Can Undue Stress Lead to Armageddon?
I hope you will forgive these random notes.
Since I am writing about the potential End of Days, it seems inappropriate to polish it editorially. Would you revise a suicide note?
Everyone has problems and has a set of behaviors to cope with them. This is short term.
The long term stress can be so brutal it nullifies life. I have a manic-depressive friend so afflicted he'll be stuck in bed for 2 months barely eating. He turns on a dime into the manic 24/7 house wrecker constantly building and tearing down.
Only in her darkest moments my friend will recognize her life was ruined by rape at age 5. She flies into rages at 15-minute intervals. Only asleep [12 hours per day] she has peace.
Stress Can Kill
Under severe tension, a person is more likely to develop a disease or a debilitating condition. Past hurts can emerge much more damaging. My weak point is in my spine between my second and third lumbar. When my son was kidnapped, I was flat on my back for 8 days.
It was five years before I could write about that horrible event.
The stress can mount from the outside too. Minority group dads can take out their aggressions on the wives and kids. This can be physical, verbal and sexual. These rotten habits go on generation after generation. Inside the family such behavior can be considered normal. In Israel 50% of families can be abusive in one way or another. Kids tend to blame themselves for divorce, beatings, incest etc.
Off in a Cloud
We have 240,000 drug addicts in Israel. The authorities take good care of mentally ill people, because there are so many of them. Once a person is inside the mental health system, a different diagnosis from another physician is almost impossible. Since the state is generous with disability payments and the tax rate is 50%, many people choose to collect and to work off the books at less pay. The system works in effect to discourage productive employment, entrepreneurship and thrift. Israelis of the capitalism mold are thus encouraged to emigrate elsewhere. Those who can't are eternally bitter about the lazy socialist bureaucrats [750,000] who ruin just about everyone's ability to launch a meaningful career.
The Island That Became a Bus Station
Israel is an island in a hostile Arab sea. Consequently, 2.5 millions Israelis [1/3 of the population] travel overseas every year. One might consider it the Jewish escape valve.
The Warfare/Welfare State
Israel is an unnatural warfare/welfare state. It is not in line with traditional Jewish cultural values. Previously, Jews had little or no experience at running a large enterprise, or a national government, or an army or a group of occupied territories. It is rare to find a Jew competent in these various tasks. If I was the warden of a prison, my first impulse would be to free the inmates.
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