My Heart Cries. Reflections on Global Population Growth and the Search for Peace in a Self-Centered World.

I cannot believe that I am the only one who thinks as I do. With over 7 billion inhabitants?

I thought of sharing this video, which shows the evolution of the world population, and clearly demonstrates that we are a common civilization, something that no one really takes into consideration anymore.

And here is also the comment that received the most likes:

My heart cries while billions of people live completely unaware of the world they live in.

I am rereading the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, which I am reading in Japanese to practice my reading skills.

And the more I think about all this, the more I realize that, in fact, no one really desires world peace. Everyone couldn’t care less. As long as we are “happy” in our little lives. For some, a bit more altruistic, or those who have children, especially, their little life extends to the lives of their children.

And this is not to denigrate people’s behavior. It’s simply observing facts.

We don’t care about others; we are just interested in ourselves.

I also watched the full discussion between Zelensky and Trump, which has been widely discussed.

It must surely be because I live abroad and use a foreign language daily… But no one questions the natural imbalance of power dynamics when it comes to a verbal joust in a language that is not our primary one. (Not to mention a verbal joust, if you can imagine a quarrel with your partner, imagine doing it in a language other than the one you normally speak… And yes, even in your native language, puns, innuendos, nuances are taken at face value, imagine on top of that the frustration of, one, not necessarily understanding everything, including these nuances, and two, not being understood…)

Some passages are unclear when Zelensky wants to emphasize his points. There are puns that pass more or less well, and when, emotionally, we see the situation not improving, it becomes difficult to keep calm.

The passage that has been most relayed is towards the end of this meeting, and throughout it, already, jabs have been addressed to him by journalists.

And more than a discussion about the fate of Ukraine, we have two individuals who think only of themselves and their “personal” interests, naturally.

For one, the “personal” interest is to defend his country and obtain guarantees for it.

For the other, to make this meeting, broadcast by American media, a time of propaganda and post-campaign to reaffirm his position as president, and to seize Ukraine’s resources as much as possible. Trump’s very first words being to talk about Ukraine’s “rocks” and their acquisition.

One wants a negotiation to stop the war in his country.

The other wants to sign a deal to strengthen his economy.

Each, from their point of view, is “right” to do so. Each thinks of “HIS” country first.

And it seems obvious! Well yes, it’s normal, we are born Ukrainian, American, French, Japanese, etc…

And if we went back to the “sources” a bit. If we finally understood at some point that taking “superiority” over another nation is placing oneself above one’s peer. It’s me, me, me.

A passage from Carnegie’s book talks about a small study of telephone messages, which shows that the most used word is the personal pronoun “I”. Well, the sources are vague, and if it’s customer service, we can say that the figures are naturally higher than for another subject. The point of this remark is to emphasize that we necessarily think of ourselves first, then second too, then third again… And sometimes, we realize the person we are facing. Well, I’m exaggerating a bit.

But nearly all of Trump’s responses allude to his re-election, to how bad Biden was, to trying to strengthen his grip. And sometimes, when Zelensky was losing patience a bit, to talk about Ukraine again.

Throughout, we see how this “deal” is not perceived in the same way by both sides. And for good reason, one asks for the involvement of the American army in the conflict, and to acknowledge Putin’s role. Which Vance does during his speech… 40:04.

And to talk about Ukrainian propaganda afterwards, while he orders Zelensky to say thank you?

We see what we want to see. We ignore what we decide to ignore.

When I see children still very young, or babies, still completely ignorant of the world they will have to face, I am always torn. They are our future, they are full of joy, of carefreeness (in any case, they are “lucky” to be born in a free, peaceful, rather rich country).

And no one questions their future.

I don’t want to believe that I am alone in thinking differently. That would be really too difficult to accept.