The New Republic

I'm pretty sure you could find grounds to cut off trade with just about every country in the world. Let's just go back to the times when nobody traded with anyone. That's the only reasonable foreign policy.

- rozenson

September 14, 2009 at 4:52pm

Could someone please explain to me why I shouldn't view Naomi Klein as the quintessentially modern self-hating Jew, a 21st Century edition of Rosa Luxemburg? Hershel Ginsburg Efrata / Jerusalem

- ginzy

September 14, 2009 at 5:20pm

Could someone please explain to me why I shouldn't view Naomi Klein as the quintessentially modern self-hating Jew, a 21st Century edition of Rosa Luxemburg? Hershel Ginsburg george: I'll take a stab at it: Because no explanation that did not already confirm what you now believe about Klein would stand a snowball's chance in hell of being effective. Or maybe not? Okay, try this: 1] delineate in some detail what being a "self-hating Jew" is. 2] note how close or how far this description comes from your own moral and politcal values 3] demonstrate how your assessment of a "self-hating Jew" and your values are not mere personal prejudices but reflect the sort of conclusions any rational man or woman would come to if given all the facts In a comment on Damon Linker's post regarding Norman Podhoretz's book, "Why Are Jews Liberals?" I made the following observation: Instead of trying to peel back layers of the existential onion that is the ultimate mystery of human identity...instead of ever disassembling, assembling and reassembling all of the unique, personal, individual experiences and relationships that had nudged [or outright shoved] them into embracing one set of values rather than another another...many who ponder what "being a Jew" means start at the shallowest end of the identity pool instead. Norman Podhoretz wasn't born a Jew in a sense that he was destined to BE a Jew....destined to think, feel and behave in a particular way because this is what being a Jew MEANS. No, he was raised in a particular family, in a particular community that came of age at a particular historical and cultural juncture. He had particular experiences and relationships. Had he been raised by a very different family, in a very different community at a very different historical and cultural juncture...or had very different experiences and relationships...would he be the man he is today, sharing the same moral and political values, subscribing to the same sense of what it means to "be a Jew"? And part and parcel to this, of course, we must then ask: IS there a way to know essentially what BEING A JEW MEANS? The Norman Podhoretzes of the world [of all moral, political and religious inclinations] come to an existential juncture [that others simply do not] where he has convinced himself that questions like this can be answered with a fierce certainty. Not only that, but with a certainty such that, if you can answer them, you have than answered in turn what one must think, believe and do as a true Jew. Or as a true Muslim, Hindu, Humanist, Marxist, Anarchist, Fascist. And on and on and on down the line until all the True Believers are present and accounted for. Now, this is also applicable to Naomi Klein and yourself, is it not? george walton

- iambiguous

September 14, 2009 at 5:57pm

Ginzy: Naomi Klein is a piece of work and nobody can explain to you what you requested. Jonathan Chait wrote one of the most devastating reviews that I have ever read of her book The Shock Doctrine in the July 30, 2008 edition of TNR.

- liberal reformer

September 14, 2009 at 6:08pm

lib .....Jonathan Chait wrote one of the most devastating reviews that I have ever read of her book The Shock Doctrine in the July 30, 2008 edition of TNR. george: Maybe Chait is just a "self-hating liberal journalist". You know, in the same manner in which Klein is a "self-hating shock capitalist". Me, I'm a "self-hating Judeo-Christian God". gw

- iambiguous

September 14, 2009 at 6:17pm

I think there's a good case to be made for cutting off trade with the United States. I mean, why encourage us?

- ironyroad

September 14, 2009 at 8:16pm

Well assuming Klein is true to her principles (and of course **ALL** true "progressives" are always true to her principles) she should stop using her computer if it uses a pentium chip (especially the Centrino & Core series), swear off of generic drugs, use floppies instead of disk-on-keys, and if her doc recomends the PillCam to check out something suspicious in her small (and now big) intestine, she should insist instead on exploratory surgery. And if Gd forbid she comes down with MS, no Copaxone for her. And she may have to abjure the use of her cell phone. After she falls in line with this, we can give her her next assignment. BTW Klein nicely personifies Orwell's pithy pronouncement on "progressives" how all pigs are equal but some pigs are more equal than others. One of Klein's recent books (I forgot which) was just translated into Hebrew and she popped in to Israel during the summer to take part in the launch and promote the book. She even was interviewed on Israeli radio as part of the promotional activities. So Israel should be boycotted but collecting royalties on the translation of one's book doesn't count. Neither does staying in a luxury hotel during the promotional segment of the tour. True, she maintained her "progressive" bona fides by taking part in one of the weekly demonstrations against the security fence near Na'alin, or the other village (the name slipped my mind) -- demand to take part in the demonstrations has expanded as it has become the hot "progressive" tourist attraction to visit the Palestinian villages near the fence in the Na'alin area, demonstrate against the Israeli border police and soldiers stationed in the area (my son has been there for almost 6 months now), stay with a real Palestinian family, feel self righteous and remain ignorant or oblivious of history. The economy of the two villages is booming even more than the rest of the fast growing "West Bank" economy. And if the tourists stay up late (demonstrating against those evil Israeli soldiers can be quite exhausting) and are lucky, they may even see some Pallywood actors stage the injury (or killing) and evacuation of a Palestinian by Israeli soldiers, a performance that ends up on YouTube. If they are really lucky and well connected, they may even get to participate as an extra. Lastly, and in line with the calendar - a כתיבה וחתימה טובה. May you all be inscribed for a good year. Hershel Ginsburg Efrata / Jerusalem

- ginzy

September 15, 2009 at 4:18am