Best Case Scenario
Diana Hochman, June 2025
In the best case scenario, we never entertain ideas or discussions about the worst case scenario.
The world is topsy turvy at present. One simply is not immune to external forces shaping events that affect every single person on the planet. The world is at a tipping point as conflict boils over. And it is at this point, where we must be guided by reason and restraint, and muster our highest human impulses for good.
So what do we do now as a people, and as a human race, what do we hope for with respect to the current Middle East crisis? Well, we must treat the underlying disease, and not simply put a bandaid on the symptom. We must find a solution to put this matter to rest now, for good. There must be peace in the Middle East. This is non-negotiable. For the past thirty years, Netanyahu has claimed that Iran’s realization of a nuclear bomb is imminent. Iran’s frequent chants of Death to Israel has no doubt spooked the Israelis. Understandably so. The fact that the Israelis have marginalized and disenfranchised Arabs in Israel is precisely what birthed the Palestinian movement. People in every place fight against oppression. It is our human instinct.
In the best case scenario, conflict resolution of this potential catastrophe that has the world teetering on the edge must be made very simple. Iran does not shout death to Israel anymore. The members of the UNSC guarantee that Iran’s nuclear goals are for peaceful means, and thus Iran continues its program as its sovereign right. Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis stand down from random bombings of Israeli territories, to the degree that their actions are not guided solely by self-defense. The United Nations convenes a vote on the reality of a Two-State Solution and every nation votes yay or nay. It is imperative to record the voice of every nation in the world for the sake of history. All of humanity is a stakeholder in this world. Members of the United Nations Security Council must then be tasked with concretizing (overseeing) this reality in the region. And thus, work with partners in the Middle East, from Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt to Jordan, and so forth, to rebuild Gaza.
A Two-State solution means that East Jerusalem will be the Capital of Palestine and of the Palestinians, to include Ramallah, and Gaza. Thus, West Jerusalem will be the Capital of Israel. And therefore, Jerusalem will be divided if only to finally be made whole. The disputed territories in the West Bank and Golan Heights must be occupied by both peoples, and the United Nations must administer these settlement outposts as buffer zones. Gaza will never become a Trump Riviera. This is God’s world, not Trump’s world. As an aside, the same goes for America. America belongs to the American people and not to Trump. Americans, never forget this. Finally, the Arab League of Nations may invest in rebuilding Gaza.
Israel may be inclined to manage its own internal affairs by focusing on regime change at home. The majority of its population are not very happy with Prime Minister Netanyahu, if we are to be frank. And he (Netanyahu) knows this. Thus, it is up to the Israelis to hold an election and replace him by voting in a new leader.
One cannot discuss the aforementioned, without going further into issues that may be discomforting to discuss. But broach the subject one must, in any event. Israel has a problem with religious fanaticism and the stronghold of the Orthodox Jews (religious [far] right) in the country. This social malignancy disenfranchises many citizens, both Arabs and Jews alike. Israel must determine whether it wants to be a true democracy or remain a xenophobic theocracy that thinks its view of the world is the only right view.
God is the God of all human beings in the world, even of those who do not believe in God. We are all part of the wonderful tapestry of humanity. One big messy, beautiful and extremely dysfunctional human family. Jews do not have a monopoly on God.
We must all reserve the right to worship God in the way that we have come to understand Him, or Her or It, call It what you will, even if we believe in nothing, as the Atheists. There is no such thing as no-thing. So, even Atheists believe in something, they simply do not know how to define or articulate this existential wonder of nothingness. And that, as a matter of fact, is quite a beautiful, if not interesting belief, too.
We must not impose our different understandings of God onto others. There are many paths to the same place. There is more than one way to tell the same story. We must unite under the umbrella of our differences and celebrate our humanity. And yes, we must hold to a higher moral ground, as every human being must live under the yoke of the law, which is that which sets the standard for proper being in this world. Without which, we would live in a savage no man’s land and this would not bode well for any human being.
At the same time, we must create space for people who think and live differently than we do. Who celebrate their religion differently than we do. Who have different customs and culture and rites. For no one of us can understand every single thing. Therefore, we must remain open to dialogue and be willing to broach difficult subjects and always be guided by a desire to understand one another. Most of the problems in the world can be attributed to a misunderstanding and a failure to communicate that are underscored by fear (of the other).
In America, we have done so much damage to human life, both at home and abroad. Our value system is shallow and superficial. So much so that people’s highest aspirations here are about keeping up with the Benjamins and becoming rich and famous social media influencers who get tons of ‘likes’ by paying for fake bots. Our children spend all day scrolling on the phone, which is bad for the brain, and social development of real world social skills. Instead, children would be better served by reading books that will challenge them to think and to learn and to focus their attention for a duration of time. They are also better served by engaging in sports and other activities that encourage team work and cultural appreciation.
We must learn to accept that two seemingly contradictory statements can exist in the same space. We must learn to go beyond the binary of black and white, all or nothing thinking. The world and people are much more nuanced than this.
America is underwritten by a racist and sexist trope on the domestic front. We are (mis)guided by (neo)colonialism in foreign policy. These truths are deeply embedded into the very fabric of our way of life. America (particularly under Trump) treats women, the poor, people of color, the LGBTQIA community, migrants and the disabled much like Hitler treated all people who did not fit in with his idea of the supremacy of an Aryan race. Expendable.
America is like the classic patriarchal, old school, unintelligible beating-his-chest caveman—the quintessential insecure macho man who is a boor of a human being, a barbarian, a falling down drunk who beats his wife and badly mistreats her and their children, and uses tactics to dominate and control and oppress her, minimally through financial (sanctions), emotional (psychological warfare) and physical (actual warfare) abuse.
In the same way that oppressed nations (abused spouses) around the world have fought back over the years, so, too, disenfranchised and marginalized Americans have also fought for agency. Thus, we see a parallel path of true emancipation unfolding on two fronts, through foreign and domestic movements. Equality and mutually beneficent partnerships are the primary requisite feature of a multipolar world.
To have a multipolar world of diversity, equality and inclusion between nations, but yet such nations still oppress different types of people within their borders is to be utterly intellectually dishonest and incongruent. And congruence of character, after all, is the highest goal.
A multipolar world is defined by diversity, equality and inclusion. If this is true between (systemically) nations, then it must also hold true within (endemically) nations. Diversity, equality and inclusion are human rights and not a left-wing phenomenon. Still, for all this, sometimes, in the effort to fight back against oppression, we have gone to extremes. As we learn and grow, we acknowledge we are going to make mistakes along the way. We don’t always get it right. But what we can’t fail at is our effort to keep trying.
For example, there is a big issue in society right now about the Transgender community and primarily the presence of female transgender people in women's sports, which is largely guided by hate and a lack of understanding. Transgender people have been around since the dawn of humankind. It is common knowledge that the biblical lore of Old Testament rhetoric drives much of the hateful discourse that persists today. However, one might ask oneself, what would Jesus do? I strongly believe Jesus would say, “Let’s be kind to people who are different than we are and who we may not fully understand. After all, they’re children of God, too. Would you mistreat someone who is born blind? Then why would you mistreat someone who may possibly have a hormonal imbalance? Are you perfect? I don’t think so. Let’s move on.”
The best thing to do is to invite the Transgender community to the table. So that they can inform the rest of us about what it means to be transgender and together we, mostly they, can decide what society does about the sports issue. You can’t have a conversation about a group of people without their presence and input.
Many right-wing folks balked at the Drag Queen Story Time movement that took place at community libraries—a program where Drag Queens read to children. To be clear, this was an effort to destigmatize people who do not fit into the status quo. The goal was meant to normalize the fact that there are different types of people in the world. Albeit, however much off the mark it may have been, it was meant to teach understanding and acceptance, not to teach children how to be drag queens. One does not need to learn how to be gay, or transgender or Black or White. We are born as we are. Not one of us must suffer persecution and abuse simply for existing on earth in a way deemed imperfect by some so-called ruling class of elites.
Is it fair to argue and debate whether the Draq Queen Story Time approach is the right approach? Absolutely. Always keep debate open. It is how we continue to learn and grow. However, we must be mindful that, just as engaging in cultural exchange and dialogue with people from different nations will not make us any more White or Black or Chinese than we already are, the same is true of engaging in discussion with a drag queen or transgender person. Being Chinese or White or Transgender is not contagious. These human qualities are not infectious diseases. Not to worry, you will not be contaminated or soiled in any regard. What might happen is that your life could be enhanced if you grow as a human being and develop a deeper appreciation for people who are different from you.
If you came from poverty, or are Black, or Brown, or are disabled, or Transgender or gay or all of the above. Stand up. Be proud of who you are and where you came from. Never be ashamed of who you are. For you are a child of God. No human being is superior or inferior to another. No person is a better or more acceptable expression of humanity than any other person.
Increasingly, people across the world are seeking peaceful responses to conflict resolution. A more evolved human being is burgeoning from the Global South nations, Africa, and Eurasia, the Middle East and even in America and Western Europe. However, in the latter two instances we are largely shrouded in silence. Mutually beneficent partnerships and respect for the dignity and rights of others are the ethos that underwrite a multipolar world. A world that is guided by the norms of international law, and cultural appreciation that promotes peace and prosperity for all humankind.
A neocolonialist zero sum society creates conditions of inequality in order to coercively perpetuate the rule of the 1% over the 99%. The result of this, is a world of manufactured caste and social class of have and have nots where the ruling class (neocolonialists) spread the social diseases of injustice, poverty, crime, despair, endless wars, mass migration, and every other human malady all at the expense of the many in order for the few to maintain unipolar hegemony.
Equal opportunity is our birthright. However, equal opportunity does not mean equal outcome. Because we are all unique and endowed with different knowledge, skills and abilities, we will all reach different heights and milestones in our lives. The point is for society to foster the conditions that grant each person an equal opportunity to reach his or her potential. What that looks like in every case makes up the spice of life.
Transformation, if it is to occur, is not possible without great turbulence and pain. It takes courage to move forward in life, as change is difficult and the road is rocky and unclear. To the oppressed in America, the poor, disabled, transgenders, migrants who fled the fire of hell only to jump into the frying pan, people of color who have been ghettoized and disenfranchised, to socio-economically disadvantaged little children whose head start school programs have been defunded, thereby cutting off the only chance they have at upward mobility and a good start, to nations of the Global South and Eurasia, Africa and the Middle East, and people everywhere who are fighting the good fight, we may not know what lies ahead in our struggle against the oppression we have faced our entire existence. What we do know is that we can no longer continue in the same way as we have been. And so we fight, as a people, for something better. For something greater. To reach the highest God-given potential for which we even exist on this earth in the first place. And against all odds, we stand up. We rise.
May God bless this beautiful world with peace and prosperity. And may someday, the future people of this world live to reap the benefits of our current struggle for humankind. Never give up. Never cower. And in the best case scenario, we never entertain ideas or discussions about the worst case scenario. Press on.
