How The Ukraine War is Changing Us

This war is unlike any other. Though it seems like a local war, it's changing everything. When it's all behind us, and all the suffering is over, both sides will forge new relationships, and new relationships will be established around the world. This war is the beginning of a formation of a new world order, where all the parts unite against the one common enemy of all of humanity: our egoism. It won't happen overnight, but everyone will eventually realize, along with the whole world, that they're not fighting against each other, but against an enemy within them. Once we start letting that idea sink in, even slightly, we'll be able to begin processing this new information, and even apply is to our daily lives.

This war is the beginning of a formation of a new world order, where all the parts unite against the one common enemy of all of humanity: our egoism.

The war that began in late February will not end any time soon. It will take many more months until everyone realizes that the very concept of war is evil. War requires trampling others to get ahead - the exact symbol of the previous era. So essentially the war in eastern Europe is changing all of us quite rapidly, by transforming our perception and our understanding of good and evil. Let's call it what it is - a much-needed human upgrade. Unfortunately there is a huge price to pay.

The misplaced families - especially mothers and children, the dead and the wounded, and the destruction of private and public assets are a terrible price to pay. Nevertheless, dramatic global processes always come at a cost. We should not blame others for the cost, just as we should not imagine that there is nothing each of us can do to change things. It is in the hands of every person to change the world for the better, and to make the atrocities of war, and all atrocities that humans are inflicting on each other, disappear. All we need is to realize that the only enemy lies within us—our self-centered attitude. It incites us against each other, demonizes and vilifies anyone who disagrees with us, tells us that we are the only entitled people in this world, and sets us off against each other. We are actually infected with a pandemic of self-concern and self-centeredness that knows no bounds. Even the good we do - we do to feel better about ourselves, and to be perceived as better in the eyes of society.

There is a lot we can do to change things, far more than we imagine possible. First we need to accept that there is a good reason we are so different from each other. Each of us makes a unique contribution to the world that no one else can. If we were all the same, the contributions we receive from others that our lives depend on, would be absent, and we would not survive, in the most physical sense of the word.

We will realize that our ego is the enemy only when we realize that singularity is the wrong key word for happiness. Today the key word for happiness is complementarity—mutual satisfaction of each other’s material, social, emotional, and spiritual needs.

We are living in a world where we are all dependent on each other. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the appliances and gadgets that we use are all made by people we do not know, in places we do not know, and reach us in ways we do not know. And if we didn't have this seemingly random chain of unknown individuals, we would not survive, since we can't provide for our needs by ourselves.

All our connections, communications, and interactions with others are made possible with the help of countless people who serve us without our awareness. Were it not for them, we would not be able to work or socialize.

The same goes for social ties. All our connections, communications, and interactions with others are made possible with the help of countless people who serve us without our awareness. Were it not for them, we would not be able to work or socialize. We leave them faceless and take them quite for granted that they'll always be there doing this important work behind the scenes.

Despite this obvious fact that we're dependent on others for our survival, we behave toward them with as little consideration as possible. When we are nice or considerate, it is because we have an ulterior, selfish motive. We call it "success" but all we're really doing is destroying the world and destroying ourselves. All this tragedy could have been avoided by us being more attentive and open-minded toward others.

The bottom line is that we're all dependent on each other like cogwheels in a system that must be in sync. So we must behave toward each other with kindness and consideration, just as we would want to be treated.

So unless we begin to act like one humanity, one global society that works together like a global team - there will be many unpleasant challenges ahead. The war will change us and the world, but we can preempt the suffering by starting to actively change ourselves.

Ultimately we will need to change our very nature, which is why all the people around us in our lives are about to become far more valuable to us. Because without connecting with them in an optimal manner, it will be impossible for us to change.