Among the most shocking aspects of the current political scene is the fact that the American and the British left has been exposed as misogynistic, anti-Semitic and homophobic. Tom Slater of Spiked! summed it up:Stuart’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Scary stuff indeed! Being raised in a strongly Irish Catholic neighborhood (Our idea of minorities were Italians.) and educated in Catholic schools, I had very little interaction with Jews until college and beyond. Among those I befriended, when the discussion turned to Nazi Germany and Jew hatred, they always asserted that it could easily happen in the US. I scoffed at the idea but I'm now realizing how right they are. There is a very fine line between the ignorant actions of the oh so compassionate left and outright mass violence against Jews in the street. We have actually seen strong intimidation tactics at Cooper Union and other places where Jewish students had to flee for their safety if not their very lives.
As I see it, there are three distinct classes of antiSemites in this country and maybe elsewhere. The first is Muslims who have been indoctrinated since birth about the need to wipe out all Jews and destroy Israel. The second is the average ignorant redneck who hates everyone who doesn't look like him and has been raised on stories of how Jews control everything and are responsible for his self inflicted lack of success in life. The third, and most baffling, are supposed intellectuals who have been brainwashed by sources that one would think they know better than to listen to.
The first two groups are well known and in the greater scheme of things relatively powerless. But combined with the third group which is working with great effort to make antiSemitism respectable, I can see where there is great potential for massive Jew bashing if not outright ethnic cleansing.
As I first stated, scary stuff, indeed. In this case good must truly prevail over this creeping evil. I don't know if or how that will happen I do know that hope is not a strategy.
The only fault I find with the essay is calling those folks the radical left.
From where I sit they appear to be center left, the core of today's whole leftist ideology.
Scary stuff indeed! Being raised in a strongly Irish Catholic neighborhood (Our idea of minorities were Italians.) and educated in Catholic schools, I had very little interaction with Jews until college and beyond. Among those I befriended, when the discussion turned to Nazi Germany and Jew hatred, they always asserted that it could easily happen in the US. I scoffed at the idea but I'm now realizing how right they are. There is a very fine line between the ignorant actions of the oh so compassionate left and outright mass violence against Jews in the street. We have actually seen strong intimidation tactics at Cooper Union and other places where Jewish students had to flee for their safety if not their very lives.
As I see it, there are three distinct classes of antiSemites in this country and maybe elsewhere. The first is Muslims who have been indoctrinated since birth about the need to wipe out all Jews and destroy Israel. The second is the average ignorant redneck who hates everyone who doesn't look like him and has been raised on stories of how Jews control everything and are responsible for his self inflicted lack of success in life. The third, and most baffling, are supposed intellectuals who have been brainwashed by sources that one would think they know better than to listen to.
The first two groups are well known and in the greater scheme of things relatively powerless. But combined with the third group which is working with great effort to make antiSemitism respectable, I can see where there is great potential for massive Jew bashing if not outright ethnic cleansing.
As I first stated, scary stuff, indeed. In this case good must truly prevail over this creeping evil. I don't know if or how that will happen I do know that hope is not a strategy.