Medium: “A Virtual Jewish Nation May Teach the World How to Live on the Cloud”

Medium published my new article “A Virtual Jewish Nation May Teach the World How to Live on the Cloud”

We’re all familiar with “the cloud.” But have heard about “cloud nations”?

If you ask futurists and visionaries, such as Dr. Roey Tzezana, they will tell you that in the coming decades we will no longer need the territorial institutions of the world. Instead, most of the government and civil services will be provided automatically and from anywhere in the world through newly developing technologies such as Blockchain.

Essentially, “cloud nations” are a virtual way for a large number of people to unite under a common identity, and easily program their own “smart contracts” that will transparently oversee the conduct of a large number of individuals. And at the same time, enjoy all the rights and services that currently only exist in the physical world.

Cloud nations are not bounded by territory, they have no borders, and citizens can leave and enter these “states” freely. Cloud nations can replace a large number of institutions and governmental bodies, and even transfer the power of decision-making to citizens, gradually rendering governmental functions obsolete.

Cloud nations will provide immediate and decentralized systems of justice, so most of the functions of courts won’t be necessary. Citizens will receive prompt justice anywhere and at any time, and have an effective government that will act for them on their own behalf.

In addition, cloud nations will allow for a cooperative economy that doesn’t concentrate power in the hands of greedy economic tyrants. And obviously, the artificial intelligence of the cloud nation will know how to answer any question, as it will analyze all the information that exists from the dawn of humanity, and also calculate the basic needs of every human being to provide him with what he wants with a push of a button and 3D printing.

As mind bending as this future scenario sounds, Dr. Roey Tzezana doesn’t stop there. In his recent book, “Rulers of the Future,” he takes the idea of cloud nations another step further.

Together with Jewish thinkers and researchers, the futurist is working on the “Jewish Cloud Nation” project — a virtual state that will finally unite all Jews around the world, regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation, and provide services to all of them “in a fully decentralized way with no geographical limitations.”

The core values of the Jewish Cloud Nation will be determined by a committee of Jewish sages that will include the great thinkers and social scientists who will meet physically and virtually to decipher and define common values for all Jews around the world.

According to the “Jewish Cloud nation” website, the aim is to realize the momentous Jewish value of “Tikkun Olam” — an old-new principle according to which Jews carry a responsibility for the entire world. “The code of the Jewish Cloud Nation will be open and transparent, and will be shared with everyone to allow for further creation of other cloud nations, to serve the needs of citizens of the entire world without the involvement of dysfunctional governments or corrupted regimes.”

It is nice to see that experts who recognize the imminent technological future, also envision the emergence of a cooperative society and even take steps to realize the vision. Such a vision corresponds directly with the social teachings that appear in the authentic writings of Kabbalah. About a century ago, Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag wrote: “Do not be surprised if I mix together the well-being of a particular collective with the well-being of the whole world, because indeed, we have already come to such a degree that the whole world is considered one collective and one society.”

The process that we’re about to enter is no less than the birth of a new humanity. From day to day, we are witnessing the culmination of a multi-faceted global crisis that will necessitate us to reorganize human society. We will have to adapt to our interdependence, as well as our interconnection with the natural system. And technology experts are certainly among the pioneers to identify this trend. What’s more, they recognize the practical tools to create an infrastructure that will enable a new social order at every level: economic, social, political, educational etc.

And yet, smart contracts are not enough to bring people together. Technology does indeed upgrade our abilities, but it doesn’t upgrade our inner qualities and the way we relate to each other.

If the “Jewish Cloud Nation” aspires to be an exemplary society based on mutual concern, it must begin from an educational process that is welcomed by its initial citizens. They will have to encourage mutual consideration and build new norms and values for positive social engagement. Ultimately, they need to develop a new way to sense each other, as pieces of a single whole. This is a conscious development that requires people’s willingness to change themselves and upgrade their perception of life.

A prime example of such a change is the issue of privacy. To futurists such as Tzezana, It’s clear that no matter how much we discuss the right for privacy in our time, in the technological future, the struggle for privacy is a lost battle. Also, the renunciation of privacy will help the system benefit the individual.

Privacy in cloud nations will have to be reduced to a minimum, but the willingness to give up one’s privacy is a matter that requires great preparation and adoption of new values that will exchange the need for privacy with real benefit. This is just one example of the need to change human consciousness and nurture human connection.

As we move towards the structure of the future society that our technology is weaving before our eyes, we will have to adapt to values and concepts that today seem utopian or simply delusional. Therefore, rather than expecting our technology to direct us, we should educate ourselves towards the change we have to go through — becoming interconnected human beings in a society that promotes unity and rewards mutual concern and consideration.

If the pioneers of the Jewish Cloud Nation train themselves for this, rains of blessings will come down from the Jewish Cloud Nation to the entire world.