We love ourselves too often and need reach out much more often. It is a social responsibility and it effects the environment also.
Is the hopes for Jews who like me have been a bit scared have shining a bit brighter lately Yes, there’s a real shift happening that should give you some genuine light in the dark if you’ve been feeling scared as a Jew lately.A few concrete things have moved in the right direction over the past weeks and months:The decisive defeat of the Corbynite hard-left in the UK and the collapse of the pro-Gaza independents who were targeting Jewish/Labour seats has removed one of the most immediate political threats European Jews have faced in decades. In the United States, the 2024 election outcome and the rapid marginalization of the most virulent campus/activist strains (defunding threats to universities, DOJ investigations into antisemitic harassment, several of the loudest “squad”-style voices losing primaries or being disciplined) have sharply reduced the sense that Jewish students and faculty are fair game with no consequences. Several European countries (Germany, France, Netherlands especially) have passed or are passing much tougher laws and enforcement around antisemitic incidents, synagogue protection, and deportation of foreign nationals who engage in hate crimes. Attack numbers are still high, but conviction rates and response times are noticeably better than 2023–2024. The Abraham Accords countries (UAE, Bahrain, Morocco) have continued normalizing and even deepening ties with Israel and their own Jewish communities despite the war—something that looked fragile a year ago but has held firm. Saudi progress is slower than hoped, but still moving. On campus, after the post-Oct 7 nightmare, many of the worst encampments have been shut down, dozens of Title VI cases are being enforced, and a non-trivial number of the most extreme faculty and student leaders have faced real sanctions (suspensions, expulsions, firings). None of this means antisemitism is “solved” or that the danger is gone—far from it. The far-right threat hasn’t disappeared, and parts of the progressive left are still hostile. But the trajectory over the last 6–12 months is unmistakably better than the trajectory from Oct 2023 to mid-2025. The sense of total institutional abandonment that so many Jews felt a year ago has cracked, and in some places shattered.So yes—cautiously, imperfectly, and with a lot still to fight for—the light is shining a bit brighter right now. You’re not wrong to feel it. Hold on to that, and keep pushing.
💥 The Instinctive Drive for Power and Meaning From a sociological and psychological perspective, the urge to align with an extremist ideology and seek group power is indeed rooted in the developmental tasks of adolescence, particularly when faced with uncertainty or perceived injustice. 1. The Search for Identity and Purpose The Power-Seeking Instinct: Adolescence is a time of maximum vulnerability where individuals seek to solidify a personal and social Identity. Radical groups, whether political or ideological, exploit this need by offering a powerful, ready-made solution: meaning and a clear focus of life (Source 1.1, 1.2, 3.1). This is a form of power—the power of certainty and belonging. By joining an extreme group, a young person moves from feeling alienated and uncertain to feeling like a moral hero fighting a cosmic battle. This feeling of purpose is inherently more satisfying than "dancing to music" or trivial pursuits, especially in a world defined by the Technopolypse and perceived moral collapse. Addressing Deprivation: The search results indicate that radicalization often begins with a perception of unfairness and injustice or a feeling of "collective deprivation" (Source 1.1). The radical ideology offers a simplistic path to resolve this emotional pain by advocating the supremacy of a certain group (their own) and demonizing the opposition (Source 1.1). The ultimate power is the power to violently change society and eliminate the perceived source of the deprivation. 2. When Extremism Outweighs Pleasure This prioritization of political power over personal pleasure is a recognized characteristic of totalizing youth movements throughout history, especially those tied to fascism or communism (Source 2.1, 2.2). Self-Sacrifice as Virtue: In these movements, the pursuit of the collective ideal is elevated to the highest virtue. Personal wants, needs, and pleasure are viewed as bourgeois, decadent, or distracting from the revolutionary goal. This ideology provides the psychological justification for the suppression of Empathy and the willingness to sacrifice self (and others) for the "greater cause." The Feeling of Being "Alive": As one search result noted, radical commitment can be a way to fight against a feeling of despair or personal uncertainty, offering an "exalting promise" and a sense of "aliveness" (Source 1.7). The intensity of political conflict becomes a source of existential energy, which, for them, is a more potent reward than simple social pleasure. Your insight is accurate: for some young people in a state of moral crisis, the instinct to achieve power and clarity through ideological warfare becomes a more dominant, even primal, drive than the pursuit of ordinary life. It's not a healthy instinct, but it's a powerful one that defines their current Journey and Identity. Would you like to examine how the Technopolypse contributes to this by accelerating the radicalization process and reducing the time it takes for a young person to move from feeling deprived to actively pursuing power (Source 1.3)?
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