Society should feel, understand and decide on the boundary between the individual’s freedom and social responsibility, and not the individual.
The person mostly lives within society, and the life of a person should ultimately be for the benefit of society. This is why a major problem is to provide the knowledge that will let us feel social good as equivalent to the good of each individual. In other words, the goals of an individual and of human society as a whole should be the same: to reach a state of mutual benefit of each person to the greater circle of human society. We will then each live according to our loyalty to society.
In addition, society should influence every individual by raising the value of social responsibility and benefit to top priority, and rewarding every individual who acts to benefit society with respect, merits and appreciation.
We should thus understand the extent to which we are all influenced by society. Whatever society wants is what every individual wants, since everyone needs support from society. Our self, i.e. our ego, is activated by the values we receive from society.
If society pays no attention to egoistic acts that benefit individuals at the expense of society, and respects altruistic acts that benefit society, then everyone will strive to conduct altruistic acts in order to become respected, and feel that they are important and beneficial to society. We want others to support us, and to speak favorably about us. If we manage to instill an altruistic social influence, then we will all start realizing ourselves to our maximum in order to benefit society.
This is why society needs to be the factor that establishes the boundary between individual freedom and social responsibility.
Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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