Discipline and Slogans

 

Discipline is the name of the game; nothing important  can be achieved without discipline -  self - discipline, as well as national discipline.

 There are countries in the far East  that have managed to keep the covid-19  virus under control: Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong-Kong, Thailand, Vietnam..... 

Discipline in these countries is instilled from childhood. People there have respect for  rules and for authority. Above all, they respect themselves and those around them. 

The western countries on the other hand,  rely on slogans,  and seek what seems to be the easy way out  - vaccine.  Slogans can lack clarity , and  even be confusing. Protests and pressure of  citizens against restrictions, don't make things better.

'Stay Home'  - the most memorable slogan during this pandemic , means what it says : stay home. You may leave the house for basic necessities only, and for a short time.

At first it worked well, but then people lost patience and started giving their own interpretation to the slogan. According to this interpretation, the problem lies merely in confined spaces with no adequate distancing among people. 

Well, I'm not so sure about that. I don't dare yet going for a long walk in the park or sitting and eating in the outdoor spaces of restaurants and cafes. The virus, in my humble opinion, is in the air waiting to strike both indoors and outdoors. Masks and distancing may prevent that, but not hermetically.

Anyway, we shall have to wait and see the impact of the vaccine on the virus and its victims.

 

We Can?!

Next month we enter the jewish New Year ׂׂ(5779ׁ) The period of preparations (starting mid-August) for the High Holidays, creates an atmosphere that always puts me in a pensive mood.

The era we live in, is full of 'we can' slogans: we can change the climate/the world/the planet/the human race...if only we'll do this or that. 

Who's we? People can hardly change a small personal bad habit like smoking, overeating, drugs, alcohol. It's sometimes incredible as even doctor's warnings won't do the trick.
So, where does this lack of humility come from? Bad education, I guess. The younger generations in particular are not fully aware of human limitations , and do a lot of 'we can'  talking, spreading empty slogans around. 

Climate change, is here to stay , and that's very frightening. True, we still have the islands, we still control fires and famine, but the emphasis is on the word 'still'. We're approaching the abyss slowly but steadily, and we're quite helpless.

Air pollution is frequently mentioned in connection with climate change. Indeed, we should be fighting pollution with all the means at our disposal. It won't be easy , but it's possible, and we have to do it for the sake of our health and the health of the planet.

However, in my humble opinion, air pollution is but a small factor in this whole issue of climate change. Climate is the domain of a higher power; most of us refer to it as God, others as  Universe, Supernatural power, Nature. We, people, cannot control climate, only the higher power can, and this power seems to be angry with us. Not without reason.

Humans, have always been involved  in violating the rules and order of  Creation (by way of war, migration, slavery, colonialism, imperialism...the list is long); thus, making endless changes to the world, but changes which are Not accepted by God, not written in His book, and therefore not solvable in case of conflict, but rather swept under the carpet waiting for a spark to ignite the big fire.  

We might be facing a world Reset in the future, When? No one knows .
We should  pray and ask for Mercy - that's all I can think of..