My new article on Linkedin “The Day Israel Disappears”

On the day Palestine is liberated and Israel is destroyed, Jews and IDF soldiers will be executed, peace activists will be able to safely leave, and the technological experts and brilliant minds will be forced to stay here for some time to provide support.

These are some of the conclusions about the planned fate of the Jewish state reached during the “Promise of the Hereafter” conference recently held by the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip.

One can roll one’s eyes at yet another announcement foretelling the disappearance of Israel in the coming years, but if one examines the area, almost everything is prepared and ready to enact this plan. There are Arab representatives in Israel in key positions, they receive large sums of money, they are armed and full of manpower and they are surrounded by support from all Arab countries. So why should such a disturbing event not occur in the future?

We do not exist in the land of Israel only by virtue of our security forces, but mainly by Supreme grace. Our very contempt for this fact and our unwillingness to acknowledge it and behave accordingly cause us to gradually lose the spiritual umbrella that protects us.

I do not think Hamas’ descriptions of nightmares for the people of Israel will occur as they describe, but it is important to be alert and to recognize that the situation is unstable and that there is always a chance that we will degenerate into such a dangerous situation.

The enemy’s plan is very detailed: from transitional laws—through the transfer of real estate to them—to military, legal and security laws. While they envision a new state—and as we know, nothing stands in the way of desire—our Jewish vision is fading.

Every day that passes during which we do not engage in a serious plan of heartfelt bonding between us, overcoming all the alienation and resentment between us towards a more complete unity, causes us to lose our strength. Every day that we do not act and try vigorously to discover the Supreme Force—the power of giving and love—causes us to lose our truth.

At the same time as our settlement in the land of Israel and, alongside of it, our intensive focus on its security, we must pay attention to the nation’s spirit as a single unit because without it, we will not survive here for long. The separation between us breaks that spirit which then transforms into negative forces that threaten us through our enemies.

We need to build a spiritual home from our hearts, to live as one man in one heart. Our intention must be too giving to the Supreme Force—to the power of connection—a space within our common heart to dwell among us and between us. Only in this way can we ensure our future existence in the land of Israel. This spirit of mutual responsibility and love that awakens in us will be the cause of our success. Therefore, we must hasten steps towards building a correct, strong, spiritual Israel—a land inhabited by people who are emotionally connected to one another and to their Upper Root.

Foremost kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) has already warned that “Israel must present something new to the nations. This is what they expect from the return of Israel to the land! …Justice, and peace. And this wisdom is attributed to us alone. If this return is canceled, Zionism will be canceled altogether…And its residents are destined to endure much suffering. Undoubtedly, either they or their children will gradually leave the country, and only an insignificant number will remain, which will ultimately be swallowed among the Arabs.” (“The Writings of the Last Generation.”)

Such an internal connection as the common heart we must build will attract everyone to it and expand circles of positive influence throughout the world. Thus, gradually the rest of the nations of the world will join us. On that day, there will be no Arabs and Jews but rather, one people. There will be no Israel or Palestine, but one humanity with one prayer to the one Supreme Force, the power of influence and love, as it is written: “For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (Isaiah 56:7)
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My new article on Linkedin “The Just Protest of the Medical Residents Will Not Heal Healthcare”

The struggle of medical interns and resident physicians to shorten their absurdly long shifts has been going on for more than a decade. While no person is expected to maintain clarity for more than eight hours on the job, residents and interns, who are entrusted with saving our lives and the lives of our loved ones, are expected to somehow stay sharp and alert for 26 hours straight. And not just once, but throughout their training, which typically lasts four or more years. Such working conditions are a disgrace to the State, which requires them of all medical students on their way to becoming certified doctors, and testifies to the level of our indifference toward each other.

Such conditions are not new, nor are they specific to Israel. Being the son of two doctors, I remember that both my parents were absent for many hours even when I was as young as five years old. I remember my mother cooking food to last for two days, putting it in the stove on a very low temperature to keep it lukewarm, and leaving the house for a 36 hour shift at the hospital. At five years old, I would serve myself dinner, being the only person in the house.

There clearly needs to be a major reform here, and not just for medical residents and interns, but throughout the system. While we cannot stop medical services, it is simply unjust to demand such shifts from doctors, and unrealistic to expect them to do their job well after that many hours on the job. And we need them to do their job well.

When I say that the solution must be system-wide, I am not referring only to the health care system. The reform must encompass every aspect of our lives. Currently, everything is motivated by money. As the song says, “Money makes the world go ‘round”; this is why our world looks pathetic.

Countries spend enormous amounts of money on medicine, but look where it is getting us. Worldwide, the only area where we spend more taxpayers’ money than medicine is arms. Yet, despite the titanic budgets, public health care is sinking.

Again, it is not only in health care. The same phenomenon is evident in education, welfare, and everywhere else.

The problem lies in our basic motivation. Instead of money, we must establish a care-based society.

Unless we initiate an educational process that teaches people how interdependent we are, we will become so noxious toward each other that human society will disintegrate, at a colossal cost to all of us. If we feel that we are dependent on each other, we will develop care for one another. Even without natural kinship, such as among siblings, the realization that our well-being depends on the well-being of everyone else will make us work for the sake of others. And if we work for the sake of others, we will begin to warm up to them, and from there it will not be long before we become genuinely caring for each other.

A student of mine, who works for a large healthcare organization in Israel, told me that he is permitted to dedicate up to ten minutes per patient. In those ten minutes, even with new patients, he must get to know the person, diagnose the problem, and prescribe drugs or refer to further treatment. This isn’t health care; it’s an assembly line. This is what happens when the motivation isn’t others’ well-being but money, and it characterizes our entire society.
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My new article on Linkedin “The Pandora Papers Will Not Make the World a Better Place”

A few days ago, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released what it defined as “An offshore data tsunami.” The nearly 3 terabytes of “data trove,” as the authors put it, “exposes the offshore secrets of wealthy elites from more than 200 countries and territories. These are people who use tax and secrecy havens to buy property and hide assets; many avoid taxes and worse. They include more than 330 politicians and 130 Forbes billionaires, as well as celebrities, fraudsters, drug dealers, royal family members and leaders of religious groups around the world.”

The goal of the ICIJ is admirable, and so are its efforts. Regrettably, even such successes as this exposure will not make the world a better place.

For all its size, this “trove” is a drop in an ocean of illegal and fraudulent money movements happening around the world. Today, when the ego is running amok, we cannot know what lurks underneath the surface.

The desire to possess is the worst, and wildest expression of the ego, but it is human nature and we should not judge those people until we are in their shoes. If we could amass millions of dollars with no effort and without being detected, would we be able to resist the temptation? And if we did, for how long would we resist it?

Despite its material manifestation, greed is actually a spiritual desire. It makes you want more and more until you give up on it altogether. But until then, it is insatiable. Our sages wrote about this in the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah): “One does not leave the world with half one’s wishes in one’s hand, for one who has one hundred wants two hundred; one who has two hundred wants four hundred.” So precisely because it is insatiable, greed brings on itself its own end.

When we give up on satisfying ourselves, we will realize that happiness cannot be found in accumulating wealth and possessions. You cannot take with you any of it when you die, and you’re never satisfied with what you have since once you have it, you want twice as much.

Even so, humanity must go through this stage of excessive greed and lust for power, and no “data trove” will stop it. The only thing that will change the world for the better is when we realize that chasing wealth and power does not produce happiness, but rather more hunger: spiritual hunger for the rich, and physical hunger for the poor that they abuse.

From the look of it, we have more learning to do before humanity is ready to move to a higher and more humane stage in its development.
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My new article on Linkedin “Germany-Israel Relations after Merkel”

After her 16-year term as Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel’s farewell visit to Israel on Sunday could mark a change in the friendly relationship between the two countries. Whether that change will be positive or negative depends solely on the Jewish nation. Our unity determines the state of the world, its fate, and the way we are treated by others.

Olaf Scholz, the leader of the center-left Social Democratic Party, narrowly won the majority of votes against the ruling center-right Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU). It appears that he will soon be able to form a coalition with the Greens and liberals to replace Merkel.

The new government’s foreign policy towards Israel remains to be seen, but its most immediate headache is to deal with matters at home. Police registered 2,351 cases of antisemitic offenses last year, an increase of 15% compared to the previous year, the highest number on record since 2001. Most recently, German authorities thwarted a potential terrorist attack on a synagogue in the town of Hagen. Just days ago, another incident caused an international uproar. A German Jewish musician claims he was denied check-in service at a Leipzig hotel unless he concealed his necklace bearing a Star of David.

So what change can we expect in the near future? For a positive answer to that question, we can only look to the people of Israel to understand that it dictates the course of history and to carry out this responsibility correctly.

Whether aware or not, the ball is in our court. Through our unity, we allow unity in the world as we stream into it the positive uniting force it so desperately needs. Conversely, our separation denies humanity this power and invokes within it hatred toward Jews.

In the words of Rav Kook, “The genuine movement of the Israeli soul at its grandest is expressed only by its sacred, eternal force, which flaws within its spirit. It is that which has made it, is making it, and will make it still a nation that stands as a light unto nations, as redemption and salvation to the entire world for its own specific purpose, and for the global purposes, which are interlinked.” (Letters of the RAAIAH 3)

Today’s hostility toward Jews must remind us of our task. Only if we rekindle the brotherly love we cultivated centuries ago and share the method for achieving this with all, will we be able to stop antisemitism.

Which way the scales tip is in our hands. In his essay Mutual Guarantee, Baal HaSulam writes, “The Israeli nation was established as a conduit to the extent that they purify themselves [from egoism], they pass on their power to the rest of the nations.” Jewish unity tips the scales toward pleasant relations and the power of peace flows into the world. Conversely, our separation blocks this flow to humanity and invokes hatred of Jews with its absence.

Therefore, neither Chancellor Angela Merkel nor her successor will determine the acceptance or rejection of the people of Israel. Neither will any other determine whether, God forbid, Germany will eventually be governed by a tyrant like Hitler. No political figure can determine our fate. Everything depends on how we Jews behave toward one another, on our capacity to connect, thus unleashing the positive force of nature upon us and all humanity. Then we will fear nothing, no electoral outcome or other occurrence in any part of the world because hatred will be replaced by peace and quiet for everyone.
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My new article on Linkedin “The “Opinion” of Kamala Harris Isn’t Really Hers”

A couple of weeks ago, Vice President Kamala Harris visited George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, to speak about the importance of voting. During her lecture, a student commented that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, to which VP Harris nodded in apparent agreement and said that the student should not suppress “her truth.” The next day, Harris apologized and said she does not believe Israel is committing genocide. It was too late; the impact of her nod had already gone viral and created backlash. The question is not whether Harris is or is not antisemitic, but rather to what extent her gesture represents the position of her party and country. The answer, in my opinion, is that her nod represents them quite sincerely. It is her apology that’s spurious, not her gesture to the student.

A government does only what serves the interest of its country, or at least its ruling party. There are no friends in politics. In Israel, we used to think of America as our greatest friend and ally. But that was only our perspective, not the perspective of America. In truth, Israel matters to no one. The world would readily be rid of us if it only could.

For example, look at what is happening with the Labour Party in the UK. A day before Harris’ talk with the students at George Mason, UK’s Labour Party passed a motion that defined Israel as an “apartheid state.” Here, too, the Labour adopted a position that serves its interest. The UK is flooded with Arabs, the influence of Arab countries is very dominant in the UK, and the Labour Party needs the Arab constituency. Therefore, it is in its interest to declare that Israel is an apartheid state.

Not only countries, but even worldwide Jewry is turning against Israel. Among young American Jews, about half, if not more, would prefer that Israel would not exist, and the number of anti-Israel Jews is only growing.

But things will not change in Israel’s favor before we, in Israel, change ourselves for the better. People will not like us before we like each other; it’s just how it works.

The reason that the people of Israel have survived for millennia is that there is a purpose to our existence. Our nation consists of members of countless nations who formed a nation that believed in a revolutionary ideology. Thousands of years ago, those representatives joined Abraham’s group because they believed in his message of mercy and unity of all people above differences. German-Israeli historian Yitzhak Baer wrote in his book A History of the Jews in Christian Spain, that “Inwardly, Israelite society was founded upon the fundamental qualities of simplicity, brotherhood, and love.”

Because our nation consists of “representatives” of other nations, the world feels it has a “stake” in us, that it has a right to tell us what to do and demand of us to set a good example, which it does not demand of any other nation. This “double standard,” which is the principal indicator for “detecting” antisemites, is engrained in the core of every non-Jew on Earth.

This is why as long as we cannot tolerate each other, the world will not tolerate us. Since our hatred for each other has been intensifying for decades, so has the world’s hatred for us. Abraham Foxman, former national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), aptly defined Israel as “the Jew among the nations.” Accordingly, the nations will relate to us as humanity relates to Jews: When we are united, there is affection and appreciation for Israel. When we are divided, the world despises us and wants to do away with us.

Because our ancestors come from many nations, when we detest each other, we unwittingly infuse this hatred in all those nations of our ancestors. This is why the nations blame us for spreading hatred, causing war, and why they demonize us. However, if we relate to one another positively, it percolates to the rest of the world. In that case, as much as they despise and hate us now, they will appreciate and love us then.

Therefore, we should not expect non-Jews, including Vice President Harris, not to hate us as long as we are hateful toward each other. They cannot help it. Through our love or hate for one another, we determine how humanity feels toward us, and through our love or hate for one another, we determine whether love and peace, or hatred and war, prevail around the world.

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My new article on Linkedin “The Eyes of the Wise”

When we look at the world’s political map, we see two lines that are trying to annihilate one another: the right line and the left line. They alternate in dominance and their struggles are growing increasingly ferocious and destructive. But when we look at the rest of nature, there is no war there, but complementation. Even the struggles strengthen the rivaling parties and make them healthier. Clearly, we are missing something.

Balanced progress must always contain two sides: right and left. The right side is the tendency toward stability and tradition, toward making tomorrow the same as today. The left side is the tendency to revolutionize, innovate, to probe the future. When the two sides complement each other, society can draw better conclusions, make more accurate decisions, and move forward successfully.

“The eyes of the wise are in his head” (Ecclesiastes 2:14), said King Solomon. In other words, while nature is always pushing us forward, we must strive to understand its disposition and prepare for it. When we do not prepare, misfortunes surprise us and the distress forces us to search for protection. Because nature always evolves, maintaining stability tomorrow requires that we prepare for the future today. This is the right combination between the right line and the left line, and it is called “advancing on the middle line.”

Maintaining the middle line is challenging since the human ego constantly changes and evolves. The more we develop, the more our senses demand new excitements and we feel greater hunger for pleasure and satisfaction. At the same time, our world is growing increasingly connected and any movement that one person makes influences all other people. We have become mutually dependent while our alienation from each other is intensifying.

To survive the 21st century, we will have no choice but to establish global educational systems that will teach us the middle line between catering to our growing egos and the necessity to be considerate of others. Unless we learn how to find a constructive middle ground, nature will force us to do so through pressure and pain.

Back in the 1930s, the great kabbalist and thinker Baal HaSulam wrote in his inspiring essay “Peace in the World”: “In our generation, when each person is aided for his happiness by all the countries in the world, the individual unwittingly becomes enslaved to the whole world, like a wheel in a machine. …Although this is, in fact, known and felt, still people in the world have not yet grasped it properly. Why? Because such is the conduct of development in nature: The act comes before the understanding, and only actions will prove and push humanity forward.”

Therefore, we have no time to waste. If we want a welcoming tomorrow, we must work on it today.
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My new article on Linkedin “The Enigmatic Impact of the Jews on Nations”

Last month, some 300 courageous Iraqi leaders, both Shiite and Sunni, called on the government to join the Abraham Accords, normalize ties with Israel, and repeal the law prohibiting civilian ties between Iraqis and Israelis. I am all for peace and good relations, but regrettably, at the moment, it does not seem like the Iraqi government is willing to become a real partner for it. In fact, the government has already issued orders of arrest to some of the participants in the declaration.

There used to be a flourishing Jewish community in Iraq, which contributed to the thriving of the country. Today, without the Jews, it is a shadow of itself. When acclaimed German economist and sociologist Werner Sombart wished to describe the impact of the Jews on Europe, he articulated himself in a manner that suits many other places, too. In his book The Jews and Modern Capitalism, he wrote: “Israel passes over Europe like the sun: at its coming new life bursts forth; at its going all falls into decay.”

Leaders have always known this impact of the Jews and attempted to use it to their benefit. In the 15th century, the Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid II, was delighted at the Jews’ expulsion from Spain and their arrival in Turkey. In his book History of Jewish Literature: The Jewish Center of Culture in the Ottoman Empire, historian Israel Zinberg writes in this regard: “When King Ferdinand, who expelled the Jews from Spain, was mentioned in [the sultan’s] presence, he said: ‘How can you consider King Ferdinand a wise ruler when he impoverished his own land and enriched ours?’”

In some cases, manipulation of the economic power of the Jews was not as overt. It is said that when the US pressured the Soviet Union to let its Jews leave for the West, it was not so much because it wanted to help the Jews, but more because it wanted to weaken the Soviet Union. The latter, which was quite aware of the power of the Jews, did not let them out. It also quelled any display of overt antisemitism in the USSR in order not to scare the Jews away.

The Iraqi leaders who convened last month are well aware of it. Wissam al-Hardan, a Sunni tribal leader from Anbar province in Iraq, said that the expulsion of Iraq’s Jews was “the most infamous act” in the country’s decline. Likewise, Dr. Sahr al-Ta’i, an Iraqi advocate of normalizing ties with Israel, said that “Israel today … is a strong country and an inseparable part of the world and the United Nations. Iraq cannot neglect this fact and live in isolation from the world.”

While all the above is impressive, we should also note that wherever Jews are welcome first, they are eventually rejected and expelled. There are good reasons for both phenomena.

The Jews bear within them a special trait, a spiritual force that derives from our illustrious past when we were connected among each other and therefore connected to all of reality. The power of the Jews is the power of unity, the power of caring for each other “as one man with one heart,” the power of mutual responsibility.

Today, even though we have lost our love for one another, we still carry within us a spark of the power we had had in antiquity. That spark makes us unique. It allows us to thrive within any society where we live. However, because we have fallen from the state of loving others, we use it to our benefit instead of for the benefit of the entire society. This is why at first, everyone welcomes us and we contribute to the prosperity of our host country, due to the hidden spark within us, but in the end we are expelled, when our host realizes it’s been used and manipulated to benefit the Jews.

Just as it happened in Spain, Germany, and basically everywhere we went, it will happen in the US. As long as we behave the same, the result will be the same. It is just as one famous Jew, Albert Einstein, once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

The good intentions of the Iraqi leaders will therefore not lead to anything positive. Peace with Israel is not in their hands, but in ours. If we decide to make peace among ourselves and renew the love of others that we once possessed, we will project it to the nations and the world will prosper. If we continue to detest one another and maintain our selfish attitude, the world will accuse us of selfishness and banish us from the family of nations.
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My new article on Linkedin “It is OK that the US Cares Only about Itself”

Since World War II, America has been almost perpetually engaged in some sort of war. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, not to mention meddling in Cuba, and countless other overt and covert military and political occasions of American involvement in other countries. Indeed, there is substance to America’s moniker, “the world’s policeman,” as an op-ed in The New York Times called it. Ironically, America is doing all this only because it wants peace and quiet. It has no real interest in policing the world. If it could, it would remain aloof, as it did at the beginning of World War II. For America, this indeed would be its best decision.

With two docile neighbors, Canada to its north and Mexico to its south, an ocean to the west and an ocean to the east, the US has very little to worry about. It is a vast country, with hundreds of millions of people, robust manufacturing systems, the most advanced scientific institutions and facilities in the world, and abundant natural resources. If any country can be self-sufficient, it is the United States.

Americans are brought up to relate first and foremost, if not exclusively, to America. They are taught very little about the rest of the world, and I can understand why. Were it not for the aspirations of other world powers to challenge America’s position as a world leader, it would probably choose not to interfere in global affairs.

But for all their efforts, the US is still the dream country for most people. This is why despite its social crisis and economic (relative) weakness, it is still such an attraction for millions of immigrants crossing thousands of miles to get there from Latin America. This is also why almost every scientist would want to relocate to the US given the appropriate conditions.

As for the rest of the world, things are much more precarious. China is pitched against Russia, claiming that vast swaths of land belong to it. Craftily, it is sending Chinese workers who settle in those lands and marry local Russians. This will become a big problem in the future.

There is also the matter of Muslim areas in southern Russia and to the south of Russia, which will now form alliances with Afghanistan and pose a problem for Russia. In the future, Russia will not be able to control those republics that used to be part of the Soviet Union. Between those three—Russia, China, and the growing dominance of Islam—is where I see the future dangers.

But not only there. Tensions that have long been considered gone seem to emerge these days, when the ego reigns supreme in human society. The recent friction between France and the UK and US over the nuclear submarine deal with Australia is one example of it, but I feel that there is more to come in this area.

Despite the looming dangers, we can prevent a worldwide eruption, if we want. We can decide that two world wars were enough, and we want humanity to take a different course, a more caring and collaborative one. But do we want it? Currently, it doesn’t seem that way.
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My new article on Linkedin “The China-Taiwan Conflict – Is It Real?”

Between Friday and Monday, more than 150 Chinese fighter jets entered Taiwan’s airspace. For their part, the Taiwanese have stated that they are preparing for war with their neighboring giant, and the US has urged China to discontinue its provocative intrusions. While the growing tension is indeed disconcerting, I think it is a rather bogus conflict between two parts of the same nation, and it is in the interest of other countries to pit them against each other. Either way, I believe that when China wants it, the two will reunite, Taiwan will rejoin China, and China, too, will change accordingly.

If anything, perhaps China’s intention in its aerial incursions was not to scare Taiwan, but to provoke the US, Taiwan’s professed protector. But in truth, I don’t see what China has to gain from a war with Taiwan. There is no territory there, and all the technology that Taiwan has, China has, as well. I’m certain there are ulterior motives here that are not reported by the press, but either way, I see no cause for war here.

We need to understand that China isn’t just another country. It is a behemoth of a republic with a population of more than 1.4 billion people. These people come from different, and often clashing cultures, religions, social statuses, and ways of life. Therefore, the Chinese government must maintain a very strict form of governance in order to keep the country under control. It is said that we should not judge other people until we are in their shoes. Therefore, I wouldn’t rush to pass judgment on China.

Moreover, if China really wanted to retake Taiwan, it would do it just like that and no one would lift a finger to stop it. The US, Europe, Russia, none of them cares about Taiwan and would certainly not risk themselves going against China. If China decided to overtake Taiwan, they would protest, but it would be nothing but hypocritical lip service. Moreover, the fact that Taiwan is still a sovereign country proves that China doesn’t want to reclaim it.

In general, I think we’re moving into a new era. The whole concept of the nation-state is dissolving. Today, there is nothing more to it than a flag and an anthem.

Many years ago, I was in Northern Ireland while they were still fighting for independence from the UK. I even participated in one of their marches and pretended to be proud that I was one of them.

But those days are over. The world is becoming rounder; everyone is connected to everyone else, and the whole concept of borders is losing its meaning. Were it not for drug trafficking and defense, there would be no reason for fences between countries.

I think the world is headed for a better place, a more collaborative manner of existence. We will have to endure a few more blows, but we will eventually understand that there is a very clear trajectory here—toward unity and cohesion. If we understand it, we will be able to advance toward it willingly and much more pleasantly.

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My new article on Linkedin “Is America Slipping Off a Cliff?”

A survey published on September 23 by the reputable Pew Research Center determined that “President Joe Biden’s job approval rating has fallen sharply in the past two months. Fewer than half of U.S. adults now approve of the way Biden is handling his job as president.” America will keep tilting to the left and to the right, but in the end, I believe it is simply too big and too focused on itself to fall.

“Since spring, public confidence in Biden has declined across several issues,” writes the research. “Compared with March, fewer adults say Biden cares about people like them, and fewer describe him as standing up for his beliefs, honest, a good role model and mentally sharp.”

I had no doubt as to whether Biden would be good for America. Nevertheless, I don’t think his term marks the end of America, as some pundits believe.

At the end of the day, America is very capitalistic. It uses democracy only as a motto for election campaigns, but when it’s all over, all that is left is the pursuit of power and wealth.

There has also been a lot of talk about the end of the American empire. That, too, I believe, is misunderstood. America doesn’t really care about any country other than itself. The only reason it attempts to meddle in other countries’ politics is in order to secure itself. If it thought it could secure itself in a different way, it would not bother dealing with foreign affairs. In other words, it has no interest in being an empire in the first place, so the whole conversation about it is off target.

Despite the seclusion, I think that the global decline in all aspects of life will not pass up on America. Examine any area of human engagement and you will find that it is in decline. The cataclysmic events we have seen happening over the past two years or so—the fires, storms, the virus, politics, foreign affairs—indicate that we need to change our thinking.

We have to start thinking how we want to see our world and all of our global society. Then, we have to plan how to fix it and start taking baby-steps to implement the plan. At the moment, we are inflicting so much harm on ourselves and on the world that without changing course, it will be very hard to rebuild after the destruction.

For guidance, we need to look at what is happening in nature. After all, we, too, are animals. Just as there is a dynamic balance in nature, there should be a dynamic balance in human society. Our current lack of it projects on all parts of nature and manifests in worsening climatic events, outbreaks of plagues, and pollution of ground, water, and air.

Ideologies are a thing of the past. If we haven’t given up on them yet, it is time we did. The current kings are money and power, but they, too, will have to make way to balance. We simply have no choice; it is either this or destruction.

Since the world is irreversibly connected, eventually—despite some countries’ wish to isolate themselves, as does America—we will all have to take the entire world into consideration. Focusing on the success of one country cannot lead anywhere good when everything is tied together.

Mountain climbers tie themselves together to help each other avoid falling to their death if one of them slips. Humanity is doing the opposite: We’re already all tied together, yet we’re trying to make everyone else slip, as if this will not drag us down with them.

Therefore, we have no choice but to start seeing humanity as one nation, and the world as one country. Eventually, we will even have to learn to care for one another and truly feel like a global family. But not just yet. Now, at the very least, we must begin to think of ourselves as a single nation in a single country, and conduct ourselves accordingly.
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