Tuesday, October 24, 2017

The U.S. Has Gone Bats

Michael Lumish

That's the way it seems to me, anyway.

I suppose that it's not surprising that the people who are my age - and who are now running things - have turned the Western tradition into a fucking disaster.

And the reason for that is because we were trained not to believe in it by our older brothers and sisters and friends who came out of the Vietnam War Era and, thereby and for understandable reasons, passed their cynicism off to us.

It's not that we are responsible for the never-ending malice and bloodshed in the Arab-Muslim Middle East. Nor are we responsible for the perpetual poverty of the urban poor. Nor are we responsible for Climate Change, the European Immigration Crisis, or general human stupidity.

We inherited that.

We are, however, responsible for the current state of American politics, which is absolutely dismal.

The United States has not been this culturally torn-up since 1968.

American politics at this moment has people at one another's throats. It is ripping up families and friendships. It is resulting in violence in the streets from Berkeley to Charlottesville.

And, it must be understood, that the toxic nature of American politics today is encouraging the rise of the New White Nationalism.

I tend to downplay the white nationalist trend because playing it up increases its attractiveness to those so inclined.

But the difference between now and then is that by 1968 over 30,000 U.S. servicemen had been killed in Vietnam in a war that seemed to have no end.

Women were still second-class citizens.

And racism throughout the country was violent in a way that makes the South, today, look like a racial shangri-la. 

I was born in 1963, the very year that Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Despite the fact that I am a New York Jew, I can assure you that, from a historical perspective, race relations in the South are far better today than they were in 1963. It's not even close. An observer from Mars should be able to see that, yet somehow it seems lost on the contemporary American Left.

The cause of political tensions in the United States today is not due to war or sexism or racism like it was in 1968.

On every social-political level, the U.S. has made great strides toward social justice from that day to this.

The truth, in fact, is that the U.S. is among the most liberal countries on the planet.

This may sound a bit corny or old-fashioned but we hold out a greater opportunity to any man or woman of any "race, color, or creed" - as they used to say - than almost any place else on the planet.

We should be proud of how far we have come in so short a period of time.

We are well beyond where we were when Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the Mall.

But we do not recognize it.

Instead, we rip down statuary of Robert E. Lee.

14 comments:

  1. I don't necessarily downplay white nationalism, but I don't think it's a significant factor right now. But to the degree it is significant it can rightfully in part thank the progressive left's overreaching and insane intersectionality for helping give it a boost. When people go around talking and writing of the dangerous evil of "the white man" the Richard Spencer's of this world begin to smile.

    Other than that, there is this, by Dr. Rugh Wisse:

    http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/247253/american-jews-idealize-soviet-communism

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The saddest part of this political moment is the realization of the degree to which well-meaning people are dragged around by dogmatic noses.

      Of, fuck, do I need to dust-off Orwell?

      Delete
  2. Professor Michael Chikindas must be FIRED from Rutgers University because he is a lunatic who spreads false racist anti-Jewish propaganda.

    www.algemeiner.com/2017/10/24/rutgers-professor-calls-judaism-most-racist-religion-blames-jews-for-armenian-genocide-in-flurry-of-antisemitic-homophobic-and-sexist-posts/

    To complain against Professor Michael Chikindas,
    go to:

    https://ucm.rutgers.edu/about/staff-by-unit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Huh.

      It's not often that straightforward antisemitism drops by.

      Welcome to Israel Thrives, Justin MZ.

      Please drive safely.

      Delete
    2. Why did you ditch the comment? Isn't it better to shine a light? It was a great example of the kind of antisemitism coming from the left, which can be virulent. It represents a greater threat than the KKK, the manufactured fear drummed into people. Simply look at the Dershowitz cartoon in Berkeley or the events at McGill. In some places the hatred is mainstream.

      Delete
    3. I don't know what happened at McGill, but the cartoon in the Daily Californian was a disgusting libel. Dershowitz says they have a right to publish, but I am unimpressed by that. The Daily Californian has the right to fill its front page with nothing but the "n word" reprinted over and over. Simply having the right to do something is not in and of itself a sufficient enough reason to do something. You have the right to bark at the moon wearing a bunny suit, The Daily Californian should remove that Nazi inspired anti Semitic cartoon because it's anti Semitic and racist. It is inappropriate for a place of higher learning.

      Delete
    4. That's a fair question, School.

      Let's just say that I made a concession to a friend.

      Delete
    5. Better to show their bona fides. The comments are scathing, and the editors' statement of regret was met with derision, deservedly so.

      These excesses, over time, will shift the balance. It's not only about Jews and Israel, though Jews and Israel are often the start.

      The blindness of these people to see how they hurt rather than help is dramatic. They not only expose their own bigotry and hate, they aren't very smart. It does not stop them from lecturing about morals, however.

      Delete
    6. Things are heating up.

      I trace the current toxic political trend from the nomination of Trump as the GOP candidate.

      That was the moment that progressive-left rhetoric moved from accusations of racism to those of "white supremacy" against political opponents.

      Antisemitic accusation against Jews are following along.

      Delete
    7. I have to tell you, man, this is an unusual political moment.

      The electorate is as divided and screaming for blood than anytime in my life.

      The Left has become stodgy and hardened and authoritarian.

      And who the fuck knows where the Right is?

      The few voices that I trust are coming out of what some call The New Center.

      Delete
  3. American anti-Semitism:

    https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-seven-times-stronger.html

    https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-jewish-nyc-mayor.html

    New York Times Erases Israel from Map:

    https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-nyt-erases-israel-from-map.html

    http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/03/guest-postnyt-vs-israel.html

    How to Convict the New York Times
    of Unfair Bias Against Israel:


    https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-how-to-convict-new-york-times.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Race relations have gone down hill from what they were in 2008

    ReplyDelete
  5. www.algemeiner.com/2017/10/26/arabs-seethe-over-saudi-writers-pro-jewish-stance/

    ReplyDelete