We need politicians everywhere who want to revive that the personal is political

Society should serve the people in it

A relationship should be for the good of all the people in it. No one gets to serve a relationship and get nothing out of it in return. Not because I believe in egotism. Rather, I’m against exploitation. No one is more important than anyone else.

The Opposite New Meaning

“The personal is political” used to mean: personal unhappiness can only be solved in a wider, political context. Therapy is not going to solve that you are exploited. That was important. But now, I like to say the opposite.

All our societal problems can be solved by solving the personal first. This is true because no oppression can exist without internalized oppression, or without setting everyone up against each other. And the flipside of the last point is that everyone is going to gain from doing away with oppression, and so, we can (and must) all be each other’s allies.

“Improve the world, start with yourself.”

“If I’m not for myself, who should be? If I’m only for myself, what do I live for? If not now, when?”

“There are only two kinds of people: the people who divide humankind into two groups and the people who don’t.”

Unless we cry over it, oppression is not going to end. Here, I said it.

White people must shut up and listen to Black people about their lives.

The financially comfortable must listen to the less fortunate.

Men must listen to women.

Grownups must listen to the young ones.

The richer should listen to the poorer.

Listen to oppressed minorities.

Stop preaching to them, or arguing. Instead, out of their earshot, cry about what you heard. Only after that you may talk back–without arguing.

We need to listen to our loved ones. And we need to talk honestly about our feelings and thoughts, our hopes, and frustrations.

In any meaningful relationship, we should split time: one talks, the other listens, at halfway: the other talks, the one first listens. No commenting on what the other says (in the beginning), just warm, friendly attention.

Only when we understand how precious we each are, we’ll understanding how precious everyone else is, and how interconnected we all are. And then, all oppression and exploitation become our enemy.

Then, we’ll be so motivated to fight against inequality and for democracy for everyone. No more tyranny. Even our bosses and teachers need to listen and cooperate instead of just lording over us. No more hunger.

No more leeway for anti-democrats (bigots, exploiters, power freaks).

Everybody is invited to be a democrat. The ones who want to continue enriching themselves are not evil, only their motives are. We don’t even need to judge them. Only, they need to be stopped and disempowered until they’re ready to fight for all. And, let’s not fight them. They are not our enemy. Our enemy is inequality.

Preachers who don’t listen don’t get to preach anymore until they do.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. He doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 1500 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me.