Entries in the 'New Publications' Category

“The Discordant Drums Of War” (Linkedin)


My new article on Linkedin “The Discordant Drums of War

As the world waits with bated breath to see if Russia will invade Ukraine, as thousands of American troops are on high alert to invade Eastern Europe, and as NATO announces it will send more ships and fighter jets to Ukraine to reinforce the Baltic states, I am convinced we are not on the brink of a world war.

Invading Ukraine is not worth it for Russia because such a move could lead to a war that the Russians will undoubtedly lose. They will probably succeed here and there militarily, even if their army is not as strong as in the past, but financially they will lose. Russia’s economy is weak anyway, and life there is difficult. The war would only crush them.

In today’s modern world, it is no longer worth fighting. What is the point? More money and natural resources? After all, the investment in conflict is greater than the profit, not to mention the subsequent participation which will cost a fortune. Nowadays it is more beneficial to enter into economic cooperation, as initiated by the European Union—to arrange industrial and cultural relations, to engage in economic activities and trade, and thus all countries joining the alliance will benefit from joint business.

So what will enable Russia to conquer more territory and control it? After all, it has vast superfluous territories stretching from the Volga River to the Far East where there are hardly any inhabitants. It follows that the Russians’ move is based not on practical thinking but on a private compulsion, on the need to conquer and feel, “This is ours!” Russia enjoys showing the world that it is a strong country. This Russian pride is well-known, a familiar characteristic that can spur it to go barefoot, eat gravel, as long as it wins respect and sympathy.

Moreover, Ukrainians are strong, full of resentment against Russians, which gives them the strength to oppose them. If this is so, where do the winds of war come from? First of all, from the media which profit from the heating up. Second, from people whose job is to fuel war. Opinion makers and political analysts know that conflict is their art, and they know how to recruit the minority dissatisfied with the existing state into their ranks, thus igniting an uproar at any hour. Third, it is the politicians who, in the event of an escalation or a real war, count on raising their prestige in the eyes of the population. The possibility of war is on everyone’s lips while U.S. President Joe Biden’s approval rating continues to drop, according to recent polls. 72% of Americans believe their country is moving in the “wrong direction,” revealed a NBC poll a few days ago.

Despite the fierce winds, I do not think Europe is on the brink of war. Even if a few missiles fall here and there, the current crisis will ultimately be resolved diplomatically, not militarily. A good agreement will be signed for all countries involved: Russia, Ukraine and, of course, the U.S., which always emerges stronger and more successful.

It is good that Israel is out of the Russia-Ukraine mess. Countries that do not enter into conflicts will form a solid and correct foundation for a better existence, especially Israel, whose role is to be the pioneer force for a new, more balanced and stable world.

We Jews who are watching from a distance what is happening there, must engage in resolving the wars between us, repairing the relationship within our people so that we can set an example of a true and qualitative cordial connection out of a great desire to play the drums of peace. That is the essence and mandate for the people of Israel to implement, to become the “light unto the nations” for the benefit of all the peoples in the world.
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“Does Time Exist?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: Does time exist?

Time is nonexistent in and of itself. We exist in a single state, and we feel the flow of time in relation to the process of our development toward discovering more and more of the single, integral and perfect state we exist in.

We can think of ourselves as a person who became unconscious and who, from an unconscious state, is gradually regaining consciousness. At certain points, he starts seeing and understanding that he is in a hospital room, with people entering and exiting, nurses and doctors, and he starts hearing various sounds.

It appears to such a person that everything he sees was previously nonexistent, but it was in fact always there. He thus perceives the process of the emergence of something new relative to himself as the passage of time.

Moreover, this process of waking up to the single state we are in is a matter of growth of desires within us. When our desires increase and start wanting to perceiving wider and wider circles, then this inner change expands our capacity to perceive, and the changes we experience in perception give us the sensation of time.

Based on KabTV’s “Close-Up. Anamnesis” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on February 19, 2010. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash

“Robin Hood Of The Trees” (KabNet)


KabNet published my new article: “Robin Hood of the Trees

Carbon is the tradable currency of the forest. Trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere as part of the process of photosynthesis and share some of it with fungi that grow on their roots. In return, the fungi give them nutrients and minerals such as nitrogen and phosphor, which trees cannot absorb from the soil, but fungi can. Now, a new study by the Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences has found that fungi do not use all the carbon for themselves. Instead, they “pilfer” carbon from stronger trees and pass it on to weaker ones. In a sense, they are a kind of Robin Hood of the trees, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.

Once again, we find that where we see “survival of the fittest,” there is in fact “survival of the friendliest.” The ego hides the truth from us and prevents us from building peaceful and abundant lives for ourselves.

Connections among humans are far more complex and intricate than those among trees. If we used them correctly, they could sustain all of us abundantly, even if there were many more people in the world than the current world population. But we do not use them correctly. We use them to abuse and dominate others. In doing so, we condemn ourselves to eternal wars and inevitable destruction.

Our egos are blinding us. They make us feel that if we share our fortune, we will be left deficient. In truth, empirical evidence shows that those who share end up having greater abundance than those who do not, both financially and emotionally, while the tightfisted end up on the losing end of life.

The current crisis in computer chips, for example, could have been prevented if we only coordinated our needs instead of each company stocking up on supplies and “emptying the shelves.” The shipping crisis, where ships wait outside ports for weeks before they can unload their cargo, is also an unnecessary result of our unwillingness to cooperate, to consider others’ needs, as well.

If we want to utilize the interconnections in our society to our benefit, we need to start thinking about how we use them for the common good, not only to benefit those in power. Otherwise, supply shortages will worsen to the point where we will have difficulty providing ourselves with the most basic and necessary staples.

It may not be natural for us to share, as it is for nature, but we have no choice. This is why we were given intelligence, so we can use our intellect to learn why sharing pays.

Nature has its Robin Hoods; we have nothing but a movie. So if we want a peaceful and abundant tomorrow, we must nurture the hidden Robin Hood within us.

“Clean Energy Requires Clean Intentions” (Medium)


Medium published my new article “Clean Energy Requires Clean Intentions

The gold standard for clean energy is to be “carbon-neutral.” If production of energy does not emit more carbon than it absorbs, that process is regarded as clean energy. Recently, researchers at Technion Institute of Technology have even surpassed the gold standard. They managed to generate electricity from algae with “currents that are on the level of those obtained from standard solar cells.” Better yet, in the process, the algae emitted oxygen and absorbed carbon. This “carbon-negative” process both generates energy and cleans the air.

Regrettably, humanity will not enjoy the fruits of this stunning discovery. Human nature will ensure that only those who “own” the patent will benefit. The rest of us will pay for it, if we can afford to, and the environment will be abused in yet another nasty way.

Nature has abundance. With the right approach, we could provide ourselves with all the energy, food, and everything else we need with very little effort. We could really live in Heaven on Earth if we would only change our attitude.

In our present attitude, we constantly try to gain as much as we can, much more than we need, so that others will not have. By doing so, we condemn ourselves to a constant war with every person, with all of humanity, and with all of nature. In other words, our self-centered, malevolent attitude toward others sentences us to an eternal war from the day we are born to the day we die — drained and defeated.

Nature gives all creations precisely what they need. It has also installed in them the instinct to use only what they need in order to satisfy their needs and not beyond. But nature has created humans different: Greedy, abusive, and domineering.

There is a good reason for the “flaws” that nature has built into us: If we make a conscious effort to transform ourselves and become like the rest of nature, we will understand and feel nature on a deeper level than any other being can.

Just as nature gives everyone exactly what they need, we, too, must learn to see that everyone has what they need, including ourselves, and that no one abuses or exploits others. If we adopt this approach, we will discover countless ways to improve our lives. We will have all the energy we need and more, all the food, water, housing, education, recreation, and everything we want, and in abundance. As long as we do not try to deny others what they need or harm them in some other way for our own pleasure, our lives will be flawless.

Using the considerate approach, there will be no wars, no shortages of anything, and no pollution. With all of Earth’s systems in balance, it will finally become the heaven it was meant to be, when the only noxious element upon it has been reformed.
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“Spyware Will Not Hurt Us, Spying Will” (Medium)


Medium published my new article “Spyware Will Not Hurt Us, Spying Will

Pegasus, the spyware developed by cyberarms firm NSO Group, can be covertly installed on mobile phones and other devices running most versions of iOS and Android. It can read text messages, track calls, collect passwords, track the target device’s location, access its microphone and camera, and harvest information from apps. The spyware, which was developed in Israel, is used by authorities all over the world, as well as in Israel, and has raised the alarm against unlawful infringement of privacy. In my opinion, the problem is not the spyware, but the spying, the foul intentions of those who use technology to harm, manipulate, and abuse others.

The fact that such spyware exists does not surprise me. It is clear that governors and government officials are not saints and that they do anything they can to know as much as they can about each other so they can manipulate and control others more easily and gain more power.

We need to recognize that our society is broken. The way the government operates simply reflects the society from which the governors come. The same goes for law enforcement and the justice system in general. If a society is corrupt and filled with people who wish to hurt and overpower one another, we cannot expect its representatives to be any different.

It has been this way for decades. What started with wiretapping and other forms of surveillance has simply adapted itself to today’s technology, but in essence, nothing fundamental has changed. This is why it is not the spyware that is hurting us, but the spying we constantly do on each other.

When parents look after their children and want to know their whereabouts, they are not “spying” on them; they are looking after their loved ones. But when strangers or authorities do the same thing, it is spying because their intentions are to hurt or manipulate us. In other words, the problem is not with the software but with its operators.

If we want to “correct” Pegasus and other malware, we need to correct the mal-will that is operating them, namely human nature. The malice we harbor for each other is the root of all evil, not only Pegasus, but everything we do that is intended to hurt, harm, manipulate, exploit, and overpower other people, and the whole world, if possible. If we do not correct the root of the problem, namely ourselves, we will not be able to correct anything.

As a first step toward correcting our root, we need to acknowledge that we are as rotten as our actions toward each other. Here, transparency and courage are key. If we are unwilling to look at ourselves in the mirror, we will not advance toward fixing anything in society. We will have to wait until enough malpractice surfaces to convince us that we must correct not the practice or the practitioners’ tools, but the practitioners themselves.

Once we, all of society or at least its majority, accept that we are the problem and not what we use to satisfy our ill-will, we can begin to work on ourselves. This is when we will begin to examine ourselves instead of blaming others for our woes.

When we shift the focus from others to ourselves, we will begin to see that we are just as bad as everyone else. It will not be just one or two people going through a process of revealing their evil selves. It will be a process where all of society realizes this. As a result, people will begin to change their attitude toward others from wanting to exploit them to wanting to support them.

The realization process may take a long time, but the transition from an exploitative attitude to a supportive one can be very quick. After all, there is nothing that we need to do here; it is only a matter of changing the intention behind our actions, and changing the intention can happen as quickly as our thoughts change.

Therefore, the most important phase in our correction is happening right now.

The sooner we expose the wickedness of human nature, and the more profoundly we acknowledge that this is who we are, the sooner and easier will be the shift from bad intentions to good ones, from spying on each other to caring for each other.
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“Remembering The Holocaust: What Is New About Old Antisemitism” (Times Of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Remembering the Holocaust: What Is New About Old Antisemitism

Record antisemitism in the U.S. and around the world has become a regular headline. But there is an important difference between it now and in the past. The perfect storm caused by the interplay of all-powerful social media platforms and the link between COVID-19 conspiracy theories against Jews and criticism of Israeli policies has triggered antisemitic violent rhetoric worldwide. A staggering 3.5 million posts with antisemitic content were posted on social media last year according to an annual report of the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs released just before the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The number of antisemitic posts on five different social media platforms increased by 1,200% in May 2021 compared to data from 12 months earlier. This was prompted by Israel’s Operation Guardian of the Walls, which was launched in May in response to Hamas firing thousands of rockets at densely populated Israeli cities.

The recently published findings of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency on the state of antisemitism worldwide point in the same direction. 2021 was the most antisemitic year of the past decade. In addition to anti-Zionist diatribes, antisemitism took the form of conspiracy theories blaming Jews for the pandemic and comparing vaccination regulations to Nazi Germany’s policies. Reminiscent of the past, Europe was the epicenter of nearly half of the antisemitic incidents reported last year; North America followed with 30%.

There were some quiet years, but today Jew-hatred is reaching new levels all over the world. Antisemites are eager to find what they see as the final solution. Of course, if we consider the consequences of the Holocaust, the situation today is much better. But if we look at what has happened in the last ten years and even in the last 20 years in the United States and in Europe, we can clearly see that the situation is not changing for the better.

The peoples of the world cannot escape antisemitism; it is in their genes and in their blood. It is a law of nature. Jews can ask nothing of them until the Jews themselves bring correction to the world. They hate Israel until Israel corrects them.

If Israel does not unite and become a role model to make all the nations of the world rise up against their egoism, that is, against the hatred among them, then the nations of the world will unite and rise up against the people of Israel. One of two.

It is written that “the externality of the entire world, being the nations of the world, intensify and revoke the Children of Israel – the internality of the world. In such a generation, all the destructors among the nations of the world raise their heads and wish primarily to destroy and to kill the Children of Israel, as it is written (Yevamot 63): ‘No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.” Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam, The Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book of Zohar”).

So what is on the horizon for the Jews in the world? The answer depends solely on the Jews. In the meantime, we are approaching a situation where everyone will gang up against the Jews until the Jews open their eyes and realize that they have no choice but to activate the spirit of connectedness between them. And to rise above their selfish calculations since this is the only way to save themselves (and the world). Only in this scenario will antisemitism cease, “And all the nations will acknowledge and recognize Israel’s merit over them, until the realization of the words: ‘And the people shall take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord.’” (Isaiah 14:2)
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“Remember The Past To Protect From The Future” (Linkedin)


My new article on Linkedin “Remember the Past to Protect from the Future

A week ago, the Ruderman Family Foundation released a report examining antisemitism in the US today. According to the report, “Ninety-three percent of American Jews are concerned with the current levels of antisemitism in the United States, with nearly half of U.S. Jews (42%) experiencing antisemitism either directly or through family and friends over the past five years alone.” It turns out that American Jews, who thought, “This would never happen in America,” are facing the same old hatred that every Jewish community in the Diaspora has experienced since the ruin of the Temple nearly twenty centuries ago.

No online or offline efforts to curb expressions of antisemitism will help. Antisemitism will exist as long as its root exists. It will keep growing until its engine, the core reason for its existence, is uprooted. And only we, Jews, can tear it out because the root exists within us.

Some months ago, Oren Jacobson, co-founder of Project Shema, which helps Jewish students, leaders, organizations and allies explore the difficult conversations surrounding Israel and antisemitism, published an op-ed on Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). In the column, he lists some of the accusations that antisemites use as pretexts for hating Jews. “Jews get attacked for supposedly controlling the world (governments, banks, media),” he wrote, “for being disloyal to our home countries, for killing Jesus, for making up the Holocaust, for being greedy, for undermining the white race and subverting people of color (among other things). We’ve been blamed for plagues, famine, economic hardship and war. Whatever major problem a society has, Jews have been blamed for it.” In other words, as retired General William Boykin once stated, “The Jews are the problem; the Jews are the cause of all the problems in the world.”

The Ruderman report was released on January 20, the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, when the Nazis devised the “final solution to the Jewish question.” A week later, on January 27, which is today, is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. There are other memorial days surrounding the Holocaust, but none of them will protect us from the next tragedy. If we want to avoid another reason for establishing even more memorial days, we must recognize that the key to solving the problem is within us, and get proactive about solving it.

The key to solving antisemitism lies in eliminating our internal divisions. Throughout history, our unfounded hatred, the hatred that cost us the loss of our sovereignty in the Land of Israel, has also inflicted on us all the persecutions and exterminations we have experienced since. For us, “Love your neighbor as yourself” is not an empty slogan; it is a commandment that we must obey if we want peace and quiet in the world. The world accepts us only when we accept each other. If we hate each other, the world hates us in return for our hatred of each other. This may seem counterintuitive, but it is true nonetheless.

In 1929, Dr. Kurt Fleischer, leader of the Liberals in the Berlin Jewish Community Assembly, sensed why the Germans were becoming increasingly antisemitic. He stated, “Anti-Semitism is the scourge that God has sent us in order to lead us together and weld us together.” Regrettably, the awareness of the linkage between antisemitism and internal disunity did not penetrate deep enough, and the result was catastrophic. This time, we must let the message sink in so that our generation does not suffer the consequences of our hatred for each other.
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“There Is Hatred In Their Hearts” (Times Of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “There Is Hatred in Their Hearts

Today, Thursday, January 27, is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Precisely a week prior to the event, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution that condemns denial and distortion of the Holocaust. Interestingly, the timing of the resolution, January 20, 2022, is also the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazis devised the plan for “the final solution to the Jewish question.” How symbolic it is that on the day when the Nazis determined to extinguish us, the UN resolved to condemn any attempt to deny or play down that attempt. Regrettably, a symbol will not prevent the recurrence of genocide against the Jews.

The nations’ lofty words are empty since their hearts are filled with hate toward us. Just as they would not help us before WWII, when they knew that we were heading for extinction, and just as they refused to bomb extermination camps during the war although they realized what was happening there, they will not lift a finger for us now. If anything, whoever perpetrates the next genocide against the Jews will find many willing partners eager to “pitch in.”

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day is just another opportunity for UN functionaries and bureaucrats to justify their bloated salaries. No one attributes any importance to it.

In fact, if you examine the statistics, you will find that since the 1947 UN resolution to establish a Jewish state and an Arab state in Palestine, the UN has been doing everything it could to go back on its decision and leave the land entirely for the Arabs. Their remorse, therefore, over their inaction during the Holocaust, is phony.

As is becoming increasingly clear, the situation of the Jews around the world has not improved. The Holocaust may have given us a few quiet years, but these are gone, and the curve of Jewish welcome in the world is sloping sharply down.

The obvious odium that the world feels toward the Jewish state reflects its feelings toward the Jews in general. The bias against Israel is a convenient way for the nations to express their feelings that no matter how hard the Jews may try to justify their existence, the world will always find them guilty of every woe and every hardship. The harder they try to appease, the more they will meet contempt.

The only time when Jews are welcome is when they are united among themselves. When there is cohesion among them, the hollers against them subside and everyone respects them.

Jewish unity is our only protection against the violent hatred of the world. It is as the book Maor VaShemesh writes, “The prime defense against calamity is love and unity. When there are love, unity, and friendship between each other in Israel, no calamity can come over them. Similarly, the book Shem MiShmuel concludes, “When [Israel] are as one man with one heart, they are as a fortified wall against the forces of evil.”

Our unity protects us not because we are stronger than the entire world when we are united. We are not. Jewish power was never about military strength; it was always about spiritual fortitude rather than physical might. When we are united, we are the example that the world wants to see, the “light unto nations” we were destined to be. Deep down, every non-Jew feels it and reacts accordingly when we are united.

In fact, over the generations, there have been very keen people among the antisemites who were aware of the nature of their hatred. They knew that they hated us for not being who we are meant to be—a light of unity for the nations. Some of them were even able to articulate the nature of that light, and stated that their grievance against the Jews is that they are not setting an example of unity, and thereby causing the world not to be able to unite.

One of the most striking examples of such a keen perception is the most antisemitic document ever written in the United States: Henry Ford’s The International Jew—the World’s Foremost Problem. In this hate-filled composition, you will find some of the most appalling statements about the Jewish people. Yet, alongside those outrageous accusations, Ford wrote that Israel’s unity will “prove a great and serviceable factor in bringing about human unity, which the total Jewish tendency at the present time is doing much to prevent.”

In other words, in one sentence, Ford both claims that Jews must promote world unity, and accuses them of working hard to prevent it. As for how the world can learn from the Jews how to unite, Ford advises that “Modern reformers who are constructing model social systems … would do well to look into the social system under which the early Jews were organized.”

The choice is ours. We can unite and lead the world by example, or we can remain divided and suffer the consequences. If we do not want the world to set up another memorial day for Jewish victims, we should heed the words of our sages and our haters. Both are right, and both urge us to unite.
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“From The Body To The Mind” (Linkedin)


My new article on Linkedin “From the Body to the Mind

The current wave is causing more confusion than ever. If previously, experts believed that mass vaccinations were necessary in order to curb the spread of the virus, now there are experts who believe we should let go of all the guards since the current strain will turn the pandemic into an endemic disease like the common cold. I really don’t know how it will end, if it will end at all. Either way, one thing is clear: Our woes will not end. A new menace will come, which will not affect our bodies but our minds.

To begin with, the whole problem is in our minds. It is our minds that are sick, and they sicken our bodies and the rest of the world. For this reason, I believe that future woes will be more complex and more sophisticated, more subtle. They will not attack our bodies but our brains. As a result, we will begin to think differently and see things differently.

The sickness in our minds has to do with our attitude toward others. We are so abusive to others that we cannot stop even when we know we are harming ourselves in the process. There is an anecdote about a man whose jealousy of his neighbor overcame him. One day, the man found a lamp. When he rubbed it, a genie came out and promised to give him anything he wanted, but with a caveat: “Whatever I give you, I will give twofold to your neighbor.” The jealous man thought about it for a while and finally said to the genie: “Take out one of my eyes.”

This is what we are doing to ourselves. Our minds seek dominance, power, and wealth at the expense of others. In the process, we are destroying the very sources of abundance that make our world livable. We have become so absorbed in overpowering others that we cannot stop attempting to destroy them even when it eventually means destroying ourselves.

This attitude will be the target of the new bug that will infect us. I hope it happens sooner rather than later, but I cannot be certain. What I do know is that when it comes, we will begin to recognize the damage we have been causing our surroundings.

Regrettably, we learn only through pain. Only blows open our eyes to see we have been going in the wrong direction. If we use our intellect to learn more quickly, we will spare much of the pain, but it depends on our willingness to learn. For now, unfortunately, I cannot say that we are in learning mode.
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“Opioids — An Escape From Pointlessness” (Medium)


Medium published my new article “Opioids — an Escape from Pointlessness

According to data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, last year saw a leap of nearly 30 percent in deaths from drug overdose, 75 percent of which was attributed to opioids. According to the data, deaths from opioid overdose rose by nearly 40 percent last year alone.

These alarming statistics are by far the worst of any country, but the US is not alone in its opioid crisis. During roughly the same time period, opioid use among teenagers in Israel has soared, accompanied by a surge in calls to emotional help centers.

In both the US and Israel, the problem is not opioid use per se, but the sense of pointlessness that drives young adults and teens to try to escape from reality. Today, when people have everything they need materially, questions about the meaning of it all become increasingly poignant.

This is true not only of teenagers and young adults, but also of their parents. In fact, part of the reason why teenagers cannot answer to themselves the question about the meaning of life is that their parents do not know the answer either and are just as perplexed. Since parents cannot provide answers, children remain frustrated.

Opioid abuse is only one facet of the problem. In truth, everywhere you look, people are unhappy, depressed, angry, and frustrated. This is why so many of them turn to extremes to find meaning: religious fundamentalism, extreme sports, violence, and substance abuse.

The solution, therefore, does not lie in a particularistic approach to opioid overdose. There needs to be a comprehensive system that informs people about the changing reality and teaches them how to deal with it.

This system needs to start in early childhood and continue well into adulthood. People should be placed in social circles that provide them with social support, warmth, sympathy, and empathy. The relationship with the group should be an extended one and continue through life, providing people with a base to lean on and from which to grow.

Gradually, people will begin to develop new values. Instead of seeking meaning and satisfaction derived from self-centered goals, people will find meaning in reciprocal relationships with others. They will begin with the core group I just mentioned and develop from there to wider and wider circles.

On the other side of the crisis lies a new society, connected and supportive. But getting there requires squeezing through a narrow cave where the light on the other end is dim and erratic.

The pain that drives people to opioids and other forms of escapism is the result of the pressure from being in the process of shifting from one world to another. On the one hand, pleasures from the old world no longer give them the joy they once had; on the other hand, they have not discovered the pleasure in reciprocating with others. As a result, they feel “trapped in a cave” and are desperately looking for an escape.
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