Hunger Is a Rolling Snowball

The rising inflation around the world and the foreboding food shortage has created a snowball that is rolling down the mountain straight toward us. No one is safe. Some countries are more vulnerable than others, but everyone is in harm’s way. We have the power and the ability to mitigate the situation, perhaps even solve the crisis altogether, but it depends on how we relate to one another, to Earth, and to wars, namely to all the problems that really do disrupt our lives—not hunger, but our hatred for each other, which causes the hunger.

Alone, even the strongest country cannot ride the storm unharmed. But together, nothing can harm us. When we let the ego set the tone, we end up with a world of scarcity, hostility, and destruction. But when we rise above it, we ride the whitecaps of the waves like surfboards.

The crisis will affect everyone everywhere. The western world will cope with it better than disadvantaged third world countries, but everyone will feel the heat. In poorer countries, however, it will be a very serious crisis, and the only way to prepare for it is through international cooperative efforts to prepare and mitigate the event.

There are also technological solutions. Israel, for example, has numerous technologies to increase plants’ yields, decrease their dependence on water and soil, boost their immune systems, and make them less sensitive to extreme weather events.

In short, the ways and means to overcome the food crisis are there, the resources are there, and the means of production are there. We could overcome the crisis easily were it not for one glitch: Every country thinks only of itself, and if it does think of another country, it is always around the lines of “How can I use it to benefit myself?” without any accountability or regard for the exploited country.

This is why I am not optimistic. While the problems may not be unsolvable, we cannot solve even the smallest among them, as we see today, because we are failing one another.

Alone, even the strongest country cannot ride the storm unharmed. But together, nothing can harm us. When we let the ego set the tone, we end up with a world of scarcity, hostility, and destruction. But when we rise above it, we ride the whitecaps of the waves like surfboards.

We have turned human society into a snake-pit. The only time we avoid biting one another is when we are afraid that the bitten will bite back harder. But when we see that we will not be hit back, we strike like vipers without any hesitation or remorse.

To make any progress toward a solution, we first need to realize who we are. We need to not only acknowledge our egoism, but also to recognize its deadliness. Unless it hurts us that we are selfish, we will have no motivation to act against it. The only war we really need to fight, if we want to make life better for ourselves, is the war against our own ego. This, in fact, is the kernel of the rolling snowball that is barreling toward us.

It will take a while before we are ready, but in the end, we will have to realize that the only solution to the food crisis is to distribute it evenly. We are not there, granted, but eventually, we will have no choice and it will happen one way or the other.

At the moment, we are so far from such ideas as sharing or caring that countries even burn each other’s crops, which is insanity in terms of the global needs. But when we do not have the world’s needs in mind, and only our own, anything that hurts others seems to make perfect sense.

Therefore, first we must learn how connected we are. We must understand that by hurting others, we invariably hurt ourselves, even when we do not feel it right away. Next, we must learn how to conduct ourselves in line with the understanding that we are all connected and dependent on each other.

Once we understand that we have no choice but to take care of each other as we take care of ourselves, since by doing so, we are actually helping ourselves, we will understand what to do, what not to do, and how to do what we need to do so that everyone gets what they need. Then, everyone will be satiated, safe, and happy. We can stop the ball from rolling; the choice is in our hands.

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What a Summer of Exclusion Feels Like

A common form of bullying among children in Israel is exclusion. A few days ago, yet another sad story surfaced on Israeli media, describing the social exclusion of children who are going through the summer vacation without any friends because they were excluded. The story featured regular children, well dressed, articulate, perfectly normal children whose paths crossed with someone who did not like them and managed to turn the whole class against them. Exclusion has become the dread of many schoolchildren and parents, and the phenomenon seems to have no solution at the moment.

With such a fractured society, it cannot be any other way. Everyone feels superior to others, and our egos make us inconsiderate and abusive toward others just to assert our superiority. From here to exclusion of others, there is a very short distance.

I think it is not the children’s fault. It is not the fault of the excluded, and not the fault of the children who exclude. It is the fault of the adults. Because adult society is deeply hostile, and alienation and ill-will prevail, it seeps into all parts of society, including the children’s society. As a result, children are excluded, abused, and bullied by their peers. The problem will not be solved until adults solve it among themselves, and that will mend the situation everywhere else.

With such a fractured society, it cannot be any other way. Everyone feels superior to others, and our egos make us inconsiderate and abusive toward others just to assert our superiority. From here to exclusion of others, there is a very short distance.

When this is the atmosphere in the adult society, it has to trickle down the system and reach the children’s society. But when children who had experienced exclusion grow up, the bitter memory of their ordeal will stay with them and impact their attitude toward society.

This is fertile ground for rearing misfits and psychopaths who seek to avenge society for the pain it had caused them. Because their world was ruined by the society, they will strive to ruin the society in return.

The only solution to the menace we are preparing for ourselves is to work on our cohesion and solidarity. Unless we strive to increase our unity in the adult society, above all the differences between us, we should not expect children to do the same. If we fight against each other, gossip, slander, and vilify others simply because they are different from us, we should not expect children, who learn by example, to be kind and caring toward their peers.

Children reflect their role models, and their role models are us. Since we exclude, so do they.

Once we change ourselves, we should also change our education system. Our games should change from fierce competition to collaboration and inclusion. Through games, we can teach children to find the benefit in togetherness, friendship, and solidarity.

There can still be challenges in games, but the challenges should be such that only when children collaborate, they can succeed. Gradually, they will learn that they are stronger together, and how the unique qualities of every child make the whole a stronger unit. We must do this, and do it quickly because our society is raising angry, vengeful children.