Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “A Nation that Is Not a Nation”

A week before the general election that was held this Tuesday, the newspapers Israel Hayom and Haaretz published two separate surveys, both concluding that contrary to the common perception of Israelis as preoccupied with problems of defense and terror, they are actually troubled by the cost of living. Of course, governability (huge parts of the country being terrorized by Bedouin and Arab mobs), Iran’s nuclear program, and social fragmentation are also major concerns, but people are deeply troubled by the fact that some basic products at the supermarket have simply become unaffordable.

I must admit; these are not my concerns. I have one, and only one concern. It is not that I do not feel the pain of rising costs or do not worry about terror. However, I feel that we will not solve any of our problems before we solve a far more fundamental problem: We are not a nation. We call ourselves the Israeli nation and say that Israel is our country, our homeland, but we are not a nation, nor do we feel like one.

To be a nation, we must have a minimal level of national solidarity, a sense that we share a common fate and certain common values or beliefs. Currently, there is nothing that holds the factions of the nation together.

There is only one solution to our problem: To drop all discourse on any matter, as urgent as it may seem, and focus on one and only topic: Fostering national unity. This is not true for all the nations, but for the Israeli nation, it is critical for our survival.

Because our nation was originally founded by people who came from different countries, nations, and cultures, there was nothing to hold us together but the conviction that unity is a value in and of itself, and in fact a value that is more noble than any other value. Moreover, our ancestors joined the Israeli nation in the first place because it placed unity above all other values, and our ancestors sympathized with the idea.

Because our ancestors came from all the nations of the world and forged a new nation based on unity, they became a model for world unity, an example that everyone could sympathize with and follow, since their own representatives were among the members of this novel nation. This is why we were given the mission of bringing about Tikkun Olam (world correction) by setting an example of unity and solidarity above differences.

But we abandoned our unity, and in so doing, abandoned the one thing that had made us a nation. Since we began to hate each other for no cause, we ceased to be a nation. This division was, is, and always will be our first and foremost problem. In fact, it is our only problem.

I hope that the new government will have a solid enough basis, and the required courage to forge an initiative to unite the Israeli nation above all its factions and fractions. If we succeed, we will not be troubled by high cost of living, by enemies who want to destroy us, or by any of the problems that have haunted us since we succumbed to hatred two millennia ago.

* For more on the importance of Israel’s unity, read my book The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, and my ‎latest publication: New Antisemitism: Mutation of a Long-lived Hatred.‎
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Is Our Future Eternity?”

A student told me he had read that the famous futurist Ray Kurzweil is about to publish a new book titled The Singularity Is Nearer. Apparently, it is a development, or elaboration on ideas Kurzweil had presented in his earlier book, The Singularity Is Near. According to the article my student read, Kurzweil predicts that by 2032, ten years from now, medical technologies will be so advanced that we will be able to live forever. My student asked for my opinion on the prospect of eternal life.

Well, for the life of me, I cannot understand what is good about living forever. Besides the fuss that we make about dying, what benefits does it give me to never ever die?

I know that holy books tell us that in the Garden of Eden, there is eternal life, so if we can live forever, it will be heaven on earth. However, if no one dies, will this planet be heaven on earth? To me, it sounds like a sure recipe for creating hell on earth.

Also, if we live forever, what dreams and hopes will we have? What is the point of living if there is no pressure to achieve anything?

Life is given to us for a limited amount of time in order to use it to achieve something, to do something with it. Life is given to us so we will use our time here in order to attain spirituality, not to remain forever confined to the physical existence.

Spirituality means extending myself, reaching beyond the self and connecting with the common root of all of us. In simpler words, spirituality means feeling all of humanity, and eventually all of reality, as one body, or better yet, as one entity that has neither beginning nor end. It is the opposite of eternal physical life, where time stretches on indefinitely. Spiritual life means living without time at all.

Such a life can happen not when we perpetuate the body, but when we rise above it and instead of thinking only of ourselves, thinking of everyone else. Currently, we are absorbed in ourselves because we only want to serve ourselves. If we wanted to serve others, we would feel them just as we currently feel ourselves. When you feel others as tangibly as you feel yourself, you are no longer confined to your body. As a result, you are not confined to any of the body’s limitations, including life, death, or any concept of time.

This glorious future is not wishful thinking; it is the future of humanity. It will happen as soon as we stop thinking only of ourselves and begin to genuinely think about others. The sooner we change our state of mind, the sooner we will begin that blissful life. If we procrastinate, we will keep fighting until we realize that serving the ego does not pay and we will take to the spiritual path. If we hurry, we will take to the spiritual path without having to suffer first.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Time for the UN to Live Up to Its Charter”
Last week was the 77th United Nations Day, marking the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter in 1945. The day’s official web page states, “There is no other global organization with the legitimacy [and] impact of the United Nations. No other global organization gives hope to so many people for a better world and can deliver the future we want. Today, the urgency for all countries to come together, to fulfil (sic) the promise of the nations united, has rarely been greater.” The Secretary General also offered a message, stating that “The United Nations is the product of hope,” but today the UN “is being tested like never before.”

I would say that indeed it is time for the UN to live up to its charter. It is time for the UN to really bring countries together, not simply hope that they will “come together.” Hopes do not become a reality unless we exert to make them a reality. We should not only dare to dream; we must also dare to do!

I agree with the Secretary General’s words that today, the UN is being tested. It is requested to act, to bring people and nations together, and not settle for empty talk as though the UN is some café where people come to chat.

Humanity has a serious problem that it cannot ignore. The world around us operates according to one set of principles, while humanity insists on operating according to a different set of principles that collide with the world around us. As a result, everything around us is becoming inhospitable and dangerous. The climate is becoming erratic and extreme, the air, ground, and water are becoming toxic, animals are dying, the crops we live on are drying up, and people are becoming increasingly violent toward each other. It is as if we’re hanging on to dear life by a string that keeps us from falling off a precipice, but the string is getting tighter and tighter as humanity and reality move in opposite directions, and it is nearly at the point of snapping.

Reality will keep moving in its own direction. Things will become increasingly entangled; the systems that sustain our lives, the societies where we live, and our bodies, too, are complex systems whose complexity increases over time in the process of evolution. This process is irreversible, just as we cannot devolve life on Earth from humans back to unicellular creatures.

Therefore, the only way to stop the string from snapping is by changing our direction. If we stop seeking more and more isolation from others and begin to look for more connection with others, we will feel that nature and all of life are no longer hostile. We will find that they support us rather than struggle against us in a fight for the survival of the fittest.

“Giving peace a chance” and “safeguarding our planet,” as per the Secretary General’s statement, cannot succeed without a worldwide campaign to foster solidarity and mutual concern among all nations. Since today’s problems are global, solutions must be global, too.

My organization and I were involved in a UN initiative to promote education for connection and solidarity around the world back in 2012. The effort never materialized into concrete steps, but the need to carry out such endeavors has only increased since then.

We can wait passively and let nature take its course, but nature knows no mercy. If we insist on serving our narcissistic selves, while nature continues in its holistic trajectory, we will suffer the consequences of our incongruence with it. The current wars and climate crises are somewhat of a prelude to what is coming, but they pale in comparison to the upheaval ahead if we stall in our initiative.

I believe we should not wait. We should initiate the change; we must realize that the only way to make life on Earth safe and pleasant is by living according to the all-inclusive nature around us. I believe we have very little time left, and no choice whatsoever.t-align: center;”
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My new article on Linkedin “Can Corrupting Art Save Earth?”

Since the beginning of the year, there has been a growing trend among climate activists to corrupt art history’s greatest treasures in an effort to raise awareness of climate change. So far, twelve incidents have occurred this year, six of which took place last month. The incidents included throwing mashed potatoes (on Monet’s Haystacks), tomato soup (on Vincent van Gogh’s Fifteen Sunflowers), and fake blood (on Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Clown), as well as activists gluing themselves to a dinosaur display at Berlin’s Natural History Museum, and to Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. For the most part, museum visitors verbally attack activists during their action, and altogether wonder how their actions actually connect with the greater good.

I completely agree with the visitors’ ire. No one is impressed by these antics, and nothing will change, not in the environment or in the awareness of society.

Worse yet, even if we did become more aware of climate change, we would not be able to do anything about it because despite all the media hype about greenhouse gas emissions, we do not really know what causes climate change, and the little we do know does not help much. Every volcanic eruption, for example, spews so many pollutants into the atmosphere that it would take humanity months, if not years, to match the amount. Yet, even though there are volcanic eruptions happening all over the world at any given moment, they are not regarded as accelerating climate change.

The same goes for emissions of methane gas. Humanity is accused of polluting the atmosphere with this toxic greenhouse gas, but swamps and thawing permafrost in Siberia, Canada, and Alaska emit so much more than we do that our “contribution” to it is miniscule.

If all this is not enough, the Gulf Stream continues to slow down, adversely affecting the weather in both Europe and North America. A story published in Severe Weather Europe back in April warned that “the Gulf Stream and the overall Atlantic circulation are nearing a critical point of collapse.” Is there anything we can do to stop this?

In short, the global ecosystem is too big and (mainly) too complex to comprehend. We do not know what exactly we should do, if anything, to reverse or even slow down climate change.

However, our problem is not that Earth’s climate is too complex to understand, but that we are focusing on trying to understand it instead of on the real culprit, the one that is causing all our problems and not only climate change: human nature. There are countless other problems besides climate change, and they, too, stem from the same reason—that human nature is corrupt, rotten to the core. The corruption of priceless paintings draws ire not because people are angry that there is climate change. They are angry because the activists are displaying their own corrupt nature, their carelessness and inconsideration of the feelings of others, and their willingness to destroy some of humanity’s most prized assets to satisfy their own whims.

If we focused on adapting human nature to the world we live in, we would not be facing the myriad problems that we ourselves are causing. Who is polluting the ground, water, and air? Who is murdering millions of people every year for the sheer satisfaction of the ego? Who is impoverishing nations and exploiting women and children? Who is trafficking slaves for hard labor and sex abuse? Who is profiteering on medicines that everyone needs, for diseases that could be prevented? Who is getting millions of young people addicted to drugs each year? And worst of all, who is blaming everyone else for the problems he himself is causing? The same one is doing all the above: our own ego. Until we set it straight, we will not fix anything.

As long as we refuse to admit that we are the problem, and not what we do, but we ourselves, matters will continue to go downhill. We could be looking at nuclear world wars, natural disasters of unprecedented magnitude that will devastate humanity, extreme climatic events that will scorch or freeze such vast swaths of land that there will be too many climate refugees to handle, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis at intensities that will dwarf our efforts to protect against them, plagues where people will drop like flies, and many other afflictions that nature can inflict on us. Nature is very imaginative when it comes to punishment, and it will not let up until we realize that it is not what we do, but who we are that is the problem.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Following the Israeli General Election”

Perfect timing: on the day of the Israeli parliamentary elections, we began studying Baal HaSulam’s article, “Peace in the World.” Among other things, the article speaks about the interdependence of all people and how the positive or negative actions of each of us affect the lives of all of us. This means, concludes Baal HaSulam, that if we do not know that the world operates according to the law of mutual consideration, adjust our behavior, and build our society accordingly, we will end up hurting others and ourselves.

If we look at the world today, it is clear that we are oblivious to our interdependence and indifferent to the necessity to be considerate of others. As a result, we are heading toward a global social breakdown.

Physics. Chemistry, biology, zoology, astronomy, and every other field of science follows strict laws. It is impossible to understand any science without first studying its laws. We, on the other hand, believe that we can invent social laws according to our whims. Not surprisingly, the results are wars and chaos.

Take, for example, yesterday’s parliamentary elections in Israel. In our democratic country, everyone votes according to their own opinion. How did people formulate their opinions? Through what they heard from the media, from friends, and from family. However, without knowing the laws by which the world operates, how can any view be correct?

Instead of learning the law of mutual dependence that governs the world and building society according to this law, we insist on thinking that our selfish opinion is the only one that is valid. Somehow, we fail to grasp that in a world whose elements are all connected, selfishness is inherently wrong, detrimental by default.

It is like trying to study the physical world without first learning the laws of physics. If we tried to do this, we would make mistakes at every step. Since we do not know the rules for living in an interdependent society and try to impose our egocentric attitude on it, our society is fragmented and unsafe to live in.

The truth is that we need not change anything in the world. If we looked at nature, we would see that it is perfectly balanced, and everything works smoothly as long as we do not interfere with it. The only thing that needs to change, therefore, is humankind. If everything in nature is interdependent and mutually supportive, we should do the same.

To change the world we live in, we do not need to change the government; we need to change ourselves. Any government that acts selfishly harms its constituency. The right “vote” is to “elect” unity; this is how everything around us works, and unless we adjust ourselves to our surroundings, there will not be peace, prosperity, or well-being.
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My new article on Linkedin “Nothing Frightens More than Losing Face”

Of all our fears, probably the one that is the most intense is the fear of losing face, of being shamed. To most of us, our self-respect means more than anything else. If we lose it, we often prefer to die. No other species besides humans has it. Animals think only about leading their lives as physically comfortable as possible. If they meet a stronger animal, they retreat without a second thought, and certainly without embarrassment. We, on the other hand, might choose to confront those who are considered stronger than us in the hope that it will earn us respect, or because we are embarrassed to confess that we are weaker than someone else. The complications resulting from this respect-driven behavior are enormous.

However, for all the trouble the pursuit of honor causes us, it is also the engine of human development. Were it not for the yearning to supersede others, we would not develop civilization and would still be as savage as our ancestors who lived in caves or slept in trees for fear of being eaten by animals.

Take, for example, the 8-year-old boy who just climbed El Capitan together with his father. The cliff, a towering granite monolith about 3,000 feet (914 m) high in Yosemite National Park, California, is one of the world’s ultimate challenges for climbers. What drove his father to put him in such risk? The desire for fame, the pursuit of honor, as the father himself said, “What an amazing week! I’m so proud of Sam [the boy’s name].”

To many people, respect means more than their physical life. Evidently, in some cases, it means more than their children’s lives.

The farther we move from the animate level and into the human level, the more we value respect, and the less we mind our physical existence. We envy anyone and everyone who achieved something that we consider praiseworthy because we want the praise. Some people even envy famous people from many generations ago, such as great rulers or conquerors. Others wish to be the greatest of all time in their field and hope their achievements will outlive their physical life long after they are gone.

Yet, the yearning for respect is not inherently negative. There is a good purpose for everything, including the pursuit of respect. Chasing it, this pursuit makes us polish and improve our values and goals. It lifts us from physical desires to spiritual ones, and eventually drives us to relinquish our very nature because its self-centeredness seems dishonorable to us.

When that happens, and our own selfish pursuit of respect leads us to want to become unselfish, we realize that had it not been for the pursuit of honor, we would not have come to such a sublime and noble goal. As we polish and repolish our values, we come to realize that transcending the yearning for respect and concentrating on others rather than on ourselves is the most honorable, admirable, and worthy goal. A person who has come to this will no longer pursue respect and will avoid the complications that accompany this craving.

Moreover, such a person will be kind to others, and not in order to gain their respect, but because kindness itself is the quality most worthy of respect.

Society “plants” in our minds all kinds of ideas about what is respectful and what is not. Often, these ideas are detrimental to us or to others. One who has risen above the dependence on society’s respect will not be influenced by fleeting, negative ideas about what is respectful. That person will feel that submission to one’s own ego is the most dishonorable state there is, and caring for others is the most admirable. When doing the admirable thing becomes people’s motivation for action, the world will be a great place to live in.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “What I Find in the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

A couple of weeks ago, a journalist from the French women’s paper magazine Fémitude wrote me asking if I would be willing to answer a question for an article she was writing about the wisdom of Kabbalah. Her question was, “What Dr. Laitman is trying to discover through Kabbalah?”, adding that she intends to include my answer in her piece.

I was happy to answer her because I am very pleased that there is interest in the wisdom of Kabbalah in France, but even more so because it is a women’s magazine, and the increasingly prominent role that women are playing in society, much to my delight, makes it all the more important that they know what is Kabbalah and what it gives.

Over the years, there have been many myths about what is Kabbalah, and all kinds of myths and stories about magic and esoteric ideas have been attached to it. True, authentic Kabbalah has nothing to do with mysticism, magic, amulets, or anything of the kind.

The wisdom of Kabbalah studies natural, physical forces, just as Newton’s physics studies physical forces. The difference between the forces Newton studied and the forces that Kabbalah studies is that instruments cannot detect the forces that Kabbalah talks about. In order to study the forces that the wisdom of Kabbalah discusses, we need to change our very selves, our nature.

Our inherent nature focuses on self-interest. As a result, we see the world as separate elements locked in a struggle for survival. Kabbalah proves that in truth, there is no struggle; there is complementarity and mutual support. However, in order to discover this, we need to change our perception of the world from egocentric to holistic and inclusive. Otherwise, we will misinterpret everything we see, according to our egoistic minds.

Once we change ourselves, we find that the world consists not of elements that fight against each other for survival, as in the motto, “the survival of the fittest.” Rather, the forces of the universe balance and support one another. The battle exists only in our minds, but we cannot see this until we acquire a new perspective, as if shifting from a two-dimensional vision into a three-dimensional vision.

The wisdom of Kabbalah espouses caring for others, solidarity, and unity. It does so not only because it is nicer to live this way, although it certainly is. If this were the only motivation, we would be in a constant struggle against our nature, which constantly strives to return to narcissism. The wisdom of Kabbalah advocates pro-social, pro-humanity values because when we expand our vision and can see others, we see the actual reality and begin to perceive the forces that a self-centered mind cannot grasp. Once we discover how the world really works, we will never return to selfishness.

This is why I study Kabbalah: to change myself and to see the world as it really is. As part of my efforts, I also teach Kabbalah because once you realize the gift it gives those who study it, you cannot keep it to yourself, as nothing would be more selfish than keeping such a gemstone hidden from the world.

*To find out more about Kabbalah, please visit my website, my personal webpage, or our Kabbalah courses.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “The Other Side of the Coin”

A few weeks ago, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented an extremely rare 2000-year-old coin that was stolen and smuggled out of Israel, and returned following an intelligence operation by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in New York. The date on the silver quarter shekel coin is that of the fourth year of the Jewish Great Revolt (66-73 CE) against the Roman Empire. These days, when even organizations that are part of the United Nations deny Israel’s historic connection to Jerusalem, this coin proves it undeniably. Regrettably, no one cares about the truth, and declarations about Israel’s “invasion” into Palestine will continue, since historic truth has nothing to do with politics.

Two hundred years ago, there were no people who defined themselves as Palestinians and demanded sovereignty, much less two thousand years ago. However, this will do nothing to reverse the charges against Israel. No one will take notice of the little coin or treat it as a proof.

The root of the problem is not whether we were here or not, or whether or not the world recognizes our historic connection to the land of Israel. Regardless of history, the world does not want us here, or anywhere else, and this is why it treats us this way. If it did not hate us, we would not need to prove that we belong here. Since it hates us, no proof will help us win the world’s favor.

Humanity’s subconscious complaint against us is that we do not belong here because we are not doing what we are supposed to do, what the people of Israel were intended to do and were obligated to give to the world. Since we are not fulfilling our duty to the world, the world does not feel that we should be here or that we should be regarded as the authentic people of Israel.

Even if most people cannot articulate their grievances against us, they feel that we are not carrying out our mission; they do not understand why the world needs us, the eternal pariahs. If we did what we should, they would feel it and would immediately embrace us.

Our great “sin,” for which we are denounced throughout the world, is indeed surprising. It pertains not to how we should treat other nations, but to how we should treat one another, our fellow Jews.

For the most part, only our sages and spiritual leaders knew that our negative attitude to one another is the root cause of our problems. In every generation, they stressed that only unity and love of others would save us from adversity. They warned that unless we unite, disasters would befall us at the hands of villains from among the nations.

Our sages also made unity our motto. “Love your neighbor as yourself” is our brainchild, as are mutual responsibility, leaving part of our crops for the poor, and many other social laws. In fact, the whole concept of Tikkun Olam (correction of the world) that Jews are often concerned with stems from the notion that we have the power to make the world a better place, and that the way to achieve this is through unity.

However, what we tend to forget is that to achieve unity, the world needs a lighthouse, a beacon that sets the course. In other words, we tend to forget that we should lead the world not by preaching about unity and love of others, but by living it out among ourselves. When we tell the world we love our neighbors, yet uninhibitedly deride our fellow Jews and show them nothing but disdain, we lose all credibility.

Worse yet, because our nation was made to be a model nation, the example that the world takes from us is how we treat each other. Currently, it is an example of hatred and division. In such a state, we bring no Tikkun (correction) to the world, but only strife and sorrow.

When we stop trying to prove that we belong here, and begin to earn our presence through our efforts to unite, the world will finally believe us. If we embrace each other, the world will embrace us. If we do not, the world will punish us just as it has been doing whenever we abandon our unity.
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My article in Newsmax: “Are Waves of Isolation, Separatism in Europe’s Future?”

Following decades of left-leaning governments on the old continent, Europe is taking a turn to the right.

Specifically: Italy, Hungary, and Sweden have recently elected new governments, all of which are conservative, or otherwise right-wing.

Judging by their platforms, they will focus more on the nation states, and less on the European Union (EU).

Is a wave of isolation and separatism on the way in Europe?

European countries seem to be experiencing a reactionary wave against the leftist, liberal, pan-European policy that Germany and France have dictated for the past three decades.

The influx of migrants, many of whom are Muslims (who have no intention of adopting European culture or faith), the escalating economic crisis hurting Europeans and undermining their financial security, and the member states’ loss of independence on many aspects, have driven Europeans to rethink their EU participation.

Their realistic observation is forcing them to take reactionary measures and reclaim some of the independence they had given up in favor of empowering the Union, which some of them now regret — at least partially.

The slogans of European unity and declarations that Europe will be a single, powerful superpower, have clearly not been realized.

Small countries, who have been hit the most by the loss of sovereignty, are sobering up from the dream.

This writer always prefers realism to naïveté, and believes that Europe’s new direction is healthier and better for everyone — especially for Europe.

And this writer doesn’t see more countries performing their own Brexits from the European Union at the moment, but enhancing the independence of the nation states within the Union will help them remain within it while also tending to their home affairs.

Unity is wonderful, but when it’s executed under duress, it creates hatred and oppression, eventually exploding. When it can’t be done based on genuine concern for the welfare of all concerned, it’s better to remain distant and respectful.

If Europe wants to create a continent-wide nation, it must first establish solidarity among all the member states destined to participate in such a union.

Only once a sense of solidarity and cohesion has been established among the people can a political union succeed. Had European leaders chosen this path and went by this order, the transition from nation states to a “United States of Europe” would have been natural and smooth.

Because the Union was primarily fiscal and hindered countries’ sovereignty and independence, without first creating mutual responsibility among the nations, it established itself on a wobbly basis that could not endure.

This is why we are witnessing a reactionary wave today.

Perhaps now that countries are reclaiming their independence, and considering the mutual dependence that still exists among the EU countries, they will be able to gradually develop stronger and healthier ties.

However, if they wish to move even closer, they will have to foster a common European identity that all the member nations sympathize with and value more than their own national identities.

For this to come to fruition, there is still a long way to go.
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Medium published my new article “Europe Makes a Right Turn”

Ulf Kristersson Prime Minister of Sweden arrives at the European Council EUCO, the EU leaders summit while he is passing in front of the European flags and the flag of Europe. He does a stand-up and talks to the media while answering questions from journalists and the press. European Council Tackle Energy Crisis And Russia-Ukraine Conflict. European Council in Brussels, Belgium on 20 October 2022 (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto)

After decades of Left leaning governments in the old continent, Europe is taking a turn to the right. Italy, Hungary, and Sweden have recently elected new governments, all of which are conservative, or right-wing. Judging by their platforms, they will focus more on the nation states, and less on the European Union. Is a wave of isolation and separatism on the way in Europe?

European countries seem to be experiencing a reactionary wave against the leftist, liberal, pan-European policy that Germany and France have dictated for the past three decades. The influx of migrants, many of whom are Muslims who have no intention to adopt European culture or faith, the escalating economic crisis that is hurting Europeans and undermining their financial security, and the member states’ loss of independence on many aspects, have driven Europeans to rethink their participation in the EU. Their realistic observation is forcing them to take reactionary measures and reclaim some of the independence they had given up in favor of empowering the Union, which some of them regret now, at least partially.

The slogans of European unity and declarations that Europe will be a single, powerful superpower, have clearly not been realized, and small countries, which have been hit the most by the loss of sovereignty, are sobering up from the dream. I always prefer realism to naivety, so I believe that Europe’s new direction is healthier and better for everyone, especially for Europe.

I do not see more countries performing their own Brexits from the European Union at the moment, but enhancing the independence of the nation states within the Union will help them remain within it while also tending to their home affairs. Unity is wonderful, and I am all for it, but when it is executed under duress, it creates hatred and oppression, and eventually explodes. When it cannot be done based on genuine concern for the welfare of all concerned, it is better to remain distant and respectful.

If Europe wants to create a continent-wide nation, it must first establish solidarity among all the member states destined to participate in the Union. Only once a sense of solidarity and cohesion has been established among the people can a political union succeed. Had European leaders chosen this path and went by this order, the transition from nation states to a “United States of Europe” would have been natural and smooth. Because the Union was primarily fiscal and hindered countries’ sovereignty and independence, without first creating mutual responsibility among the nations, it established itself on a wobbly basis that could not last. This is why we are witnessing a reactionary wave today.

Perhaps now that countries are reclaiming their independence, and considering the mutual dependence that still exists among the EU countries, they will be able to gradually develop stronger and healthier ties. However, if they wish to move even closer, they will have to foster a common European identity that all the member nations sympathize with and value more than their own national identities. For this to happen, there is still a ways to go.

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