From the Nadir to the Zenith in 2022

2021 has been a tumultuous year. Covid-19 is still raging with recurring waves, the summer saw unprecedented fires in numerous places around the world alongside equally unprecedented floods, and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions seem to have been more frequent this year than in most other years. Meanwhile, international tensions escalated between the US and China, the US and Russia, Europe and Russia, and tensions over Taiwan, the South China Sea, and in Syria have risen to near military clashes. To make matters worse, the global economy was hampered by a severe shortage of computer chips, and supply chains around the world have been disrupted by recurring lockdowns.

To become aware of our social interdependence, we must change our entire environment. We cannot expect people to think that consideration is good when the idols that the media promotes are self-centered and promote only their own image. At school, on social media, and on every means of mass communication, we must promote prosocial values.

In many respects, it seems we have reached the nadir. People are happy to say goodbye to 2021, but they are equally fearful of what 2022 might bring.

Surprisingly, there is a (relatively) easy way to reverse the negative trajectory. We can rise from the nadir to the zenith much faster than we can imagine if we commit to just one thing, though it is harder to do than it seems at first glance: We need to relate to everything that happens as an incentive to bring us closer to each other. If we change our approach to everything that happens to us and around us, we will see how life takes us on a pleasant stream toward bliss.

Why did I say that it is only relatively easy? Our ego gets in the way; it does not let us come close to one another. The ego is the reason people are alienated from each other, and it will not give up its control over our hearts without a fight.

We can defeat our ego, but we cannot do it by ourselves. To achieve this, we must use two instruments: our social environment and our intellect. The intellect is the easier one to use. Currently, we are oblivious to the consequences of our actions. Some of us are conscious of the environmental price we pay for our wrong doing, but very few are aware that we are connected not only on the biological level, but also on the emotional and mental levels just as much as on the physical level.

Just as mistreatment of our physical environment is detrimental to all of us, mistreatment of our social environment has (at least) equally detrimental consequences. Now that people are aware of the need to preserve the physical environment, it is time to become aware of the need to cultivate positive social environments. Just as we are dependent on each other for the water we drink and the food we eat, we are dependent on each other for the words we say and the thoughts we think, which in turn affect our mental and emotional condition.

To become aware of our social interdependence, we must change our entire environment. We cannot expect people to think that consideration is good when the idols that the media promotes are self-centered and promote only their own image. At school, on social media, and on every means of mass communication, we must promote prosocial values.

If we learn to value those who promote solidarity and mutual consideration, our communities will look very different from how they do today. We want to curb gun violence, drug abuse, and social ills, but instead of curing society, we are only fighting the symptoms. We can heal the society by bringing people together rather than keeping them a random collection of alienated and distrustful individuals. If we work on this, we will not need to tackle each symptom separately since they will disappear without the cause that generates them.

We can do it this year, but we must understand that we have no other choice, and we must support each other in the process. Otherwise, we may not have the necessary determination.

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A (very) Short Summary of 2021

As we approach the end of 2021, everyone is drawing conclusions about the past year and guessing what 2022 will bring. From my perspective, 2021 has been a good year, a year of learning, and learning is definitely good. It may not have been pleasant, but that does not mean I do not appreciate what we, as humanity, have been receiving. The main lesson we learned this year has been that nature is the sovereign, and we are its subjects. This is a priceless lesson because if we remember this, we will avoid future mistakes that could cost us countless lives and horrible disasters.

China, too, will understand that it has no chance to continue its development if it sides with Russia. Economically, there is no question that its future depends on the US. If the US would even slightly limit its purchases in China, it would rattle China to the core. They have nowhere to sell but to America.

Another good lesson from 2021 is that the world powers must put their mutual relationships in order if they want to avoid conflicts that can escalate to an all-out war. Clearly, there is a difference between what governments want and what reality dictates, but I think they learned the lesson and it is good to see that even the Russian and Chinese governments have learned.

The collisions between Russia and America, Russia and Europe, and specifically, NATO and Russia, clarify many things. In the end, they will bring them closer to peace, or at least to a truce.

China, too, will understand that it has no chance to continue its development if it sides with Russia. Economically, there is no question that its future depends on the US. If the US would even slightly limit its purchases in China, it would rattle China to the core. They have nowhere to sell but to America.

I don’t mind what people say or what newspapers write; I mind only numbers. Over the past year, and even before, the US has been giving huge sums of money to its people as rescue packages to assist them through Covid. China needs Americans to spend that money on Chinese goods in order to keep its own economy afloat. If Americans stop purchasing from China, the giant from the east will fall.

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As for Israel, I am sorry to say that I do not think we learned a lot from this year’s experiences. To improve, we will need more lessons, and they will not be easy. We have no idea who are our friends and who are our enemies. Worse yet, we have not learned how to correct ourselves. We have a lot more work ahead of us.

As for Israel, I am sorry to say that I do not think we learned a lot from this year’s experiences. To improve, we will need more lessons, and they will not be easy. We have no idea who are our friends and who are our enemies. Worse yet, we have not learned how to correct ourselves. We have a lot more work ahead of us.

I think that one of the biggest problems of Israel is that there are entities within the country that dream of the abolishment of Israel and work hard to achieve it. We are not as assertive as anyone should be toward one’s enemies, and I think that these issues will hurt us.

While the world is learning to put relationships in order, as I wrote above, Israel is not learning anything. We are creating an internal chaos.

However, it is clear why Israel is not learning while the rest of the world is learning well. Israel needs to develop in its own direction. The rest of the world is learning how to function according to people’s natural egoism.

Israel, on the other hand, should develop in the opposite direction. It should evolve toward connection and care among everyone, and set an example of how people can rise above their egoism and form a united, cohesive society based on solidarity rather than on alienation and competition.

Regrettably, Israelis do not want to hear a word about connection or unity, much less live them out. We will reject connection with fellow Israelis for as long as we can until, perhaps, it is too late to save the country from disintegration. We are already close to the edge.

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As for the virus, it is here and will stay, as I have been saying from the very beginning. However, it seems as though we are learning how to deal with it, how to live alongside the virus.

Gradually, the virus will teach us what we should and should not do in life. This is why I hope it does not go away, at least not until it teaches us to take only what we need and dedicate our time and efforts to building supportive human relations rather than waste our efforts on destructive consumption.

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The World Would Be Better Off without The Giving Pledge?

The Giving Pledge, according to the statement on the site, “is a promise by the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.” In 2010, Warren Buffett, Melinda Gates, and Bill Gates founded the Giving Pledge initiative after a series of conversations with philanthropists about how they could set a new standard of generosity among the ultra-rich. The Giving Pledge aims to address some of society’s most pressing problems. The 231 billionaires who have signed the pledge include names like David Rockefeller, Jeff and Marieke Rothschild, Richard Branson, Charles Bronfman, Elon Musk, MacKenzie Scott, Mark Zuckerberg, and of course the three initiators.

Many of these people have already donated billions of dollars, but the world continues to deteriorate. I am afraid that even if all the people on the list follow through on their promises, the world will not be one bit better than it is today. They will scatter their wealth across the globe, build a hospital wing here, a new school there, but people’s lives will not really improve.

Many of these people have already donated billions of dollars, but the world continues to deteriorate. I am afraid that even if all the people on the list follow through on their promises, the world will not be one bit better than it is today. They will scatter their wealth across the globe, build a hospital wing here, a new school there, but people’s lives will not really improve.

It is true that in many places, the health and education systems need to be improved, but pouring money into sick systems will not cure them. If anything, it will only worsen the disease. As it stands, the world would be better off without those billions.

The dysfunctional welfare, healthcare, and education systems that we see all over the world are in this state not for lack of money, but for lack of good will. There is no desire to make them work well because people do not care for one another. When people want to exploit each other, they take pleasure in seeing others suffer and have no interest in improving anyone’s life.

When you pour that much money into a system that is so corrupt, there is not a shred of doubt that the funds will stay with those already at the top, and none of it will trickle down to those who need it.

Money can be put to good use if people want to put it to good use. To prevent billions, if not trillions of dollars from entrenching corruption even deeper and remaining in the hands of corrupt bureaucrats, all of society must go through a comprehensive educational process. When people learn to care for one another, they will naturally use whatever resources they have for everyone’s benefit. When this happens, we will find that we can have excellent health and great education for a fraction of the cost that people now consider necessary.

To achieve this, we need an educational process. Indeed, the only education that we need is to learn to care for one another. To achieve such a mindset, we must approach the issue from all angles. Science proves that only systems whose parts collaborate and maintain the overall health of all their elements survive and even thrive. History also proves that societies where solidarity and cohesion were strong thrived, and that they fell apart when internal divisions took over. We need to show in every way that we are only strong, healthy, and happy when we are united, when we care for one another.

In the coming years, hundreds of millions of people will remain jobless. The pandemic is accelerating this process and already, tens of millions are out of work either voluntarily or because their pre-pandemic jobs have disappeared. How are they to support themselves and their families if there is no mutual responsibility among us? How will they stay sane if they do not feel that society cares about them, and that they are obligated to society? They will become rogue individuals ready to explode and do harm at any moment.

However, if their minds are set on solidarity, if they understand and feel that we are all dependent on each other, and that society will care for them, they will find constructive ways to contribute, and society will benefit from them.

The longer the pandemic continues to wreak havoc in society, the more urgently we need to teach ourselves the rules of the new, emergent world and how to operate in it. Only when we understand how the rules of the game have changed, we will know what to do with the billions of dollars in donations. Then we will also realize that we do not need people to give their money to society, but to give it their hearts.