In Search of Antisemitism
Fifty years ago, the word “antisemitism” did not often turn up in everyday discourse and when it did it lacked the punch of today. The person who thought poorly of Jews was like the guy who was into conspiracy theories. Only in the upper reaches of society was it a fearsome accusation. That changed and now it is the worst thing that can happen to someone with a professional career.
The funny thing about the term and the meaning behind it is that it now has a definition that only professional anti-antisemites can explain. Fifty years ago, an antisemite was someone who hated Jews. Today, it is complicated. The determination as to whether someone is an antisemite requires a team of experts who have not only studied the man’s life but have also been trained in anti-antisemitism.
Eric Hoffer noted that mass movements in America become a religion, a corporation, or a racket, but in reality, they often become all three. You see it here. For some, anti-antisemitism is a way of life, like a religion. For others, it has become a lucrative career that provides them with regular appearances on television. For most now, it is a racket that lets them earn more than their talents warrant.
Ironically, this is only possible because America has no history of antisemitism and never possessed a critical mass of people who were hostile to Jews. The great wave of immigration in the 19th century that brought Jews to America delivered Jewish people into a land that was largely indifferent to them. Like the rest of the migrants, they had a rough go of it at first, but otherwise they encountered no opposition.
This is what makes the present moment interesting. Just as America is becoming something like medieval Spain in terms of demographics, we are seeing the first flickers of hostility to Jews. They are at the forefront of the open borders policies that have wrecked American demographics, thus creating conditions for the sort of tribalism from which most stereotypes about Jews arose.
That is the show this week. It is mostly an exploration of the anti-antisemitism world in search of a definition for it. Sprinkled in is the usual commentary about the weird things one finds when he goes down this rabbit hole. Unlike the anti-racism rackets, the anti-antisemitism rackets are far more complicated and have a logic to them that explains both anti-antisemitism and antisemitism.
It also explains why it must always bee looking for or producing antisemites that paly the familiar role of Old Scratch. One the one hand, the industry is ready accuse anyone of being an antisemite. On the other hand, it does produce people who think they are in a great struggle with the Jews. Negative identities, which is anti-antisemitism, must always preserve that which it claims to oppose.
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This Week’s Show
Contents
- Intro
- Buckley
- Defining Antisemitism
- The Main Issues
- America
- Full Circle
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