Where are the anti-Semites of Occupy Wall Street?
“Reckless Jew that I am, I muscled my way into the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Lower Manhattan despite multiple reports of virulent and conceivably lethal anti-Semitism. Projecting an unvarnished Semitism, I circled the place, encountering nothing and no one to suggest bigotry — not a sign, not a book and not even the guy who some weeks ago held up a placard with the instruction to Google the phrase “Zionists control Wall St.” Google “nut case” instead…
“Occupy Wall Street has become an event for its own sake, a destination for the aimless. It is something that occurs on countless iPhone cameras, a tourist attraction with the usual vendors, the usual zaftig young women doing the usual arrhythmic dance, somehow missing the beat of many drums. The nostalgic scent of pot wafts occasionally through the air, and I feel so much younger. This, I’m sure, will bring an end to the Vietnam War.”
“You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.
§ This was attributed to Trotsky in an epigraph in Night Soldiers: A Novel (1988) by Alan Furst but it may actually be a revision of a statement earlier attributed to Trotsky: "You may not be interested in the dialectic, but the dialectic is interested in you." Only a very loose translation of "the dialectic" would produce "war."
In a later work, Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations (2000) by Michael Walzer, the author states: War is most often a form of tyranny. It is best described by paraphrasing Trotsky's aphorism about the dialectic: "You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you."
In a later work, Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations (2000) by Michael Walzer, the author states: War is most often a form of tyranny. It is best described by paraphrasing Trotsky's aphorism about the dialectic: "You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you."
By BETSY BLANEY
“AMARILLO, Texas — The last of the United States' most powerful nuclear bombs — a weapon hundreds of times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima — is being disassembled nearly half a century after it was put into service at the height of the Cold War.
The final components of the B53 bomb will be broken down Tuesday at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, the nation's only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility. The completion of the dismantling program is a year ahead of schedule, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, and aligns with President Barack Obama's goal of reducing the number of nuclear weapons.”
Cassi Creek: I’ll let Mr. Cohen debate with his self and others whether or not there is anti-Semitism at the OWS sites. My personal opinion is that there is a continued presence of anti-Semitism in the “New and Improved American New Left” that first became part of the dialectic in 1967, when Israel became a proven military power. Add that to the anti-Semitism resident in the American neo-Nazis, the various militias, and the Christian Identity church/cults; throw in the imaginary world banking conspiracy, and there should be no doubt that Mr. Cohen did not look deeply enough.
Your impression may vary. Google “International Jewish Conspiracy” and you will be amazed at the depth of stupidity and hatred centered on the false belief that Jews are all wealthy and that they control the world’s finances, communications, and media.
Drum Circles are one of those things that one either enjoys or does not. I personally don’t care for them. While I appreciate polyrhythmic music, most drum circles fall far short of producing that sort of music.
Dancing Girls, Cohen is correct in his description of the zaftig young women who can’t sense or keep the beat in a simple 4/4 time signature passage. Add in the cacophony and poly-disrhythmia of a drum circle and the attempt can be amusing. However, watching zaftig young women move in dance or semblance of dance is always enjoyable at one or more levels. Keep the dancing girls.
The dialectic. Imagine Lenon, Stalin, Trotsky, Khrushchev, and the rest of the successful revolutionaries who brought about the 1917 October Revolution speaking one after another for hours, non-stop, leading into a demand for the Marxian dialectic to evolve. Think consensus search with no two people agreeing about the day of the week, month of the year, or anything else. This is futility, a political stance developing out of boredom and fatigue. The last speaker standing didn’t win but who cares.
So if you aren’t interested, don’t worry. I’m not interested in sitting through all that political posturing any more. I no longer think government by consensus is possible. It was never practical.
Keep the memories close at hand but scrap the dialectic!
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