Posted on 07/08/2012 10:49:17 AM PDT by Nachum
What are you, some kind of a nut?
I kid you not. I have always been staunchly conservative. There are more conservative Jews than you would think. The media just doesn't give us much coverage. They like to maintain the illusion that Jews (and Blacks) are a monolithic democrat block. Not true anymore. As far as breeding, I'm past that stage now, but can still spread good ideas to those who may be receptive.
But, but, Obama SAID that his main goal is to HELP the Middle Class.
This is so unlike Obama to lie!
Jonah Goldberg: Why are Jews liberal? In all its various forms, there is probably no question I get asked more. I have not yet had the pleasure of being edified by Norman Podhoretz’s take, which I’m told is a great read, so let me offer a sliver of my own answer to the question.
The liberalism of American Jews is, I believe, what social scientists would call an over-determined phenomenon. Some of it has to do with broader social trends that Jews are not immune to. The over-educated often drift toward liberalism out of the arrogance that they’re smart enough to have all the answers. The wealthy, contrary to much liberal propaganda, are trending more liberal every day, particularly among “idea worker” types. Secularism is one of the most reliable indices of liberalism and many Jews seem to think that secularism is a religious imperative.
Then there are the various and sundry factors derived from the unique history of the Jews. In Old Europe, Jews were often a special class who looked to the throne for protection from the anti-Semitic rabble and the pogroms (“If only the Czar knew!”). This gives Jews a long heritage of viewing statism as a survival strategy. The big wave of Jews who came to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century brought the thriving fad of socialism with them and they saw an America that seemed to confirm the need for leftwing reform.
Anti-Semitism was long associated with institutions that seemed more Republican and conservative (the reverse is closer to the truth today). Harry Truman was a midwife to Israel’s birth.
And that introduces the Holocaust. The impact of the Holocaust cuts deep and long. But one result has been a tendency among American Jews to think that fighting for a progressive, statist, vision of “social justice” is a moral, even definitional, imperative for Jews today.
There’s also the simple fact that people tend to share the views of their parents. Contrary to the cultural mythology of children rebelling from their parents, the vast majority of people inherit their politics, just like their eye color, from their Mom and Dad. Perhaps, because Jews mix politics and religion so thoroughly, this tendency is even stronger among members of the tribe.
The knot of Jewish liberalism is large, old and has many strands. It will take a long time to untie it.
Jonah Goldberg is a nationally syndicated columnist and the author of Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning.
Also, the secular jew is a liberal first, jewish second. Jewish in name only.
Excellent! Its about Keeping America great, period.
Jews are the first people genetically programmed as Democrats-averitable wonder!
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You speak foolishly. 75% of the Jews vote Democrat and 95% Blacks vote Democrat? If anyone is genetically programmed to vote for DemocRATS, it’s Blacks.
It’s in the Torah to always help the widow, fatherless and poor among them. (Although, it’s also in the Torah that if you follow Torah there will be no poor among you...) So to be responsible for the welfare of the people, that is “obviously” the democrats, because they do the most to help the needy, barf (sorry, gotta go clean up).
Hear Oh Israel!
When you reach rock bottom, you have to bash someone to feel good about yourself.
I used to be a liberal Jew same as others (some were socialists) in my extended family. But I have been conservative now for about 25 years. People can change. I think liberal Jews shut themselves off from conservative opinion that is pro-Israel and pro-America. Some are reflexive liberal voters but read nothing about politics. They have other consuming interests
I wish I could make that claim!
Well, thank you, Taildragger, for your appreciation. I grew up in an intensely Jewish ultraleftist milieu, so this is something I know. I would say that 99% of suburban, middle class and well to do Jews are (unconscious) leftists first and Jews second. If there was an election with Hitler running as a Dem versus George Washington as a Republican, they would vote for Hitler.
Recently I forwarded a piece on the killing of the Jewish children in Toulouse, France (by Greenfield or Steyn) to several Jewish friends - they all wrote back rejecting and repudiating the article - it was truly shocking to me. One of them even wrote something snide about Ann Romney - who had nothing whatsoever to do with the article - in his response to me.
So they don’t even care about their own brethren if the context of the tragedy isn’t liberal (i.e., fundamentalist Christians have done something bad).
Well, thank you, Taildragger, for your appreciation. I grew up in an intensely Jewish ultraleftist milieu, so this is something I know. I would say that 99% of suburban, middle class and well to do Jews are (unconscious) leftists first and Jews second. If there was an election with Hitler running as a Dem versus George Washington as a Republican, they would vote for Hitler.
Recently I forwarded a piece on the killing of the Jewish children in Toulouse, France (by Greenfield or Steyn) to several Jewish friends - they all wrote back rejecting and repudiating the article - it was truly shocking to me. One of them even wrote something snide about Ann Romney - who had nothing whatsoever to do with the article - in his response to me.
So they don’t even care about their own brethren if the context of the tragedy isn’t liberal (i.e., fundamentalist Christians have done something bad).
You said:
Every Israel or Jewish thread on FR ends up with Jew-bashing. It really is disgusting, and blatantly obvious where it comes from.
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You obviously aren’t a frequent Freeper. I have never seen any “Jew-bashing” on FR. Many of us on FR are in fact members of Jewish families. Many folks are simply trying to answer the question that was initially posed. And, it is a good one that quite a few noted Jewish scholars have attempted to address.
FWIW, you will not EVER find any group besides Free Republic that supports Israel more.
BTW, Free Republic is not the place for thin-skinned, easily offended folks devoid of critical thinking.
Because most middle class suburban Jews are not observant or even informed about the torah. They are ethnically Jewish, but their real religion is liberalism. They think this keeps them safe from attacks by the unwashed, illiterate goyim.
That would imply that once critical mass is achieved, where being conservative is the norm in some Jewish community and being socialist makes you an object of scorn and ostracism, that things would tip over rapidly.
I'm not so sure. The love affair with socialism has been going on a long time, and I think there's something there more fundamental than just "wanting to belong". It begs the question of how socialism became the accepted norm in the first place.
Making informed observations about any group’s voting patterns and cultural history and tendencies does not constitute bashing.(And saying it is is using the same leftist tactics that say that criticizing Obama is racist.)
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