Tilling New Ground
Question: Yesterday we held a round table in Afula which was attended by the city’s mayor, the head of the regional council, and leading specialists in education. The discussion was about the educational system in the 21st century. Our message was that children have to be prepared for life in the new, tightly interconnected world. The discussion participants did not object, but the impression was that we are trying to sow wasteland. Will people be able to understand the challenges facing humanity before it’s too late?
Answer: If they won’t, then suffering will force them to. A live example is Europe, which is deep in debt. Its leaders do not know what to do, yet they feel and understand that a split will entail a very serious catastrophe. On the other hand, they don’t know how to unite. Even multibillion tranches of assistance do not guarantee them a bright future.
It would be nice to pay once and get rid of the problem. This does happens in life: You make a concession and unload a great burden off your conscience. However, in this case nothing is working. Europe’s problem is a lack of communication.
Many people are already saying that it is necessary to create a single government or at least a single financial agency.
But how? After all, in that case it would be necessary not only to cancel the governmental boundaries, but all other boundaries as well, to annul all the differences. The common financial system means common social security and pension provision for everyone, common funds and conditions…. Stated differently, it requires the same attitude to everyone, and that means there will be one European nation and one boundary around all of Europe where everyone are equal.
Initially this concept is scary because nothing like this has ever happened in history. People don’t yet understand that the solution can only be found in unity. A person is driven by what he personally lacks, and unification is not on that list. Only great problems can push people to that. It is possible to advance forward under blows, meaning suffering or by common sense, either by a stick hitting you from behind or by a carrot enticing you from ahead. So choose one of the two.
For now we are driven by the stick, which is especially hard on the Europeans. But soon Americans will also feel its blows.
The only thing we can do is explain what is happening to the world, presenting the facts. An experienced expert sees and understands the problems. In the same way, all people have to see with their own eyes that which they do not notice yet. Using videos, movies, songs, and other media it is necessary to inform them of what is happening in the world today. Even if a person is far from this, he must nevertheless learn about it at least slightly.
That is how we will ameliorate the situation, turning every person into a specialist in some sense so he will be wary of heedless actions and will be willing to cooperate. Besides, by virtue of this we will gradually make the authorities aware of the need to organize an environment that provides people with an upbringing.
[57988]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/18/11, “Peace in the World”
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I am glad there was a meeting! I can see why they would be respectful of the significance of the idea, but also see it as “sowing wasteland.” My theory is that each person there understands that underneath it all, motivating people to care about others around them outside of themselves is a huge overhaul to undertake. We really don’t have a choice, regardless of how difficult it is to get people to change their perceptions because all the problems are going to happen anyway, and they are. What it comes down to is getting people to see the significance of changing their inner attitudes towards the world. At least for myself, I live in a culture that celebrates the individual and getting people to see past their own lives and think about others is unheard of. It’s why something little, like donating clothing to Goodwill or letting someone go ahead of you in line at the supermarket, is seen as a big deal. Because it almost never happens. We think of ourselves. Even at an educational level, for example, I bought first and second grade books taught in public schools here in the US and the closest reference to “global thinking” was a short explanation of where bananas come from. Where they had to travel from and all the people involved from the truck driver to produce person at the store, in getting it to us. Also, most people don’t keep up with the news, and don’t know current events or things going on in other countries. My point being, that we’re not in the mental mindset of worrying about anyone besides ourselves, let alone other countries, so we’re already not thinking on a “global” level. It’s not a bad thing, we are gradually becoming more aware of things outside of ourselves, but it is only because of riots reported in other countries, or the economy or natural disasters that make us pay attention. So, I can understand why “sowing wasteland” seems like a huge undertaking. It’s not impossible, but it’s work.