I don't know how we get out of it. I would start by closing down all the social science and humanities departments of the universities in the western world, defunding research by professors in these fields, and not supporting students who train in these disciplines. But the main way we get out of it is supporting Israel, moving there if we are Jewish, certainly moving our young there, and ensuring that Israel is totally victorious over Gaza, abolishes the PA in Judea and Samaria, and clobbers Hizbollah, ruining Lebanon if necessary. There is nothing like a military victory over villains to wake up the West and serve notice on enemies of the West; only that will make them think. When the Palestinians are dealt with in such a way that they have no base or voice to assert their heinous claims, the morons who support them now will be deprived of their favourite cause and move on. Who knows? They may even come to think differently, but don't bet the house on it.
Closing down all the social science and humanities departments? Sounds rather extreme. Also, total victory can't be the only thing Israel does. Only the first step. Otherwise, Hamas will come back.
It may sound extreme, but what benefits will accrue to society. You are right that conquering Gaza is only a first step. Flooding it with Jews, annexing it to Israel, putting the Palestinians to work if they wish and allowing them to leave if they wish, closing the mosques, educating the young in Hebrew, and no voting rights for them, only residency.
#1. In the battle of language, stop calling them Palestinians. Israel is no longer enslaved by Rome. They are Arabs.
#2. Give them jobs and the freedom to come and go? How has that worked out so far? Why have Arabs living in the Jewish state at all? How many Jews live securely in Arab countries?
It is “traditional values” that have been powerless to stop the onslaught of the mongrel hordes.
It is only a proper pro-reason, pro-freedom, pro-justice, pro-individual, pro-human morality that can support the founding values of western civilization. The morality that the Founding Fathers of America needed to protect their creation, but was not yet available to them.
That is the morality of rational egoism, which is the morality of the philosophic system of Objectivism created by Ayn Rand.
By traditional I meant much of what you outline, i.e. , guilt free, pre-woke and unapologetic re those things in history that were less than perfect (with enough history to note the “sins” of other cultures).
Oct 7th has been an incredible eye opener and wake up call to the West. Hopefully, we actually do something about it because this is not just Israel's problem. This is very much tied in to the future of our culture, to our way of life. Yes, right now the target is Israel but when you have American flags being burnt, it is clear that these demonstrations are not just against the Jewish state. There is a quiet revolution going on and its taking over the minds of the young. It has been doing it slowly over the last few decades using the education system to pollute their minds. The article is a wonderful article but the one exception I have is that this is not a bunch of lost kids searching for a cause. They are being taught the causes by their history teachers, their college and University professors. Oct 7th actually showed how radicalized our young people have become. WOKE, DEI, Colonizers, White Oppressors etc. are all the tools being used to brainwash our kids into what we see demonstrating in the streets. This is not haphazard .... this very much has a trail of money, ideology and religion that is nurturing and polluting their young minds. There has been a marriage made in hell between the Marxists and the Islamists combined with a smaller segment of naive idealists who are behind it all. Of course, once the Islamists are done, they will go after the Marxists. For them, it's just a temporary marriage of convenience.
We got here because of what is being taught in the schools and we get out of it by changing what is being taught in the schools. Sounds relatively simple but its not at all. They have spent decades working on this and a change will only start with a change in government and certainly in immigration policies. If the Dems win in Nov, I suggest emigrating out of the States.
And while I am at solving problems simplistically. To stop the Israel Palestine problem, you have to drastically change what is being taught in the schools and Mosques. It is a culture of hate and it exists always by what is being taught and nothing else.
No it's not an issue of cool and sexy; rather, it's because Israel (Jews) is/are involved in the battle. Remember the Woke oppressor vs oppressed paradigm? No need to learn the history or to understand the facts on the region! Right?
Mel, you are so correct. Any Jew who doesn't vote for the Trump/Vance ticket are just morons!
The Obama > Biden/Harris MidEast foreign policy has 100% directly led to the current predicament that Israel finds herself: surrounded by several radical Islamic terrorist groups (sorry Kamala) all funded by Iran. None of these groups are interested in a two State solution with two peoples living peacefully side by side! No, these terrorists (100% supported by Iran) are interested only in the destruction of Israel and the eradication of all Jews from the region! Am Yisrael Chai!!
I'd add that another thing which makes this possible is social media and news over the internet, which enables us to live in a silo in which we only hear one perspective drilled into us day after day.
"Kamala Harris, the current U.S. vice president, even said: “We must have the courage to reject the term radical Islamic terrorism.”"
Please provide a credible source for this assertion. My research is to the contrary that Kamala Harris did not make that statement. The phrase has been falsely attributed to her in various social media posts. In fact, there is no credible record of her saying that. Kamala Harris has made statements condemning terrorism and supporting counterterrorism efforts but has not advocated for rejecting the term "radical Islamic terrorism" in the way this misquote suggests.
Misinformation like this often spreads during politically charged times, so it's important to verify quotes from credible sources.
This was a brilliant. How right you are! The sickening spectacle taking place on our streets is a sickening horror! People have been sucked into this vile celebration of hate. The West is no longer what it was. We live in fear of what will happen next
You described my generation in the 60’s very well. As a young woman in that era I became disenchanted with our government with the assassination of JFK. I understand how easily young idealists can slip into becoming useful idiots, developing a ‘counterculture’, misplacing anger on society as a whole.
But then in 1968 they killed my hero’s. Sirhan Sirhan said he shot Bobby Kennedy because of his support for Israel. Even then his defenders claimed he was not Muslim but a Christian Arab. Two months later I spent a month in Israel and as if by osmosis my world view began to change. I was raised Christian without a hint of antisemitism which was a blessing in and of itself. But my point is experiencing Israel was the start of understanding and if it could change me, deeply rooted at the time in falsehoods, there’s hope for me today. Perhaps small guided tours for useful idiots might plant seeds of change, dissolve the propaganda so rampant and spread the truth. Whether it’s the air, the water or its people, the spirit of Israel touches a place buried inside humanity. If you can find more ways to share that a shift in consciousness will manifest. No doubt about it.
Jonathan Haidt is addressing some of the ways we could get out of this mess, but I don't think he goes deep enough with the social media restrictions on teenagers and more unsupervised play. There are those who propose a totalitarian reaction to the liberal chaos that much of the West is in, or wishful thinking for old religions to make a comeback. I have a different proposal, and ironically, I think Palestinians after the defeat of the current Hamas could help implement it. But I don't know if this is the place to talk about it.
With all due respect, acknowledgement of and deep empathy for Jewish suffering, this is not at all uniquely Jewish issue.
Victimization to acquire self-respect is not new, I first discovered it in early 90s, race, sex, religion, all can be used. But the real victims are normal people of all walks of life.
I am hoping that backlash against extreme right and their fascism will renew the Republican party who might become the party for normal people against the new radicals, this time on the left.
Well done. "With no real oppression in their lives, they develop a sense of guilt: White guilt, Western guilt. They see themselves as part of an inherently evil system and believe they must “disrupt” it to give themselves purpose. Without something to “fix,” they feel lost. It is all about them." Love it. This seems very apt. And indeed, what do we do next?
Great essay. I love your point about people, often bored white kids, or kids who say they are Palestinian because their third cousin was born in Bethlehem (after they kicked most of the Christians out) are looking for a cause to believe it. I guess women with penis' is getting uncool. And the Keffiyeh has replaced the Che Guevara tee.
And with an internet schooled population, most don't have the foundation of history to vet the words that escape their lips. I am suspended at my university for saying I stood with Israel and that Hamas were Nazis, (and I refuse to apologize even though I am Canadian and we do it compulsively)
I see a Generation Z that is pro-Hamas at twice the rate of my generation, statistically that is almost impossible. But thank you death of long form reading, death of newspapers and thank you TikTok algorithm. And please sign my petition (let me jump on your and Joshua's bandwagen) to tell these cowardly university administrators to stand up for free speech.
But sadly, history doesn't repeat, it rhymes, and Nazism grew in the universities and nobody said a word when they fired the Jews then either.
Please sign my petition below and pass it on. With a focus on pass it on. As apparently I only have nine friends thus far.
I have been suspended ten months and the VIce Provost is aligned with a radical Palestinian and the mob is baying for my blood. The Claimant against me in the Human Rights Complaint is unfortunately the Vice Provost who runs the entire show. But the union says being a prosecuter and judge is fine and they say I need to stop bothering them, they have Hamas rallies to attend.
The union (my only legal rep) has not met with me in 10 months or called, perhaps they are busy with the law suit against them for anti-semitism, tens of thousands online have been urged to contact the school to ask for my evil racist existence because I called a group that burns people alive Nazis (nobody reads history), my commuity at school is silent and in fear, and some are actively involved in defamation. My hope is with Jewish strangers and the odd Scotsman and Caribbean lady.
Unfortunately, our young people have been brainwashed into believing (a) there is no God, (b) there is no such thing as personal sin which needs to be atoned for and (c) everyone is basically good, but society is bad. They can't get away from the God-given sense of guilt, though. So they try to achieve peace of mind and and a sense of self worth by blaming someone else - in this case the Jews - for what is wrong in the world and making them feel bad. We did this to them when we removed God from our schools and our daily lives. Thankfully, Jesus Christ died to atone for our sins and we - and our young people - can find forgiveness, peace and reconciliation with God in Him. But repentance is needed first.
"Some of us encountered it in our workplaces or schools or social circles with Muslims who we thought were our friends making claims like, “It was the Jews who did it.”
I don't know how we get out of it. I would start by closing down all the social science and humanities departments of the universities in the western world, defunding research by professors in these fields, and not supporting students who train in these disciplines. But the main way we get out of it is supporting Israel, moving there if we are Jewish, certainly moving our young there, and ensuring that Israel is totally victorious over Gaza, abolishes the PA in Judea and Samaria, and clobbers Hizbollah, ruining Lebanon if necessary. There is nothing like a military victory over villains to wake up the West and serve notice on enemies of the West; only that will make them think. When the Palestinians are dealt with in such a way that they have no base or voice to assert their heinous claims, the morons who support them now will be deprived of their favourite cause and move on. Who knows? They may even come to think differently, but don't bet the house on it.
Closing down all the social science and humanities departments? Sounds rather extreme. Also, total victory can't be the only thing Israel does. Only the first step. Otherwise, Hamas will come back.
It may sound extreme, but what benefits will accrue to society. You are right that conquering Gaza is only a first step. Flooding it with Jews, annexing it to Israel, putting the Palestinians to work if they wish and allowing them to leave if they wish, closing the mosques, educating the young in Hebrew, and no voting rights for them, only residency.
#1. In the battle of language, stop calling them Palestinians. Israel is no longer enslaved by Rome. They are Arabs.
#2. Give them jobs and the freedom to come and go? How has that worked out so far? Why have Arabs living in the Jewish state at all? How many Jews live securely in Arab countries?
I can't see closing humanities and social sci departments. BUT, they need to go back to traditional values, unapologetically.
It is “traditional values” that have been powerless to stop the onslaught of the mongrel hordes.
It is only a proper pro-reason, pro-freedom, pro-justice, pro-individual, pro-human morality that can support the founding values of western civilization. The morality that the Founding Fathers of America needed to protect their creation, but was not yet available to them.
That is the morality of rational egoism, which is the morality of the philosophic system of Objectivism created by Ayn Rand.
By traditional I meant much of what you outline, i.e. , guilt free, pre-woke and unapologetic re those things in history that were less than perfect (with enough history to note the “sins” of other cultures).
They never will.
Oct 7th has been an incredible eye opener and wake up call to the West. Hopefully, we actually do something about it because this is not just Israel's problem. This is very much tied in to the future of our culture, to our way of life. Yes, right now the target is Israel but when you have American flags being burnt, it is clear that these demonstrations are not just against the Jewish state. There is a quiet revolution going on and its taking over the minds of the young. It has been doing it slowly over the last few decades using the education system to pollute their minds. The article is a wonderful article but the one exception I have is that this is not a bunch of lost kids searching for a cause. They are being taught the causes by their history teachers, their college and University professors. Oct 7th actually showed how radicalized our young people have become. WOKE, DEI, Colonizers, White Oppressors etc. are all the tools being used to brainwash our kids into what we see demonstrating in the streets. This is not haphazard .... this very much has a trail of money, ideology and religion that is nurturing and polluting their young minds. There has been a marriage made in hell between the Marxists and the Islamists combined with a smaller segment of naive idealists who are behind it all. Of course, once the Islamists are done, they will go after the Marxists. For them, it's just a temporary marriage of convenience.
We got here because of what is being taught in the schools and we get out of it by changing what is being taught in the schools. Sounds relatively simple but its not at all. They have spent decades working on this and a change will only start with a change in government and certainly in immigration policies. If the Dems win in Nov, I suggest emigrating out of the States.
And while I am at solving problems simplistically. To stop the Israel Palestine problem, you have to drastically change what is being taught in the schools and Mosques. It is a culture of hate and it exists always by what is being taught and nothing else.
papa j
I think they actually do care about the Palestinians – as much as they care about the Sudanese, Syrians, Yemenis, and Kurds.
Yes, they do care, but also caring about Palestinians is more cool and sexy than caring about the others.
No it's not an issue of cool and sexy; rather, it's because Israel (Jews) is/are involved in the battle. Remember the Woke oppressor vs oppressed paradigm? No need to learn the history or to understand the facts on the region! Right?
The Jews in America need to vote for Trump! That’s step 1.
The Democratic Party abandoned America a long time ago.
Mel, you are so correct. Any Jew who doesn't vote for the Trump/Vance ticket are just morons!
The Obama > Biden/Harris MidEast foreign policy has 100% directly led to the current predicament that Israel finds herself: surrounded by several radical Islamic terrorist groups (sorry Kamala) all funded by Iran. None of these groups are interested in a two State solution with two peoples living peacefully side by side! No, these terrorists (100% supported by Iran) are interested only in the destruction of Israel and the eradication of all Jews from the region! Am Yisrael Chai!!
I'd add that another thing which makes this possible is social media and news over the internet, which enables us to live in a silo in which we only hear one perspective drilled into us day after day.
"Kamala Harris, the current U.S. vice president, even said: “We must have the courage to reject the term radical Islamic terrorism.”"
Please provide a credible source for this assertion. My research is to the contrary that Kamala Harris did not make that statement. The phrase has been falsely attributed to her in various social media posts. In fact, there is no credible record of her saying that. Kamala Harris has made statements condemning terrorism and supporting counterterrorism efforts but has not advocated for rejecting the term "radical Islamic terrorism" in the way this misquote suggests.
Misinformation like this often spreads during politically charged times, so it's important to verify quotes from credible sources.
This was a brilliant. How right you are! The sickening spectacle taking place on our streets is a sickening horror! People have been sucked into this vile celebration of hate. The West is no longer what it was. We live in fear of what will happen next
It’s not “radical Islamic terrorism”. As ayaan hirsi Ali says, “it’s orthodox Islam “.
America is falling. No G-d. Alexander Solzhenitsyn warned…
You described my generation in the 60’s very well. As a young woman in that era I became disenchanted with our government with the assassination of JFK. I understand how easily young idealists can slip into becoming useful idiots, developing a ‘counterculture’, misplacing anger on society as a whole.
But then in 1968 they killed my hero’s. Sirhan Sirhan said he shot Bobby Kennedy because of his support for Israel. Even then his defenders claimed he was not Muslim but a Christian Arab. Two months later I spent a month in Israel and as if by osmosis my world view began to change. I was raised Christian without a hint of antisemitism which was a blessing in and of itself. But my point is experiencing Israel was the start of understanding and if it could change me, deeply rooted at the time in falsehoods, there’s hope for me today. Perhaps small guided tours for useful idiots might plant seeds of change, dissolve the propaganda so rampant and spread the truth. Whether it’s the air, the water or its people, the spirit of Israel touches a place buried inside humanity. If you can find more ways to share that a shift in consciousness will manifest. No doubt about it.
Jonathan Haidt is addressing some of the ways we could get out of this mess, but I don't think he goes deep enough with the social media restrictions on teenagers and more unsupervised play. There are those who propose a totalitarian reaction to the liberal chaos that much of the West is in, or wishful thinking for old religions to make a comeback. I have a different proposal, and ironically, I think Palestinians after the defeat of the current Hamas could help implement it. But I don't know if this is the place to talk about it.
Why not?
With all due respect, acknowledgement of and deep empathy for Jewish suffering, this is not at all uniquely Jewish issue.
Victimization to acquire self-respect is not new, I first discovered it in early 90s, race, sex, religion, all can be used. But the real victims are normal people of all walks of life.
I am hoping that backlash against extreme right and their fascism will renew the Republican party who might become the party for normal people against the new radicals, this time on the left.
Well done. "With no real oppression in their lives, they develop a sense of guilt: White guilt, Western guilt. They see themselves as part of an inherently evil system and believe they must “disrupt” it to give themselves purpose. Without something to “fix,” they feel lost. It is all about them." Love it. This seems very apt. And indeed, what do we do next?
Great essay. I love your point about people, often bored white kids, or kids who say they are Palestinian because their third cousin was born in Bethlehem (after they kicked most of the Christians out) are looking for a cause to believe it. I guess women with penis' is getting uncool. And the Keffiyeh has replaced the Che Guevara tee.
And with an internet schooled population, most don't have the foundation of history to vet the words that escape their lips. I am suspended at my university for saying I stood with Israel and that Hamas were Nazis, (and I refuse to apologize even though I am Canadian and we do it compulsively)
I see a Generation Z that is pro-Hamas at twice the rate of my generation, statistically that is almost impossible. But thank you death of long form reading, death of newspapers and thank you TikTok algorithm. And please sign my petition (let me jump on your and Joshua's bandwagen) to tell these cowardly university administrators to stand up for free speech.
But sadly, history doesn't repeat, it rhymes, and Nazism grew in the universities and nobody said a word when they fired the Jews then either.
Please sign my petition below and pass it on. With a focus on pass it on. As apparently I only have nine friends thus far.
I have been suspended ten months and the VIce Provost is aligned with a radical Palestinian and the mob is baying for my blood. The Claimant against me in the Human Rights Complaint is unfortunately the Vice Provost who runs the entire show. But the union says being a prosecuter and judge is fine and they say I need to stop bothering them, they have Hamas rallies to attend.
The union (my only legal rep) has not met with me in 10 months or called, perhaps they are busy with the law suit against them for anti-semitism, tens of thousands online have been urged to contact the school to ask for my evil racist existence because I called a group that burns people alive Nazis (nobody reads history), my commuity at school is silent and in fear, and some are actively involved in defamation. My hope is with Jewish strangers and the odd Scotsman and Caribbean lady.
https://www.freedomtoffend.com/p/support-free-speech-on-campus?r=iy2ds&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
It seems to cut me off, I am long winded. Petition button is at the bottom of the article that is linked here.
https://www.freedomtoffend.com/p/support-free-speech-on-campus?r=iy2ds&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Unfortunately, our young people have been brainwashed into believing (a) there is no God, (b) there is no such thing as personal sin which needs to be atoned for and (c) everyone is basically good, but society is bad. They can't get away from the God-given sense of guilt, though. So they try to achieve peace of mind and and a sense of self worth by blaming someone else - in this case the Jews - for what is wrong in the world and making them feel bad. We did this to them when we removed God from our schools and our daily lives. Thankfully, Jesus Christ died to atone for our sins and we - and our young people - can find forgiveness, peace and reconciliation with God in Him. But repentance is needed first.
Or perhaps they are simply evil psychopaths.
..................................................................................................................................................................................................................
"The combination of a morally confused society, foreign propaganda, and social isolation has created a toxic environment in which extremism thrives".
Why would any infidel think muslims could ever be their friends? It should have been no surprise that muslims celebrated 9/11 and blamed Jews.
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
"Some of us encountered it in our workplaces or schools or social circles with Muslims who we thought were our friends making claims like, “It was the Jews who did it.”