Sadly, this is a fundamentally human reality. Few among us push ourselves when we don’t need to. Many people, families, enterprises and empires rise and then are undermined by the experience of their own success.
But we aim for a better reality. We aim for a world without fear, without loss – but with the realization of our full potentials for creation and the restful peace that is holiness. We aim for a virtuous cycle of creation and rest and yet more creation – with loss and destruction banished from the picture. We aim for a virtuous cycle that combines change with the unchanging.
But it is hard to combine these two things. It is hard to create the virtuous cycle of creation and restful peace.
Today, some place a premium on creation, and seek a world of risk and reward that will drive the positive activity of creation and change. This concept is fundamental to capitalism. But it also relies on the existence of fear and risk. Others see uncertainty and risk and death, and place a premium on creating a haven. This concept underpins socialism. But it also eliminates the motivation to create.
Every person has tremendous physical and spiritual potential, but neither of these visions maximizes that potential. Instead, that potential is all too often squandered or denied. To me, the loss of potential is the loss of life. And it is a cause for mourning.
All around us, we find ourselves crushed by gears of our own making.
I believe this can change.
In order to make the most of our lives, we need to figure out the ideals that we serve. We should not serve the pursuit of glory or power or wealth or pleasure. They do not add to the world. Instead, we should maximize our own potential and we should dedicate ourselves to helping others do the same.
With this mission in mind, I have started the Create, Connect & Protect program. These three words represent our own need to participate in the cycle of creation and connection while also including our obligation to protect and nourish this potential in others.
On www.CreateConnectProtect.com, I have a podcast that not only explores concepts in Torah, but jumps into how we can structure a modern society that encourages and reinforces this positive cycle. In addition to a number of Torah articles that have been published on Arutz7 and the Jewish Press, there are numerous secular podcasts and posts. They include simple but concrete ideas around healthcare, taxation and welfare, education and even Middle Eastern policy (check out The Ideological War and The Little City and the Great Land). The ideas are enabled by modern technology, but they were designed to both preserve the creative drive and to combat the fear and loss that have been built into our world.
The ideas on the site aren’t liberal or conservative – or socialist or capitalist – they are, for lack of a better word, Potentialist.
When the Jewish people were in the desert, after they left Egypt, they were commanded to put Mezuzot on their doors. Mezuzot remind us of the blood that was placed on the doorpost in Egypt. But instead of blood, Mezuzot contain words. In a society of law, it is words and not blood which brings the cells together. It is words which animate that society and give it life and potential. Words are a fundamental the building block of a peaceful and productive society. Because of this, I want you to consider my words and I want you to contribute your own. Some of the ideas are very different than what we have today, but then again, today isn’t working.