocentric attitude to one another. But instead of gratitude, he suffered their disdain. Eventually, they excommunicated him and drove him out of Babylon.

But Abraham succeeded. As he wandered west toward Canaan, more and more people joined him since they felt that unity above hatred is the right way to live, while those they had left behind wallowed in their hatred and eventually disintegrated. At the same time, Abraham’s people became a nation and continued to work on their unity, despite the many conflicts that arose within them. That ancient schism between Abraham’s group with its method of unity, and the rest of the Babylonians with their mindset of individuality, is the hidden root of all forms of Jew-hatred. And since the Babylonian culture had spread across the globe, there is not a single place on Earth without latent antisemitism waiting for a crisis to trigger it.

And if the ancient rupture isn’t enough to justify antisemitism, upon their exodus from Egypt, the Jews not only achieved complete unity (although it soon faded), but were also tasked with being “a light unto nations”—to spread that unity to the rest of the world. For nearly two millennia, the Jews had fought to keep their unity and be faithful to their mission. But some two thousand years ago, they succumbed to their egoism, which they called “unfounded hatred,” and were dispersed. Since then, they have become unfit to carry out their mission as a chosen people since their hatred for each other prevents them from spreading unity.

Because the Jews fell from brotherly love, from the motto “Love your neighbor as yourself,” into unfounded hatred, the world does not view them as the carriers of unity. But even so, it still regards them as responsible for the world’s troubles, and especially the wars. Ask any antisemite who is responsible for all the wars in the world, and they will tell you it’s the Jews. Although they are unaware of it, by holding the Jews responsible for all the troubles in the world, antisemites are saying indirectly that the Jews aren’t bringing peace. Inadvertently, they are admitting that the task the Jews were given at the foot of Mt. Sinai is still valid, and that not carrying it out is the reason for their hatred.

What then should the Jews do about it? Exactly what the antisemites (subconsciously) expect them to do: unite and project that unity to the world, be “a light unto nations.” Since the Jewish people are descendants of Babylonians from tribes and clans that were often sworn enemies until they joined Abraham’s group, if the Jews unite above their hatred, it will set an example and pave the way for the rest of the nations.

Ironically, the only cure for antisemitism is Jewish unity, and sharing it with the world. It turns out that the greatest danger to the Jewish people is not knowing their task.
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Medium published my new article “COVID Isn’t a Virus, It’s a Tsunami”

On December 26, 2004, at 9:30 in the morning, an unusually large and fast moving wave rushed across the tranquil morning sea, wetted the surprised beachgoers in Koh Lanta, Thailand, crashed on the beach, and dragged some of the chairs back out to sea. Lisa Anckarman, then a fifteen year old girl, filmed the wave, and much of what had happened afterwards. At first, she says, “People remained on the beach and a confused murmur spread among the locals and the tourists. The response was shock,” she continues, “yet somewhat amused.” But as people were watching the chairs drift off to sea, “that’s when a roaring sound filled the air. The amused looks turned to the horizon, to see a wall of mud and water approaching. At first,” she writes, “I struggle to comprehend what I am seeing.” And then, “the air around filled with complete panic.” Anckarman, young and athletic, grabbed her little sister and ran up the nearest hill.

They survived, but on that day, nearly a quarter of a million people lost their lives to the tsunami. The earthquake that caused the tsunami was the third largest ever recorded, and had the longest duration of faulting ever observed — between eight and ten minutes. Yet, in the vast majority of the coastal areas surrounding the epicenter of the quake, no alarm was sounded prior to the arrival of the waves.

In my view, our biggest problem today is that we are a lot like those naïve beachgoers. We think that this is just a big wave; it’ll take a few chairs with it as it retreats and that’s the end of it. We don’t realize that it’s the beginning of a series of waves, each bigger and more devastating than its predecessor, and that when it’s all over, our world will have changed forever. COVID-19 is not the whole event; it is that first “unusually large and fast moving wave.” This is why many people are confused yet amused, not knowing if they should take it seriously or not. But we should all take COVID-19 very seriously.

The new world has been forming under the surface for decades, yet we resisted its arrival. We tried everything we could to keep consumerism and ruthless competition going at all cost, but we only delayed the inevitable. Now, finally, the tectonic pressure has built up to the point where the plates flung into a new position, the pressure has been released at once, and the result — a worldwide life changing tsunami. We should not fool ourselves; the waves that will follow COVID will be higher and more devastating. We will escape their impact only if we act now.

The shift that has been building is a transformation in our relation to the world and to society, to other people. It is a revolution in our perception of reality from seeing the world through individualistic eyes to seeing it through the eyes of the collective. We are still resisting the transition. Our egos tell us that it’s just a wave; we’ll soon go back to celebrating life, depleting the planet and exploiting anyone we can, deliberately or inadvertently. But our egos are misleading us. The majority of those who stayed ashore on December 26, 2004 didn’t survive the waves that followed. Nor will those who insist on burying their heads in the sand today.

The sooner we turn our minds, hearts, and bodies to building a society based on mutual responsibility, incorporation of all parts of society, and building a sense of commonality, the sooner we’ll be freed from the virus and its subsequent horrors.

Unlike 2004, we have had numerous alarms. Many people warned that our paradigm was unsustainable. I myself have been writing and speaking about it for at least fifteen years, but my pleas were always met with patronizing tolerance, if not with blatant scorn.

Now we are past the phase of sounding the alarm; we are in the midst of the event. We should do what we are told: keep our social distance, wear our masks, and begin to look at where we are. The jobs of the past are gone or dying fast. Machines will do most of the physical work, and human jobs will relate more and more to human connections. There will be an abundance of occupations required for building a new society, based on caring, solidarity, social cohesion — all those values we have ridiculed for so long. Now they are vital for our existence. Without them, we will not be able to do anything, not even maintain food supply chains to feed ourselves and our families. Today, mutual responsibility is not a gallant notion; it is as necessary as food and water, since without it, we will have neither.

We must understand that now we will swim together, or we will drown alone.
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My new article on Linkedin “Bound by Common Thread”

Everything is bound by common threads. Iron comes from the Earth and from stars, and gives us life by helping carry oxygen in our blood. Bacteria learned to create oxygen through photosynthesis some 2.5 billion years ago, which eventually enabled the evolution of humanity. Humanity has evolved over tens of thousands of years, and today’s babies are born with humanity’s accumulated knowledge preinstalled.

In fact, there is no birth or death, but a constant process of development of the same entity, which consists of all of reality. That entity, which kabbalah calls “a soul,” contains all of our properties, sensations, experiences, and thoughts.

Everything is common. None of what we regard as “we” is truly personal. Instead of fighting to preserve our selfness, we should connect to the common soul and feel the system of our complete interconnection. Without this, we feel alone, as separated and lonely beings. And worst of all, it is a false perception, the opposite of our true condition.

In truth, there is not a single cell, thought, desire, or motivation that does not come to us from others and does not travel from us to all of humanity and to the entire universe. We would all feel this were it not for our egos. Egoism, the sensation of entitlement, separation, and alienation from others prevents us from experiencing this total connectedness. Instead of absolute consciousness of our togetherness, we are in total darkness, surrounded by the walls of our ego.

But we are not destined to remain this way. We are destined to break these walls and become conscious human beings. This is why we were given society, so we could “practice” connecting with each other. As we strive to build caring ties among us, we emulate the pre-existing ties that compose reality and by that begin to feel them.

True wisdom does not come from accumulating knowledge, but from fostering connections with others, as the information from others flows to us and from us to others. The only skill we should learn is the craft of loving others, and then all the knowledge of the world is in our hearts and minds. This is why the solution to all our problems lies in warm connections, care, and mutual responsibility. These feelings and this attitude will give us not only social solidarity, but knowledge and awareness that we cannot even dream of as long as we are confined by our egoistic selves.

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Medium published my new article “Awakening the New American Dream”

Work hard and your dreams of success and prosperity will pay off. This has been the ethos of the American Dream, a belief that the sky was the limit regardless of origin or background. But political, social and economic greed has narrowed that path to success for the regular citizen and the current pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated its dwindling. The recovery of personal opportunity for every American will depend on rethinking and restructuring the path to success based on the principles of love and cohesion above all differences. This will ensure that a lasting dream is within reach for every American.

It’s time for a new mindset. Instead of seeing the collapse of an old way of life, we can recognize this as a new era of opportunity.

The industrial renewal and large scale employment caused by World War II — both in the military itself and in the industries that supported it — brought the US once and for all out of the Great Depression, and it emerged after the war as a superpower that dominated the international political arena, becoming a symbol of success and power.

The American values of free speech, capitalism, and democracy set the standard in the West, and the US became the undisputed leader of the free world. For decades the United States has opened its doors to ambitious, hard working immigrants who made America grow.

Unlike Germany, France, or Spain, America has been a nation of enterprising immigrants, a collection of individuals eager for the opportunity to pursue their dreams in the adventurous spirit of capitalism. And now, as with any natural process, the unbridled capitalistic pursuit of personal success has passed its peak and begun to decline. The COVID-19 epidemic is only hastening the process.

The decline of capitalism is a global trend, but because the United States has been the frontrunner of this movement, its weakening and falling will be felt there first, and the rest of the world will soon follow.

Time to Dream Big in Human Connection

Throughout history, we have gone from one state of human society to another. Now we have to switch to a new era, a new social structure. We do not really understand or want it but nature is forcing us to change.

It’s time for a new mindset. Instead of seeing the collapse of an old way of life, we can recognize this as a new era of opportunity. Just like a child growing up and moving from childhood to adolescence and adulthood, mankind has grown throughout history from one era of human society to another. Now humanity is on the verge of a crisis that will lead to an entirely new social structure, with America leading the way.

The world has changed direction, and in order to ensure survival, humanity will now have to establish a new system of social order where each person receives what he or she needs for existence, and dedicates the rest of one’s energy to the benefit of all. There’s no other direction to go, no other frontier to develop. The world must cut its ties to the past and reinvent itself.

The new ideal, the new and improved American Dream, will not be a dream for Americans alone or of any other individual nation. It will be a global dream for the entire world. A new spirit will flow through humanity, making it clear that we cannot continue to live as before and we must put an end to our unrestrained egoism. A new time has come, and we need to begin with a new kind of relationships in every field of human engagement.

The US could demonstrate this change first, although it seems unlikely at the moment that it will happen smoothly. If Americans place the values of unity and consideration of others above the pursuit of money and control that the old-world capitalism prized, the change will happen quickly and smoothly.
If Americans place the values of unity and consideration of others above the pursuit of money and control that the old-world capitalism prized, the change will happen quickly and smoothly.

These noble values ​​may seem like a distant dream, completely invisible on the horizon at the moment, but they are destined to come to pass, either painlessly or through great suffering. If an educational campaign is put into place to raise public awareness and teach people how to organize and build a society based on mutual responsibility, the transition will be successful and smooth. This new dream is about a different collective consciousness that reconfigures socio-economic relationships from exploitative to considerate.

The New American Dream is a model for a future society where people live for the purpose of strengthening the connection between them, understanding that from within good human relations, the essence of life — full of warmth, joy, and confidence — is discovered. If the American society works in this direction, every resident will feel like a loving and encouraging mother on the one hand, and a cherished family member on the other. The new American Dream will not be based on our wealth but on the quality of our human relations. This is truly a dream world from which neither Americans nor the rest of the world will wish to wake up.
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Medium published my new article “How Virtual Connection Shapes Our World and Ourselves”

There is life before and after the appearance of the global coronavirus pandemic. Our physical world has increasingly transformed into a virtual environment, pointing to what the future holds in store for us. Work, friends, studies, community life — everything is taking on a virtual dimension. How will this affect our interpersonal relations, emotions, and performance? It can affect our lives positively if we use the new technological reality to deepen and enhance our human connection.

The depth of the feeling and intensity of the new virtual connections will nurture the development of new dimensions in our emotions also.

America has become a working-from-home economy with around 42 percent of the U.S. labor force is now working full time remotely as a consequence of the social distancing measures, according to a recent study by Stanford University. The remaining workforce are either essential service employees working on their premises or people who have been laid-off due to COVID-19’s economic meltdown.

The shock waves unleashed by the pandemic continue to hammer the entire world and will change our mindsets forever. The lifestyle we were used to has come to a standstill and staring at our screens now substitutes face-to-face contact. Without our current communication technology, the world would have been thrown into a disruptive global period of isolation.

As we deepen our exploration of virtual communication, we will discover that the new virtual reality is much more practical and economical than the old. Employers can drastically reduce costs while employees can become more efficient and productive. During one day a person is able to virtually meet many more people from far-flung locations, hold meetings, brainstorm, share documents, and execute many other important tasks. The virtual workspace saves travel in traffic jams, nerves and accidents, in addition to the environmental benefits of reduced fuel emissions.

But let’s think for a moment: Isn’t there something missing from a virtual engagement compared to a physical encounter? Through the screen we cannot smell the perfume of the person in front of us or be impressed by luxurious items worn by the person, for example. All of the external trappings become superfluous, irrelevant to our contact.

In this new virtual world, we will develop an inner vision and an inner feeling of others. We will ascend to a higher dimension of life where we will detach ourselves from the physical form of people and connect to their inner essence.

The depth of the feeling and intensity of the new virtual connections will nurture the development of new dimensions in our emotions also. Those already experienced in virtual communication know that sometimes it is precisely in this new kind of connection that one is able to actually express deeper emotion than with physical contact because in a virtual connection people feel safer and can therefore express themselves more freely. In addition, the very knowledge that we are communicating remotely for a limited time can increase the commitment that both parties feel to the meeting, as well as the desire to invest more in it.

Many additional activities can also be carried out in a virtual community life — gatherings, classes, games, and more. With an open mind one can discover within the virtual dimension new opportunities that do not exist in physical engagements.

Although we are in a transition period and concerns naturally arise, over time we will get used to the virtual connection and will not feel that something is missing in it. Virtual connections will gradually spread in all directions — virtual learning, virtual physical activity and more — will be done through the computer and we will feel that we are truly immersed in shared experiences.

Over time, virtual connections will also change us significantly. Gradually, our focus will be focused more and more on the thoughts raised by the person in front of us — on his ideas, desires, plans — and less on his external appearance. As the relationship with the person deepens, his inner image will be revealed in us, and even if we meet physically and discover that he looks different from what we expected, it will not change our impression of him since we had already connected to his inner richness, his special qualities.

In this new virtual world, we will develop an inner vision and an inner feeling of others. We will ascend to a higher dimension of life where we will detach ourselves from the physical form of people and connect to their inner essence. Such a level of connection will fill all the voids and lacks missing from our social life and the world we experience will simply feel much better.

We will sense the inner essence of each and every person and communicate with each other in heart and soul. Every individual in society will feel that he can connect with others in the most internal possible connection, and this will give us a feeling of unlimited bonding by which we will be able to break all the boundaries of perception. In this way, we will break away from all the restrictions we feel today and reach the highest possible state. We will finally use virtual connection not as the end goal, but as the gateway to transcend to the more meaningful human relations of love and unity.

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Medium published my new article “5 Things We Need to Know in the Days of COVID-19”

A woman wearing a mask in the time of COVID-19, walks past Moving boxes stacked in front of an Upper West Side brownstone, waiting for movers to finish packing the belongings of former tenants that have already relocated out of state, New York, NY, July 13, 2020.

Nobody understands it. No one really knows where it came from, how it was made, what is its purpose, how it affects us, why it affects us the way that it does, or how to get rid of it, if there’s even a way. COVID-19 has us cornered, at its mercy, and we’re just waiting for the bell to save us.

The final result of the novel coronavirus pandemic will be a society whose people receive their basic needs effortlessly, socialize with one another throughout their day, and live in peace with each other and with nature.

But in truth, we have a bigger problem than answering these just-mentioned questions. Our problem is our attitude to the virus, because if we change our attitude, we will turn the menace into a blessing.

Below are five things we need to know in order to change our attitude and turn the bane into a boon.

1. The first thing we need to know is that the virus influences more than our bodies. Besides its obvious physical impacts, it is affecting us emotionally and mentally. The virus is changing our psychology. It has forced us into a lockdown and made us re-examine many values that we took for granted. It showed us that it’s OK not to buy or look for shopping opportunities every single moment. It opened our eyes to the people around us, our parents, children, spouses, and friends. It showed us how impatient we are, how caring we are or are not, and how caring or not are our kin.

2. COVID-19 is a teacher of mutual responsibility. Even if I don’t feel sick, and I am young and strong and healthy, I could be a carrier and transmit the virus to my not so young, strong, and healthy parents or grandparents. Therefore, I must avoid hugging them and kissing them, or sending the kids to be with them when I want to get some work done. And I must do that not because I don’t want to catch the virus, but in order not to transmit it to them. Moreover, the authorities tell me that I must apply this approach when I go outside in order not to transmit the virus to others, to complete strangers! This is a completely novel social approach, yet vital in these days of super-contagious bugs.

3. Another very important thing to know is that the virus is restructuring the economy. Like it or not, it is killing consumerism, vanquishing capitalism, and introducing what NY Times columnist Thomas Friedan called jobs that “create more value with hearts and between hearts.” This is not 20th century communism or socialism. It is not an economy that sees everyone as the same. On the contrary, it sees everyone as unique and strives to benefit from everyone’s unique skills and capabilities. Accordingly, it supports the development of each person’s flairs and talents, which one then happily employs to improve society as a whole, while society recognizes each person’s contribution and commends each person for his or her efforts to make the society a better place to live in. In this way, society both benefits from people’s contributions, and people happily contribute because it empowers them, fulfills their dreams, and makes them feel worthy and valuable as human beings.

4. The coronavirus will drive us to perform radical changes in the job market. On the material level, society will see to people’s staples; they won’t need to worry about getting food, water, shelter, healthcare, education, and even recreation. There will be people whose contribution to society will be manufacturing and provision of staples to all. The rest of the people will not sit idle; they will be busy creating “value with their hearts,” as Friedman put it, enhancing social solidarity and cohesion.

5. The final result of the novel coronavirus pandemic will be a society whose people receive their basic needs effortlessly, socialize with one another throughout their day, and live in peace with each other and with nature. Since excessive shopping will not please people anymore, they won’t consume more than they need and will not deplete the planet from its resources. Nature will recover, the climate will return to balance, and people will feel united among themselves and with the whole of nature.
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Medium published my new article “Vaccination for a Social Epidemic”

There is no stronger trigger to anxiety than the unknown. And we are currently going through a challenging time heading toward the unknown. This terrifies us. Confusion, isolation, and agitation are some of the threats to the American state of mind due to the repercussions from COVID-19. Experts believe the situation is close to a social epidemic. The only way to stay afloat in these turbulent waters is through a support network, to build an immune system against anxiety through human connection.

Far from nature and disintegrated as a society, we have declined into perpetual uncertainty.

There are so many unpredictable and uncontrollable elements in reality, which themselves depend on myriad hidden causes, that we have lost trust in multiple aspects of our society. This makes people apprehensive.

Fifty years ago, we were not so fearful about the future. We thought we would progress and things would get better. Now we do not know what tomorrow will bring and if things improve for our children. It is no longer a speculation; we see that the world is declining. We are already facing a very real fear of approaching hardships.

A person naturally wants to know the probabilities for the future; otherwise he would not be certain about how to act in the present. In the past, most people could largely expect what would be the course of their lives. Life was simple, close to the earth, guided by the seasons and close to nature.

As we internalize this premise and begin to work on our connections, we bring about warmth and affection, supportive thoughts, and concern for others.

Over the years, we moved away from the perception of nature as the root of life, as the supreme system in which we exist. We distanced ourselves from each other, glorified individual achievements, and encouraged heartless competition between us to the point that the growing egoism caused us to feel that others and nature were created only to serve us.

We do not know what will happen next. We do not understand what is affecting us or how to respond correctly. Far from nature and disintegrated as a society, we have declined into perpetual uncertainty.

Slowly, we are getting used to the shocks that impact the world, while we still wonder what force acts in reality and brings all these events upon us. It takes the element of uncertainty for us to try to find the source of everything around us and to realize that it is nature. It is the same force that is compelling us to become similar to it, interdependent and synergic.

Through tremendous pains and troubles we are gradually coming to terms with the importance of building a fortress of strong and meaningful human relations. As we internalize this premise and begin to work on our connections, we bring about warmth and affection, supportive thoughts, and concern for others.

These actions will foster our confidence in the future and navigate us safely through our current state of uncertainty.

The future society must be one where people live in order to attain connection among them because in the connection, they will discover joy and wholeness.

People are social beings. We are so dependent upon society that it should be our safe haven when we feel scarcity and fear. We need to create an environment that provides a sense of confidence, of mutual guarantee. This is all it takes to heal the social epidemic.
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Filed under: Coronavirus, Crisis, Globalization, New Publications, Society - No Comments →