What the world would be like if everyone was unselfish for just one day

Can you imagine what it would be like if for one day we all forgot ourselves and put others first? It would be so monumental that it would be like the movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

For a short 24 hours we would stop the world by thinking of others above ourselves.

That day a bank robber’s note to the teller would focus on her welfare. “Excuse me, please. I don’t mean to bother you, but if it is not too much of an inconvenience could you hand over all your money in small, unmarked bills? I’m sorry; I see that I have upset you. Never mind. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

For 1,440 minutes road rage would disappear from all byways. The only problem would be the traffic jams created when cars arrived at a four-way stop simultaneously. “You go first.” “You go first.” “No, please you go first.”

Gone would be marital disharmony. Wouldn’t that be powerful enough to stop the world? There would be no arguments, no abuse and no infidelity. Gentility would return to our repertoire of behavior.

Those whose careers and emotional existence are founded on self-promotion and self-aggrandizement would be out of a job for a day. Donald Trump would have to fire himself. People could use their sick leave to be emotionally healthy for 24 hours. The celebrity business would be unemployed.

Greed would take a sabbatical, and reasonableness would return to the markets. That doesn’t mean the profit motive would cease to exist; it would be balanced with the question of what would be best for everyone. Management and labor would hold hands.

Friendships would flourish, neighborhoods would be happy and the global neighborhood would be refitted for cooperation — no longer to build bombs or aim guns at each other.

Dictators would turn instantaneously benevolent and withdraw all their hidden cash from secret Swiss accounts to build children’s hospitals and dig irrigation projects. They would encourage opposition parties and throw open prison gates. Career politicians would place their constituents first and the nation above their own personal plays for power.

Long standing conflicts would vanish to a new struggle to see who could be nobler. Israel would teach nation building to Hamas, and Hezbollah would help harvest crops on the kibbutz.