Re: The following article Among the lessons I learned during my 2-1/2 years as a participant at Pacifica Forum at the University of Oregon, where I gave 13 lectures on various topics, was to be disabused of the notion that Jews are somehow above the fray, essentially virtuous with the exception of a few miscreants. That view is very misleading. My conclusion now is that approximately as many Jews per capita are idiots, criminals, knaves, dolts, jokers, etc, as anyone else. That is, the idea that Jews should be essentially immune from criticism, is badly misplaced. Which is not my opinion alone. Just ask any Jew in the Israeli Knesset, where Jew vs. Jew criticism is the currency of the realm. That is, my opinion of Jews underwent a transformation parallel to the transformation of my opinion of American Indians, from noble denizens of the frontier who are basically all good, to people like anyone else, with their share of idiots, criminals, dolts, etc. To be more clinical, some groups have more of one kind of virtue or vice than other groups. Not all groups are equal in fact even when they are equal in principle. Hence I generally like Jews -for their high percentages of smart people, like Hindus and others from India for the same reason, like American Indians for their fascinating cultures, like the French especially for their sophistication and the fact that they often are trend setters in the realm of ideas, and so forth. People of most cultures seem to me to fall into some mid range where plus factors and negative factors seem to balance out. As far as black people go, another observation not unique to me, there is dignified and highly literate Caribbean black culture and then there is ludicrously lionized American ghetto culture that is terribly damaged and in desperate need to be replaced by something else -along lines suggested by Thomas Sowell. Which is to say that there is no substitute for educated assessment of various human cultures and which is also to say that there is no excuse for racist views within America's shared culture. Hence my view of European anti-Semitism could not be lower. That kind of crap is sick. It is so much scapegoating and finding excuses for one's own limitations. Sure, it is valid to note the many Jews who were Communists in the old Soviet Union and some of its subject lands; in such cases there is a rational basis for animus. But anti-Semitism was rife in Soviet era Russia and in pre-Soviet Poland, etc, and generalizations are not valid that go too far. The following article glosses the rise of anti-Semitism on the Left, which from information at my disposal is about twice that, per capita, among Left-wingers than on the Right. But clearly it would be stupid to be dismissive of the Right-wing variety. The article makes this very clear. Billy -------------------------------------------------------- DOUG SAUNDERS Europe’s Jews have reason to fear today’s political climate _DOUG SAUNDERS_ (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/doug-saunders)
The Globe and Mail Published Saturday, Dec. 03, 2016 6:00AM EST Last updated Saturday, Dec. 03, 2016 To be Jewish and European today is to wonder just who can be trusted. If you’re one of the 1.5 million Jews of Europe, you’re still coming to terms with the string of shocking terrorist attacks on Jewish primary schools, museums and markets over the past five years; many have come to distrust their Muslim neighbours. Yet there’s a growing sense now that, as terrifying as this threat is, it may be the lesser of their worries. This year’s dramatic political shifts have led many to worry about a far larger, non-minority group, a surprising number of whom seem to be returning to anti-democratic, anti-minority politics aimed at Jewish populations. Until recently, far more attention was focused on the first threat. That’s because the far-right parties, such as France’s National Front, Britain’s UKIP and the Alternative for Germany, have in recent years tried to gain mainstream democratic credibility by attempting to kick out their overtly anti-Semitic officials, claiming to be tolerant of Jews (in large part by opposing Muslims) and making supportive noises about Israel. The problem, though, is that citizens who support these parties have not all gone along on this symbolic ride. If Europe’s far-right parties have stopped talking about “devious Jews” and instead use euphemisms such as “ globalists” and “cosmopolitan elites,” their supporters are translating it back. It has become acceptable for many to speak openly against Jews, Muslims and even democracy itself. To understand this, it’s worth following the work of Yascha Mounk, a Harvard University scholar. Mr. Mounk made headlines this week with a new study, co-authored with Roberto Stefan Foa at the University of Melbourne, which found that voters in most European countries and the United States are increasingly less likely to believe it is “essential” to live in a democracy. This effect is stronger among younger people and right-wing voters. For Mr. Mounk, this is part of a larger phenomenon. Two years ago, he published Stranger in My Own Country, a memoir of his life as a young German Jew. It noted that the Christian Europeans around him, while professing liberal tolerance, were continuing to treat Jews such as himself as different, other or outside. In an essay titled “Europe’s Jewish Problem,” he linked these observations to the rise of the new right-wing populist movements. “Europe’s political climate is more hostile to Jews now than at any time since the second intifada,” he wrote. But he concluded that it wasn’t Muslim anti-Semitism leading the trend; rather, it was the far larger populations of Christians. As he noted, the number of Spanish citizens who express unfavourable views of Jews is almost 50 per cent; Muslims make up less than 3 per cent of Spain’s population and aren’t growing fast. So “a European anti-Semite remains far more likely to be Christian than Muslim.” The larger problem, he concluded, is “the tendency of wily politicians to play Jews and Muslims against each other for purposes of their own.” A recent large-scale survey of French attitudes toward Jews by political scientist Dominique Reynié found that anti-Semitism in general is declining, but the country’s Muslims do indeed have higher rates of anti-Jewish beliefs than the general population. What really stood out, though, were the many people who support Marine Le Pen’s National Front party: They were even more likely than Muslims to agree with Jewish-conspiracy claims such as “ Jews use their status as victims of the Nazi genocide for their own interest” or “the Jews are responsible for the current economic crisis.” And they were almost equally likely to support statements such as “there is a Zionist conspiracy on a global scale,” at rates twice as high as the general population. Muslims make up only 7 per cent of the population of France, but Ms. Le Pen commands at least one-fifth of the population, and her support is rising fast. These parties and movements, Mr. Mounk concluded, attract those who are hostile toward both Muslims and Jews. “The very same revival of nationalism that has been fuelled by their invocation of Jews [as foils for their politics],” he wrote, “can, in this way, quickly turn into anti-Semitism.” And that, combined with a growing group of voters who don’t care about democracy, is something that Europe ought to fear. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
