Blog/February 2020/Feb 28th
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| February 28th | Comments or questions? Click here! |
This week was average, I’d say; nothing exciting to write about on a personal level. We all just worked hard all week, as usual.
PSA: it’s important to get your inwards checked-out. This Sunday, Esther underwent a colonoscopy because her GI doctor wanted her re-examined after the previous one three years ago. This time, he gave her a green light for the next five years, B”H! My next appt is for next year. If you get checked-out in a timely manner, you can prevent serious issues. Just do it!
On Monday we Israelis will vote once again. According to the most recent polls, not much has changed — although it looks like Likud is now in the lead. Of course, polls are unreliable. People might just stay home out of ennui, or because they’re afraid of getting sick from coronavirus. Or they might be motivated to try to ensure their “team” gets the upper-hand, or that the “opposition” fails to rise. We’ll know by next week-end whether or not anything is different from the last round of fiascos. Stay tuned and Vote for Pedro!
I’ve told you before that I troll “Twitter” so you don’t have to. Most of the time, people there are firmly entrenched in their bubbles, and are uninterested and unwilling to engage in meaningful conversations (more on that in a minute). From time to time, though, one comes across interesting people. One such is my friend Aboud, a former Syrian refugee now residing in Canada. He was interviewed in a podcast, and among other things talks about how a Syrian who was raised to think of Israelis as “the enemy”, came to think very differently. I encourage you to listen to the interview, it’s well worth it. Finding people like Aboud, makes up for all the dreck I wade through on Twitter.
“Intellectual bubbles” is a phenomenon which has always existed, but modern social-media has made it much worse and more harmful. Whereas before someone who (say) believed the Earth is flat as a pancake despite millennia of evidence would have been considered a harmless crank, today that person has “reach”. He or she can (and does) create a much larger bubble of like-minded people. Of course, “Flat Earthers” are mostly harmless; Socialists are not.
I’ve been trying in vain to have a meaningful conversation with folks on the very Left end of the political spectrum. I want to understand how they think, because I’ve been hopeful there’s something more to their reasoning than just “classist” envy, or sheer tribalism, or perhaps post-modernist nihilism. But so far, I’ve been rebuffed repeatedly. Most frequently, I get attacked ad-hominem: childish name-calling (“OK, Boomer” and the like). Next most frequently, people give completely non-serious and/or non-sequitur arguments (“You have universal health care in Israel!”). But so far, I’ve yet to engage anyone willing to have a mature discussion. I find that incredibly saddening, because if we can’t even discuss matters reasonably, what hope do we have to maintain a civil society?
Now that Bernie Sanders appears to be the front-runner Democrat candidate for the US presidency, it’s important to discuss his policies and positions. The Sandernistas are unable to have any such discussion, which is a worry. Here’s a CNN report on how the (low-ball) estimate of $50 trillion for all of BS’s plans will be paid for. But he himself admits he doesn’t know how much his plans will cost; and less partisan estimates put the cost closer to $100T. Again: who pays, and how, and how much, and for how long?
Whenever I mention that Socialist systems have been responsible for some 100 million deaths in the last century, the response is generally, “that wasn’t real Socialism!”, or “Communism isn’t Socialism”, or “OK, Boomer!”, or “you’re so dumb!”. Really, is that the best you can do? I’m a lot of things, but “dumb” isn’t one of them. I’m also not actually a “boomer”, having been born a bit too late…
As far as my personal assessment of Sanders’ fitness for office, I think his close association with actual antisemites, his continuing full-throated and naïve support for brutal dictatorships, and his “problematic” positions with respect to Israel all make me conclude a Sanders presidency would be a disaster for Jews, for Israel, and for America. So prove me wrong: I’m more than willing to listen and have a reasonable discussion.
Anyway: we’re looking forward to a calm shabbat; the calm before the storm, so to speak. We hope to gain strength for the upcoming week. My father-in-law is going to be visiting us starting the day after the Third Round of Elections; I hope he’s ready for all the turmoil, and that Israel doesn’t decide to ban flights from Argentina just now!
We only had one day of serious rain here this week; winter’s mostly over for us now. We might have a bit of rain on shabbat, but it will presumably become warmer than average this coming week. So mi suegro will be able to enjoy nice weather!
This shabbat we’ll have:
homemade ḥalla,
meatloaf,
crispy potatoes,
lentil soup,
various salatim,
and brownies.
Until next time,
shabbat shalom!
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