“Why Love The Opposite Specifically Now” (Linkedin)

My new article on Linkedin “Why Love the Opposite Specifically Now”

(Takeaway from the June 7, 2020 show, “Global Perspectives”)

At a time like this, when hatred raises its ugly head and fills the streets with malice, who wants to talk about love? But if we don’t talk about it now, when will we talk about it, when we feel love? If we don’t talk about it now and work on it, we will never feel it.

But what the other person, the one I hate, can contribute to humanity, I will never be able to contribute, precisely because I am different.
The hatred at the center of events this time is racism. This hatred is so deep that in order to resolve it, we need a whole new outlook on life.

Because we are inherently self-centered, we like only those who are similar to us. Anyone who is different from me, I instinctively want to put down because that makes me superior. With such an overt difference as skin color, the impulse to patronize, put down, and generally belittle the other, immediately comes into play, even before I am aware of it. This self-centered impulse causes us to wish bad things for others, demonize them, and idealize ourselves. As long as we remain in that perspective, we will never truly love anyone who is not our immediate family, and even within our families, love is already declining.

But what the other person, the one I hate, can contribute to humanity, I will never be able to contribute, precisely because I am different. So if I loved humanity instead of myself, I would love that other (currently hated) person, precisely because of the ability to give what I cannot. The very cause of hate would become the very cause of love. And the more different that person was from me, the more love I would feel.

So how do we change our perspective? We think about it. The ability to focus our love on humanity exists within us. Otherwise, we would not even imagine that such a thing exists. If we think about changing our focal point from “me” to “we,” and try to bring it to life, we will feel that it is possible, precisely because we thought about it. And the more we think about it, the stronger our ability to care for others will grow.

If we do that, we won’t need to worry about racism; it is exactly the differences between us that we will celebrate, embrace, and love. And now we need it more than ever.