ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

The author, Joseph Moizel tells of coming to this country with $10 in his pocket to become a multi-millionaire in the construction business. His favorite phrase is “Overcoming poverty is like trying to pick up a bucket from its handle while standing inside of it.”

Chance, but no truth; facility, but no utility—it is owing to these fruits that distinguishes the tree of knowledge from the tree of life. What happens is not chance, but a chapter in the complex script which details the journey of the American people, leading us, circuitously yet directly, to our redemption. Having undergone personal crises aplenty, I feel I can attest to this promise: renewal, not despair. Without the memory of our past, as dark as it may be, there is no identity, and without identity, we are cast adrift into a war of possibility against probability, without a compass, without direction, and without end. Imaginably, this can be detrimental to the human psyche. Clearly, I am speaking from experience. When I spent my last days teaching at the Technion- Institute of Technology, I made the decision to leave Israel. If I believed this all to have been chance, I would have never found my own identity or cared to develop it. From the inception of my journey, the object of pursuit had been wealth—wealth was something I never possessed as a child.

The ecology of hope lies in restoring our culture to a state in which family, community, and religious faith are valued. If American history has a message for our time, it is sure that faith in future change is what rebuilds society. Morality is integral to the ecology of hope because it locates social change at a level at which we can make a difference through the acts we do, the principles by which we live, and the relationships we create. This makes hope ultimately a religious emotion.