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Karl Marx predicted that at some point capitalism would exhaust itself, and that a more cooperative approach to life would follow. Today, as people begin to realize that shopping and status symbols do not bring meaningful fulfillment, the need arises for mass communication that will elevate us to higher realms.
It seems we had to go through the American Dream, which was along the lines of “invest, earn, acquire, and show everyone you’re number one, and by doing so, you’ll live well.” A generation has grown up for whom this no longer works. They look at their parents and say, “I’m not into that kind of race.” They are tired of all the advertising and marketing, of endless promotions and ever-changing status symbols.
Here it is important to remember that we are children of nature. As a human species, we did not come from nowhere, and even the advanced technology we have developed does not remove us from the system of nature. Nature speaks within us through the desires that awaken in us, through internal changes, needs, thoughts, and reflections. This is how we change, develop, and progress.
Today, there is renewed interest in Marx’s ideas because the future indeed lies in a different kind of connection between people, so that we do not dry up inside our individual shells, sink into depression and despair, and live on medication. Nature is pushing us to the next evolutionary stage where we will all be connected. Just as there is an integral connection between the organs of the body, which lets life flow, so too will new sensations begin to flow between us.
Incidentally, one expression of this developmental direction can be seen in a global phenomenon: people leaving their homes to join protests and demonstrations, regardless of the specific cause, and feeling that connecting with others does them good. It gives them a sense of breathing fresh, high-altitude air.
Fulfillment, satisfaction, and meaning await us in warm human relations, in a beneficial communication between people. The media should help us achieve this by providing examples of complementary connection and integral relationships among all. When this happens, we can truly say that the media fulfills what its name implies, i.e., a means of communication, or in other words, tools for creating connection and not for fueling destructive competition, division, hatred, and endless conflict.
The next and more advanced approach to life will be integral, one that is connecting and unifying. The goal of every media item should thus be to give people a sense of how a positive attitude to others grants a different level of existence. This can be done through news, commentary, TV series, comedies, game shows, docudramas, cooking shows, reality TV, and even sports broadcasts. In other words, everything we broadcast can be tweaked to promote and educate positive human connection, and thus aid our evolution to a new humanity that is harmonious, happy, and peaceful.
To illustrate, let us take a media event like an important football match and break it down from the perspective of the integral approach.
The goal of each team is to enjoy the game together, to connect as much as possible. This will be the measure of a team’s level and success, alongside the usual measure of who scored more goals. In other words, the competition between teams will first be about which team is more internally connected, where there is more consideration, giving, and support.
The players will come onto the field together, embracing, showing the audience how much they enjoy feeling close to one another. During the game, there will be constructive competition over who can contribute more to the team, who can set aside their ego for the team’s needs, serve everyone, be in the right place at the right time, and fulfill whatever role the team requires at that moment.
Before, during, and after the game, commentators will emphasize the level of connection within each team. They will highlight for viewers how each play reflects connection, or its absence, and show how connection leads to success, while its absence leads to failure. Viewers, too, will rate each team according to the level of harmony they display.
The relationships between the teams and their fans will be complementary. Each team will use the other as a challenging factor through which it can enhance its own level of connection. Each side will wish the other success in expressing its unique form of connection, understanding that the opponent helps it improve. There cannot be white without black, light without darkness, connection without resistance. This is how harmony will also form between the teams, and their interaction will create its own beauty.
Another brief illustration, from the realm of satire: good integral satire would be that which shows us the flaws in human egoistic nature in order to help us all correct them together. It would be like a precise medical diagnosis, without which healing is impossible. The satire would be constructive, and not destructive and humiliating. We would laugh together at the fact that we are all like this, a pleasant, friendly laughter, and one that is not hurtful or venomous, the sole purpose of which is to deepen mutual connection.
These two examples are just two small drops in an ocean of possibilities in terms of what we could do with our media to educate and promote an upgraded positively-connected approach to life. With a clear integral goal aligned with the evolutionary direction we are in, the media can give us a tremendous push toward a life of connection and complementarity. Wishing us success on this path.
Based on “New Life 132 – Mass Media, Part 2” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.