My Jewish friends tell the best Jewish jokes. It is a fundamental truth that when one is secure in their own skin, they can laugh at themselves. I loathe the namby, pamby, sissified culture we live in where weaklings see virtue in being overly sensitive and weak. Definitely a sign of their self-imposed inferiority. Let’s face it, most stereotypes are grounded in truth. Hey, I am a WASP. I admit, we are buttoned up boring people who can’t dance. There’s a reason Don Cornelius never invited George and Barbara Bush to appear on Soul Train.
Yesterday, I took my car into the shop. I love the guys who own the place. They are Coptic Christians who endured great hardship and immigrated here from Egypt. They partner in the used car business with another fellow who came to the US from Israel, but whose people are originally Iranian Jews who came to Israel after the 1948 war when they got kicked out of Iran. The Egyptian fellow teased the Jewish fellow telling him that he owed him reparations for killing Jesus. The Jewish guy agreed, but stated that the Egyptian fella owed him reparations for the Jews bondage in Israel. Had there been any Yankees there, I would have demanded reparations for the damage they did when they illegally invaded Virginia. So there we were a Southern Episcopalian, an Iranian Jew and an Egyptian Christian all having fun, teasing each other and laughing. But for trade and commerce, and pursuing our collective livelihoods, we likely would never have come together. Now we are cherished friends.
Everyone knows that certain peoples who mostly share the same DNA and culture have certain character traits. What has propelled the world forward is the adoption of the best elements of other peoples’ culture and production because these attributes are deemed worthy and valuable. This is a natural process and is the way civilizations improve. This assimilation into a dominant culture is mostly done through trade, free markets and the unfettered exchange of ideas. We see what we like and what works and we adopt it. English is the lingua franca of the world, and it is precisely because of the dominance of Anglo-American culture. It has delivered on creating unimaginable wealth and individual liberties. The woke demonize this cultural dominance, but my two Middle Eastern friends and I embrace it.
I just got back from a trip to the Holy Land, and we had a lively discussion about Israel. Mr. B, the Egyptian mentioned that his grandfather was a fruit merchant who did business in Haifa before Israel became a nation and always mentioned to him that while the Arabs were lounging around, the Jews were working and being industrious. Certainly, an honest observation. Mr. S, the Iranian Jew brought up the Jews historic focus on education and schooling as the major component to their culture.
How can anybody in their right minds not acknowledge the gifts the Jews have given civilization? A lot of people hate Tom Brady because he is rich, has (or had) a hot wife and is the Greatest Of All Time. I have never understood this. My boyhood idol was Johnny Unitas. I wish he was the greatest of all times, but he isn’t, Tom Brady is. I will always love Johnny Unitas, but that doesn’t mean I have to hate TB for his success. I greatly admire him. Jealousy and hatred are the most destructive elements of human nature, and are at the root of the most pernicious ideologies.
I get more than a little tired hearing the Left dump all over Israel. Hell, I’m a Zionist, I’m all in for the Jews. Israel is an amazing country, and practically all the antisemitic news one hears about Israel is grounded in societal happiness’s greatest nemesis: hatred and jealousy. Usually from the same vacuous sloths who’d rather bitch and be victims than get off their ass and do something constructive. So let me defend Israel and the Jewish people.
The Jews gave us the 10 Commandments, that’s a pretty big deal. They are also responsible for 39 remarkably honest books, all over 2,000 years old, teaching us lessons that are the bedrock of our moral consciousness. Most of them tell us stories about people who really screwed the pooch and how not to make the same mistakes. The greatest philosopher and teacher of all times was a Jew. Wherever there is a stained-glass window, you will likely find a picture of him.
There never was or has been a Palestinian state, but there was a Jewish state dating back more than 3,000 years. Jews can be a bit pesky and argumentative, so the Romans told most of the Larry David type Jews to take a hike in the First Century. A Jewish diaspora followed. A few non-combative and cooperative ones (think Goldie Hawn) were allowed to stay, and there has always been a Jewish presence in what is now Israel. The expelled Jews ended up all over the world and although representing only a tiny portion of the population of their new countries they excelled wherever they went. 1,800 years after getting kicked out of their homeland they started trickling back. They didn’t just take the land, these settlers bought their property from existing land owners. The land was barren and unforgiving, but they were smart and worked hard and figured out how to make it productive. So much so, Arabs began migrating there to take advantage of the opportunities the Jews created. The United Nations voted to create a Jewish state and an Arab state in November of 1947. The Jews agreed, but the Arabs didn’t. On May 14, 1948 the state of Israel declared independence, and the very next day all the neighboring Arab states invaded Israel. Massively outnumbered, the Jews won the war. During the war, Arab leaders told the Arab residents living in Israel to leave. Many did, many also got pushed out. Why wouldn’t the Jews push out those who wanted to annihilate them and who proclaimed Israel had no right to exist? Because of their failed efforts and raw naked aggression, there were 700,000 Arab refuges. Their Arab sponsors, who pretend to care about their fellow Arabs, would not take these refugees into their own countries despite being 100 times the size of Israel. About this time, Arab neighbors expelled roughly 850,000 Jews and Israel took in all who wanted to come. Amazingly many Arabs, i.e. Muslims did not want to leave Israel. They stayed and were given full citizenship rights and today they make up 20% of Israel’s population. In 1967, Arab countries tried to wipe Israel off the map again, but were defeated in 6 days. Israel took the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank from Jordan and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. Sorry fellas, but when you try and kill everybody in another country and lose, you don’t get to keep the land where you launched your attacks. Israel was attacked again in 1973. To prove they merely want peace in the region, Israel gave the Sinai back to Egypt. In an effort to foster peace, Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005. I would have advised against it, but Ariel Sharon didn’t ask for my opinion. What happened? Hamas took over and subsequently fired thousands of rockets into Israel and has sponsored hundreds of terror attacks. Iran sponsors Hamas because it hates Jews and openly states Israel should be annihilated. Hezbollah fires missiles into Israel from Lebanon. They too sponsor terrorist attacks. The PLO is utterly corrupt and is toothless to stop Palestinian terrorists from attacking Israel and killing Jews.
The teeny tiny nation of Israel has one of the 10 most powerful militaries in the world, and one of the most technologically sophisticated. It could wipe out its adversaries in a nano-second, but it doesn’t. Why? Because the Jews have an ingrained moral code that few other cultures have. For example, Syria’s Assad has killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of his own countrymen, many of whom are children. Israel’s world class hospitals have mobilized to treat these people for free. Israel delivers humanitarian aid all over the world, including to its adversaries.
Despite its very existence being under a constant threat of annihilation, what is Israel’s civil and cultural life like? Remarkable is the answer. It has some of the best universities and scholars in the world. It is the only democracy in the Middle East. It is a noisy, multi-cultural melting pot. Every kind of Jew of every kind of Jewish religious sect lives there along with Muslims, Christians and Druze. Yet, despite its religious founding, it is surprisingly secular. When people can pursue their happiness through commerce, religious differences wane in importance. Israel is an amazing commercial enterprise. There is a dearth of buildable land. When one flies into Tel Aviv, there are high rise buildings as far as the eye can see. With only 9.4 million people, Israel has more startup companies than the UK, Japan, India or China. Its technology sector is truly breathtaking, chips, aerospace, telecommunications, AI, software development, robotics and more. It is a leader in health care and medicine. Most international “Big Techs” have research and development operations in Israel due to its university system and smart people. It has a thriving venture capital industry. And let’s not forget a thriving and dynamic arts, culture and literary scene.
Everything Israel does, it does way out of proportion to its size. Why is this? Because some cultures are better than others! Our woke political, academic and media culture tells us that successful cultures are bad, and it is the fault of successful cultures that dystopian cultures are dystopian. We are supposed to disbelieve what we clearly see with our own eyes. Dystopian cultures will only be lifted out of the mire of despair, hatred and poverty by assimilating into cultures that work. That’s the way the world has always operated. Buying into the woke narrative only ensures that they will continue to suck. Moreover, it is the wealth generated from successful cultures that gives failing cultures the opportunity to change. All growth stems from the supply of capital which of course is generated through voluntary transactions of commerce; people pursuing happiness. When living standards are raised due to investment and increased commercial activities, the formerly poor and discontented adopt the values and mores of the culture that has given them these opportunities. Hatred subsides and the pursuit of happiness soars.
Enough of Kumbaya nonsense. Certain groups succeed because of their cultures and others fail due to theirs. It’s that simple and deep down, even woke idiots know this to be true.
