I'm sorry, but many of the comments in the provocative and thoughtful diary "Who owns the holocaust?" by litho are wrong in so many ways, it's hard to know what to say about them. I am truly disappointed in the whole I/P debate that is going on here.
jump....
Some examples:
- "...this is really just a variation of the most racist and bigoted arguments one sees about any racial or ethnic class of people on the planet."
- "Jews will never escape the Holocaust because they've now more or less become what they hated in order to protect themselves from phantoms. You can't get beyond institutionalized mass murder, ghettos, and racism, when you're engaged in those activities yourself."
- "You've just abnegated your moral responsibility as a human being."
- "You are a sickening example of "subtle" anti-semitism. How dare you blame me for the policies of the leaders of another country just because I share the same religion as them? (And I really don't, not in their eyes)."
- "I'll tell you what: give us the 6 million back, and the children they never had, and the grandchildren they never had, and the money and property that was stolen from them...And then we can forget all about the Holocaust. Until then, you are an asshole!"
- "Yes, right now, it is Jews (or should I say, Zionists and Israel) that piss me off. Absolutely. So call me an asshole if you want, Zionist."
- "See, it's not at all anti-Semitic to hate Jews. Didn't you get the memo?"
These are just some of the words written in the comments.
There is serious damage being done here, and it needs to stop.
How can progressive Democrats call each other racists? How can a discussion of the consequences of the Holocaust degenerate into personal attacks, intellectual infantilism, and deliberate distortions? This is what we excoriate in wingnuts. Now we are doing it to each other.
This is unacceptable behavior for human beings, never mind progressive activists who presume to judge politicians on their performance in government. If we want the moral authority to question the actions of our elected representatives, we must exist as moral beings ourselves. We cannot be assholes and call other people assholes.
The reason the progressive movement is gaining steam is because of three things:
- Intellect. A rigorous defense of liberal and progressive policies has been developed in think tanks, on college campuses, and in the Democratic Party. The blogging community has been absolutely critical to this process by creating a constant conversation between people with something valuable to say and the people who want to make change happen. This allowed an agenda to emerge. This in turn inspired better candidates to run for office.
- Organization, within the Democratic Party and on the net. This brought organizers, researchers, activists and politicians together in a well directed massive effort to elect better people at all levels of government. This allowed better candidates to compete effectively.
- Fundraising. Again the party and the net were intertwined. This allowed our candidates to win.
What is the common thread? Trust. We learned to work with each other, and to believe in each other. We understood that the stakes were bigger than any one of us. We learned that the best candidates in the world are only as good as the people who support them and work for them.
We have achieved a major victory. Now we are threatening to throw it all away by acting like children at a time when adults are desperately needed.
Are we worthy of our victory? I wonder.....
We will become quickly irrelevant to the society at large if we insist that our compatriots are evil for holding controversial views or views with which we disagree completely. Our job in 2009 is to continue to maintain the momentum that we have helped to create. If we cannot be civil to each other - if we act like trolls - we lose everything.
Please, please, please, do not assume that a person's religion completely defines a person's being. That is wrong.
Please, please, please, do not assume that a person who questions the motivations of a country's government is criticizing any individual person contributing to the thread.
The solution to the I/P conflict is not apparent, despite some of the most brilliant people in the world having given their careers over to attempts to solve it. Whatever the solution is, it will involve improved thinking and better behavior by everyone involved in any good faith efforts to solve the multitude of problems.
Litho's diary is a good faith effort to add substance to the discussion, and the diary includes detailed personal thoughts related to a serious book on the subject. It is worth reading, contemplating and discussing. When the very people who should be involved in this discussion act like 5 year olds, it hurts this community's credibility, and it sets back our goals.
Today is the beginning of a new year. Let's keep our focus and work for peace.