Levi Brackman’s Website

Having just moved from Britain to Colorado in the United States surprisingly my wife and I are undergoing a culture shock. We have been disarmed by the friendliness of people and, compared to the UK, how inexpensive petrol (gas) is. We are also repeatedly surprised by how many regular products have a kosher sign on them. Another pleasant aspect of our move has been the staggering natural beauty of Colorado. However there is one characteristic that has significantly disappointed and disturbed me. Healthy and balanced political debate does not seem to exist in the United States.

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Millions of people all over the country tune in on a daily basis to watch a group of ordinary people living their lives. Big Brother fervour had grabbed the nation once again. But hang on, what is so attractive about watching ordinary people doing ordinary things? How is it that after a number of weeks on the show the participants become celebrities? Why would the participants – including the thousands who failed selection process - want to open themselves up to a public intrusion of their other wise private personality?

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Life is all about relationships. We have work-related relationships, we have acquaintances, we have friendships, familial and intimate relationships. Maimonides, one of Judaism’s greatest scholars, wrote that man is a social animal. We have no choice but to interrelate with other people. It is relationships with others that allow us to achieve things in life. Without relationships the human race could not perpetuate itself. For any business to succeed there needs to be a relationship between two parties – a buyer and a seller. But more than anything else the human being needs to have friends. We need people to communicate with – we cannot be content living in a vacuum. Studies by Rene Spitz and others have shown that when infants are not handled for a long period of time they fall into irreversible decline and are then much more susceptible to fatal diseases. Psychologists too have long argued that people need positive social interactions to remain healthy.   

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The history of the ego is a deeply unpleasant one. Millions have sacrificed their lives for it, it has shattered families and broken hearts, it has been the main cause of war, famine, poverty and murder. Like it or loathe it however, egos are a fact of life, they have always and will always be with us. All we are able to do is learn how to limit their capability of mass destruction.

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