A'Had Haam Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg, Zionism & the Holocaust

My Friend William Boyle shared on Facebook this comment and associated article on Ahad Ha'am (Hebrew: אחד העם‎, lit. one of the people, Genesis 26:10):

Ahad Ha'am (Hebrew: אחד העם‎, lit. one of the people, Genesis 26:10)
(18 August 1856 – 2 January 1927)

"An act of folly that turns out well is still an act of folly."
--Ancient Yiddish proverb.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahad_Ha%27am

Wikipedia notes that:

Ahad "was a Hebrew essayist, and one of the foremost pre-state Zionist thinkers. He is known as the founder of cultural Zionism. With his secular vision of a Jewish "spiritual center" in Israel, he confronted Theodor Herzl. Unlike Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, Ha'am strived for "a Jewish state and not merely a state of Jews" [Wikipedia article]

Jews wanted a state after what happened in France to Dreyfuss and to Jews living in France as the RW there used the Franco Prussian War to justify a coup. The French Military Officers were pro-German and had imbibed racist ideas from the Brits that "Germans" were a superior race. And agents of the Prussians not only betrayed the French from within but put the blame on an obscure Jewish Officer named Dreyfus. They then used the trial to stoke up anti-semitism. It was that that led to the Zionist movement and Jews might have picked some place in the USA but most already had ties with Palestine and wanted to go back there to their ancestral home. The various leaders of the new Zionist organizations had different ideas of what Zionism was about. Some wanted Jews to form mini-states in countries like Argentina or USA, but others like Ahad focused on Israel from the beginning.

"Ginsberg was born in Skvyra near Kiev in Imperial Russia, to pious well-to-do Hasidic parents. As early as eight years old, he began to secretly teach himself to read Russian. His father, Isaiah, sent him to heder until the age of 12. When Isaiah became the administrator of a large estate in a village in the Kiev district, he moved the family there and took private tutors for his son, who excelled at his studies. Ginsberg was critical of the dogmatic nature of Orthodox Judaism but remained loyal to his cultural heritage, and especially the ethical ideals of Judaism"

The issue was that Europeans, Arabs and other ethnicities had visions of Nationalism that weren't going to accept Israel as a "State of Jews". If that had been possible than big settlements like Moiseville in Argentina (Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas -- Gerchenov) or in the USA would have been more feasible, or even possible in Russia where there were millions of Jews living on either side of the borders between Russia and what had been Poland. Ha'am was a "Russian Jew, born on the Russian side of that border (like my late Wife's father):

Even so he was a Zionist before the Dreyfus Affair:

"After unsuccessfully attempting to study in Vienna and Germany, he returned in his early thirties to Odessa where he was influenced by Leon Pinsker, a leader of the Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) movement. Hovevei Zion began as independent study circles in the late 19th century, and formed a philanthropic confederation called Hibbat Zion (love for Zion). Their practical aim was settlement of Jews in Palestine, and they produced the settlements of the first Aliyah (immigration wave). The Zionist settlement program was beset by practical difficulties, and many settlements failed or were failing." [Wikipedia article]

I've met folks who had been in Israel since before the first Aliyah. Jews, especially orthodox, hasidic or Esoteric (Donmei or followers of Shabbetai Tsvi) had been emigrating to "The land of Israel" (Eretz Israel) as Palestine was known in Hebrew/Aramaic, for centuries. Many went to Safed in what is now the West Bank. Others would go to Jerusalem. The Turks restricted numbers so many Jews would wind up in ghettos or towns in cities scattered around what is now Israel, Palestine and Jordan. They often struggled in their new homes. And some would return to "Galut" (exile) in frustration, or wind up in other places. Most of these people were not interested in politics. And

"Unlike Pinsker, Ginsberg did not believe in political Zionism, which he fought, 'with a vehemence and austerity which embittered that whole period'. Instead, from his very first article, he hailed the spiritual value of the Hebrew renaissance within the Zionist movement. To counter the debilitating fragmention for the Jewish folk-soul of life throughout the diaspora, the idea of assuring unity through an ingathering of Jews into Palestine was not an answer. That is, kibbutz galuyoth was a messianic ideal rather than a feasible contemporary project. The real answer lay in achieving a spiritual centre, or 'central domicile', within Palestine, that of Eretz Israel, which would form an exemplary model for the dispersed world of Jewry in exile to imitate, a spiritual focus for the circumferential world of the Jewish diaspora. He split from the Zionist movement after the First Zionist Congress, because he felt that Theodor Herzl's program was impractical." [Wikipedia article]

"Lo ze haderekh" (This is not the way)

For the religious Jew the purpose of return to Zion is partly to eventually return the "Shekhina" or spirit of God back to Israel where it would heal both Israel and itself. In Kaballist literature "Galut" is a spiritual state as well as a literal state. God and the Jew are both in exile. And as long as God is in exile, the entire of humanity is also in spiritual exile. Thus returning the spirit of God "Shekhina" to Israel is a spiritual journey. And as he noted one, it would be an arduous one unless Jews were willing to work harder and would reform a kind of "inward zionism" "Hibat Zion":

"He wrote that the Land of Israel will not be capable of absorbing all of the Jewish Diaspora, not even a majority of them. Ahad Ha'am also argued that establishing a "national home" in Zion will not solve the "Jewish problem"; furthermore, the physical conditions in Eretz Yisrael will discourage Aliyah, and thus Hibat Zion must educate and strengthen the Zionist values among the Jewish people enough that they will want to settle the land despite the great difficulties. The ideas in this article became the platform for Bnai Moshe (sons of Moses), a group he founded that year. B'nai Moshe, active until 1897, worked to improve Hebrew education, build up a wider audience for Hebrew literature, and assist the Jewish settlements."

But of course, Jews in Europe didn't really have the time and space to learn how to dig stoney fields to plant or learn to endure the harsh conditions of this land alongside the great deserts of North Africa and Arabia. When Hannah Arendt centered her "Origins of Totalitarianism" on a study of the Dreyfus affair and it's impact on the escalation of anti-semitism in Europe. Prior to the Dreyfus affair most Jewish folks had hope that they could assimilate into French and other European Countries and remain Jewish, the way we've hoped to do in the United States.

Europeans & Arabs Choose vicious Nationalism over Civitas

But the Dreyfus affair showed that in the European mind there was a tug of war between nationalism as "Volk"/Folk/tribe and nationalism as citizenship in a particular location and that for many Europeans citizenship was a pipe dream. Seeing the same kinds of nationalism and tribalism/chauvinism rise in other countries convinced about a third of Jews that Zionism as a country of their own was the only viable option for survival. This has proved true at least for European Jews. Though they have been allowed to live in the Americas, their citizenship has always had a provisional character even for FDR and until Truman both recognized Israel and relaxed Wilsonian/FDR anti-semitic restrictions on Jewish immigration. Prior to 1947 emigrating to Israel, legally or illegally was the only survival option for many Jews and that was closed BY FORCE by the British even as they fought off Rommel and Hitler.

So Hibat Zion proved to be a journey by fire for those who survived the ministrations of Hitler.

Europe is too mixed, has too many ethnicities to sanely be both nationalistic on a tribal basis and embrace the concept of civitas (the roots of our separation of Church and State, birth citizenship etc....) They should have embraced the power of civitas and civilizations and Europeans, including Jews, focus on spiritual renaissance and not start killing each other. A'Had Haam died in Tel Aviv with part of his vision in operation, but before the horrors of WWII and the Nazis.

Demanding Infrastructure spending.

Bernie Sanders has 12 points for his plank. They are (I've added priority marks, High=H, M=Medium, L=Low):

1. Rebuilding Our Roads H
2. Reversing Climate Change M
3. Creating Jobs M
4. Protecting Unions M
5. Raising the Wage M
6. Pay Equity M
7. Making Trade Work for Workers M
8. Cutting College Costs M
9. Breaking Up Big Banks M
10. Bringing Health Care to All M
11. Ending Poverty M
12. Stopping Tax Dodging Corporations M

I think that his list makes a good starting point for some concrete demands. The difference between a plank and a demand is that a plank is usually general and nobody cares if one makes it in a particular year. A set of demands is something that is specific and meeting it can be measured. What is needed now are demands that all Democrats can agree on and that we can make part of the Democratic plank and hold our candidates to pursuing. For that reason they have to be converted to numbers.

A few months ago, I remember, I think it was Obama, floated the following ideas covering point 1. He was immediately shot down, not only by Cons but by our own party. Yet this is and should be the first demand of Democrats over the next 20 years.

Demand Highway and Infrastructure Repair

We must repair our infrastructure. This is a critical capability that has to be fixed. According to the Society of Engineers We must spend 3.6 Trillion dollars by 2020 to fix our infrastruture to the point where it is minimally servicable. [http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/] http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/documents/2013-Report-Card.pdf addressed needs that haven't been met. This is a security issue more important than Al Qaeda or ISIS as they have nothing to attack if we let our bridges collapse from neglect.

Infrastructure Demands:

Demand 1: Must have 50 billion per year and 250 billion total for infrastucture investment over next 5 years.

Demand 2: Must create an Infrastructure Finance Authority to Fund and regulate Infrastructure projects

Demand 3: Must make Membership in that Finance Authority mandatory to give States access to match funds with private activity bonds.

Demand 4: Must create a Infrastructure Trust fund to manage SuperFund monies and other investments in cooperation with EPA and State Branch authorities.

Demand 5: Must make all existing Infrastructure Authorities and states automatic members of the Infrastructure Finance Authority unless they opt out. They shall have representation in a Requirements Board and oversight body on legislative & Budget matters and on a Governors Board for executive matters.

We should take money out of DoD and put it into these projects. DoD spends too much money, wastes too much money and risks our country in the process by stirring up hatred and insurrection around the world while serving local Caliph wannabes and Kings. The USA Cannot afford to be an empire. It will destroy our Republic.

 

Infrastructure investment Demand details:

 

Component 1; Dams: 21 billion Total needed, 4.2 billion per year over 5 years needed.

Component 2: Water Safety requires a minimum of 1.25 billion per year total of 7.5 billion $ over 5 years for Water Infrastructure:

Component 3: We must Reinvigorate State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) program under the Safe Drinking Water Act

Component 5: Eliminate the state cap on private activity bonds for infrastructure projects allowing states to match Federal spending. And put Federal matching activity bonds under control of the Federal Infrastructure Finance Authority or local subdivisions of the Authority.

Component 6: Infrastructure Finance Authority:

Create a Infrastructure Finance Innovations Authority (IFIA), essentially an infrastructure Bank

This would access funds from the U.S. Treasury at Treasury rates and use those funds to support loans and other credit mechanisms for water and other Infrastructure projects. The loans would be repaid to the Authority and then to the U.S. Treasury with interest

Component 7: Infrastructure Trust Fund:

Establish a federal Infrastructure Trust Fund to finance shortfalls in water and other infrastructure and ultimately make these programs self funding. Can also be used to manage the Environmental Superfund.

This is needed because "At the dawn of the 21st century, much of our drinking water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life. There are an estimated 240,000 water main breaks per year in the United States. Assuming every pipe would need to be replaced (or at the minimum relined), the cost over the coming decades could reach more than $1 trillion, according to the American Water Works Association (AWWA).

Component 8: 500 Million one time outlay to Trust Fund to replenish Superfund:

We must replenish the Superfund Trust Fund by a minimum of 500 Million Dollars to deal with Hazardous Waste:

Annual funding for Superfund site cleanup is estimated to be as much as $500 million short of what is needed, and 1,280 sites remain on the National Priorities List with an unknown number of potential sites yet to be identified. More than 400,000 brownfields sites await cleanup and redevelopment.

Component 9: Levies: 20 Billion per year (100 Billion total) to repair and improve levies

Public safety remains at risk from these aging structures, and the cost to repair or rehabilitate these levees is roughly estimated to be $100 billion by the National Committee on Levee Safety. However, the return on investment is clear – as levees helped in the prevention of more than $141 billion in flood damages in 2011.[http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/documents/2013-Report-Card.pdf]

Component 10: Bridges 20.5 billion$ annually.

Component 11: Remaining infrastructure, ports, rails, waterways, and other infrastructure all need investment too.

But these investments can be self funding and the role of the Federal Government can and should be to provide the banking and investment needs of States, Counties, Cities and Towns, all of which can be funded through an infrastructure Finance Authority and through cooperation across the country.

Little Coffins

Oh, don't make me cry again my friend.

I see a child who has reached the end,

and what can I say?

My tears won't give him life,

or take the pain away.

Or make the tiny coffin any lighter.

Christopher H. Holte

Hearing the story of a child who died of Wilm's Tumor (a kidney cancer).

That is not who I am?

 

This is not who I am,

But I did it.

As surely as if I tied those arms,

or poured the water.

 

That is not who I am,

but while I stood around,

children were raped in front of me,

and people were ground down into concrete.

 

And I said nothing while they did it.

I looked in guilty perversion,

And I defended the perverts

when I should have condemned them.

 

That is not who I am.

Or is it?

Christopher H. Holte, 12/11/2014 in reaction to  Senate Torture Report & reactions

Building A Democratic party that can "be all it can be"

Lakoff identifies what is wrong

If we want our party to "be all that it can be" -- we need to recognize that party officers do not always have the same interest as party members. The Democratic party doesn't belong to the officials, if it is to be a democratic institution it has to belong to US.

To move the conversation forward we have to start with the recognition that our own leadership has been failing us. They've been doing so for some very understandable reasons. Some of this is articulated in an article by George Lakoff that someone shared with me last night/this morning, but that I've noticed myself. He at least puts it into a list of bullet points.[http://georgelakoff.com/2014/11/13/democratic-strategies-lost-big-heres-why-and-how-to-fix-it/]

Brain Pickings "Baloney Detector"

This is like an extended "favorite". The website Brain Pickings, which lists 9 Techniques for discovering and fighting "Baloney". Suggest people read their blog. But for my own memory I'll list them as 10 techniques:

1. Testable: Confirm Facts, make sure verifiable assertion (testable)
2. Validate POV: Debate Evidence from Multiple Points of View (POV)
3. Discount Arg from Authority: Ensure Authority based on Facts & Experience. Discount arguments from authority.
4. Test alternatives: Spin and Test multiple hypotheses, Examine all possible arguments and use 1 & 2 to eliminate bogus ones.
5. Watch Personal Bias: Do not attach to hypothesis, even one's own or one's null hypothesis. Compare alternatives.
6. Validate all links in a chained argument: To be an integral hypothesis all links must be validated.
7. Validate Premises (this was listed under above). Faulty arguments usually based on faulty premises.
8. Falsfiable: Ask if the hypothesis is falsifiable. If it's not it's out of scope for practical application.
9. Occams Razor. If you have more than one hypothesis that fits facts, simpler and easier one probably true.
10. Duplicatable? Practical? Is the hypothesis in the scope of practicality? Theories about origins of the Universe are fun, but not practical. Can it be duplicated? Can it be tested?

From: http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/03/baloney-detection-kit-carl-sagan/?utm_content=bufferc2b4d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

More at: http://www.brainpickings.org/

The Wasteland

 

We were wandering in a world

Where the sun won't shine and the dark seems interminable

And shadows flit across the land

we are living in a wasteland.

and I'm trying to understand.

Is that illusion or is it really the end?

 

The spell was on me, all seemed so dark.

Dark things close to me seemed insidious and stark

While all that was far seemed vague and dusty

And this world seemed ill, sick and musty.

Pungent with the smell of spreading death.

Soft and spongy, spreading dark spores all around.

Dark and discordant, offkey sounds.

And all I could see was darkness all around.

 

But then I took deep breaths and disciplined my mind.

And I focused on the first good thing I could find.

 

I looked at the blighted wasteland.

and I sought a struggling flower.

 

I looked in my heart

and I found a struggling flower.

I planted a seed.

I watered it.

I smiled at it.

I talked to it.

and I told it wonderful things.

I protected it from the zombies all around.

 

And it grew.

From a flower a garden came too.

And from the garden came people.

And we nurtured trees,

...and removed disease

and healed the sick.

and we held down the slick

so they couldn't slither away

And the blighted land was transformed.

Starting in my mind.

and complete when we said "we"

 

Christopher H. Holte