Your husband actually recapitulated an argument in the Talmud by thinking "that one of the ways Jews are 'chosen' is that they are 'chosen' to need the guidance (and assistance) of G-d and wisdom traditions more than other people." From https://www.sefaria.org/Beitzah.25b.7?lang=bi:
"For what reason was the Torah given to the Jewish people? It is because they are impudent, and Torah study will weaken and humble them. . . . Based on their nature and character, these people, the Jews, are fit to be given a fiery law, a hard and scorching faith. Some say a different version of this baraita: The ways and nature of these people, the Jews, are like fire, as, were it not for the fact that the Torah was given to the Jewish people, whose study and observance restrains them, no nation or tongue could withstand them."
In secular terms, perhaps one could say that Jews require intellectual and moral rigor. If we abandon our own traditions, we may look for (or try to impose) a "hard and scorching faith" elsewhere.
Hahaha yes, my husband didn't study the Talmud so I guess he needed a little spiritual help to get him there! He was secular, and is now getting much more into the religious and traditional aspects of his Jewish identity. We're (slowly) learning together. Mushroom downloads tend to be of information that's been long-known, but not known to you.
This column really nails what a lot of people, myself included, have been feeling. Maybe being politically homeless isn't such a bad thing. It's the chance to improvise and improve on old ways of thinking about politics. According to some astrologers, we're in the midst of a new astrological configuration where old ways of doing things are dissolving, opening the door to better solutions: https://youtu.be/lSqlVSb3mjE?si=rDs79qMFed79hrfg
I'm listening to this now. It does feel like there's a cosmic shift of sorts. An awakening. Since 2020, it's seemed to me like there's a divide, with some people stuck in old ways of thinking and many others experiencing a shift in consciousness.
You're still a phenotypic leftist, even though you're not a political leftist anymore. Meaning, you are humble, curious, care more about kindness and justice than respect for authority, group loyalty and rigid boundaries (or being put in a box). Am I right?
Also I have a handful of hippie-ish folk-musician second cousins, my mom's half-brother definitely leans left (also a successful musician), and one of my first cousins was a big-time Bernie Bro. The romantic poet-blood runs strong.
There might actually be a genetic component to one's "phenotypic" right/left spectrum, though early childhood development (and one's cultures of origin) probably also plays a role.
I think so? It's probably at least a little genetic / in my blood. My Italian great-uncle (biological) told me I'm descended from socialist-y Calabrians, and on my dad's side I'm a great-great-great-something niece of the Scottish poet Robbie Burns, who was from a poor family and had a bit of a radical edge (in addition to being a giant slut). Also, I'm the product of people falling in love and making babies outside of their religion/ethnicity/class. But I swear the present-day left is nothing like what I thought the "left" was when I was a kid.
Hahahaha, he WAS though! The family story is that a lot of my branch of the family was embarrassed by the relation! He had like a dozen kids by four different women. Anyway, I invoke my right as someone who shares maybe a fraction of a percent of my DNA with the guy to repeat stuff my aunt told me about him.
A similar journey to mine. I’m now further to the right than you believing that we need some kind of hard reset to restore the western world to its senses but that may be because I’m male.
Yeah, I flipflop around this opinion too. I lean harder toward wanting a reset in the sense of integrating pre-colonial wisdoms and certain cultural practices into society. I see woke leftism / liberalism as being a very white colonial project.
I've found that 99% of the stuff that comes to you while on mushrooms can be found in some thousand+ year old book or wisdom tradition or another, haha.
Oh, yes, sorry, I know WHO he is, but not any details or anything he said. Agnostic childhood, most of my Judeo-Christian knowledge as a kid came from a kids' Bible I had and Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals (do I get any credit for memorizing those? Lol).
I appreciate your honesty but do not share some of the opinions you offer us here. Big food, big pharma, those who are driving the world economy are clearly problematic. Women should get to be mothers, wives, and be lovers of whatever gender. On this we agree but some of the things you say feel like recycled right wing talking points. Are you aware that the worst of the worst Republicans talk about why they want white pilots and that 'Woke' is actually a term from the Black community that goes way back. If you watched tv news you would have seen many Black protestors at the BLM protests. White supremacy is real and as a mixed race woman I am deeply offended by some of what you say... including that the Jewish people are the chosen people.
No one race or community is better than the other. Individually we each have gifts. As communities we may have focused on different gifts as important but that does not make anyone more intelligent. How is this intelligence you speak of measured and what is included in the tests? How many people would one have to test to determine that one race was more gifted than the other? Systemic barriers funnel many of us into certain professions. The thing you call race realism is shocking to me. I have always loved you and had deep respect for you. I still love you and respect your honesty but need to unfollow you as I feel you are going down a rabbit hole that will not include someone like me or others I care very much about. Some of your comments re the LGBTQ2S community (in another post) have really upset people I know from that community.
I will be unfollowing you but our of respect for our past relationship wanted to write something first. This is not about cancelling anyone. It is about a choice to not engage with certain beliefs that I consider dangerous to some communities. I can see that the left is messy and I don't always agree with their methods but I stand with them... be it a little off to the side. In my own quiet way I resist oppression and support those who are more front line. I see that they too can be oppressive at times. Heck we all can be oppressive but it is those with power who can do the most damage. I believe we are all learning and have seen a softening and questioning of some of the tactics or the need to agree on every little thing. I trust that it is the left that is seeking new ways, and sometimes reclaiming old ways but always looking for better ways to live with one another on this planet. I do not feel the same way about the right who clearly want to go backwards and return to a time when white supremacy and the patriarchy ruled every little aspect of our lives. As a mixed race woman this terrifies me.
As a friend I ask you to reconsider some of what you say. Not to censor but rather to remind you of the danger that lies in some of the beliefs you are expressing here.
Hi Jonina, I appreciate you taking the time to comment and let me know your feelings. But I think you've misinterpreted this essay.
Regarding the comment about white male pilots -- this is literally the *only* time in this essay where I suggest white men are better at something than other people. Literally every other racial reference I make favours non-white people. For the record, I believe the *average* neurological differences that make white males better airline pilots are the same ones that make them less capable doctors than Indians (etc), and make them on average more "autistic" -- in several other essays, I'm quite clear that this underlies much of the disconnection to nature, to Spirit/God, to community-mindedness, and to their own bodies, I suggest in both this essay and in others that it leads to worse parenting (and one of the authors I mention here talks about how many Indigenous parenting practices worldwide result in healthier and happier children, something I discuss in other essays) and to other negative outcomes and behaviours. For the record, I suspect that Indigenous people are well on their way to overtaking white people in several industries, by merit. I implied in the section on Big Pharma that Indigenous, Indian, and Chinese understandings of medicine and healing were incredibly valuable and superior for a wide range of conditions (in particular chronic ones).
I state in this essay that the group I'll be most critical of is white people, and this is reflected in other posts. If I'm to be accused of bigotry against any group, it should be white people.
"Individually we have gifts" --> I absolutely agree. I tried to make that clear here; again, all but ONE example I gave where I suggested there were *average* differences between races favoured non-white people. I agree there's historically been systemic barriers to certain races (and to women) entering various professions (etc) and I don't think anyone should be locked out of a profession on the basis of their skin colour or sex; however, I also believe that rewarding merit will not yield equal representation in all industries. I gave two examples where pushing for representation could potentially put the lives of people at risk. I think this is more dangerous than acknowledging (with a source cited you can look up!) that male men might have an advantage at piloting or Indians might make unusually good doctors (click the link! Look at the study!).
The essay is called "Why I Left the Left", not "Why I Think the Right is Right." I am obviously opposed to white supremacy; for many reasons, but among them I am married to a Jewish man, one of the historic prime targets of white supremacists. I suggested white men have an advantage when it comes to flying airlines, very specifically, in an essay and on a Substack that otherwise skews towards criticism of white people.
I realize "woke" was originally a term used by Black people, but things have changed. The essay I linked to regarding "wokeness" being seen as mostly a "white" thing was written by a Black man. One of the "Why I Left the Left" essays I link to at the top is written by a Black woman. Many people of colour (and Jews, if you are among those who consider them "white" now) see "wokeness" as being a predominantly "white" thing.
I don't put a lot of stock in IQ tests; I think they measure some aspects of intelligence reasonably well, but they miss far more and I've argued elsewhere that they overestimate the intelligence of people high in autistic traits, which you could extrapolate to they overestimate the intelligence of white people.
Jewish people have been less than 1% of the population throughout history but greatly overrepresented in numerous industries, among Nobel laureates, and have had an outsized influence on the world. In every society they've lived in where they haven't been actively oppressed, they have risen to fill a disproportionate amount of the upper-middle-classes and "elites", from Rome to today. In many ways, I think denying that Jews as a people are unusually gifted is far more dangerous -- because if you believe that all unequal outcomes are a result of oppression, conspiracy, or nepotism, then this inevitably leads to antisemitism when confronted with the reality of Jewish success. I also did not say Jews were "better", I said they were more capable, and indicated that I believed that was a mixed blessing.
I also said this:
"Just because I discuss average differences and group trends does not mean I think any one group is monolithic or that we should make assumptions about individuals based on race, sex, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic. I don’t do this in the real world and I have no intention of doing so here."
I don’t think skepticism of vaccines in general is defensible since they at least eliminated smallpox. But every vaccination is a tradeoff and some won’t be positive for the person receiving the vaccine, or possibly even positive for strangers who might get sick from increased disease prevalence.
I suspect the benefit is usually positive but I also don’t trust the CDC to be honest because their stance is to say whatever is best for the general public (as far as they know), even if that means lying.
I linked to an older article explaining my position! I think some vaccines are effective and the pros outweigh the cons, whereas others -- in particular newer ones -- may not be as safe or as effective as advertised (e.g. the Covid vaccines, flu shots). Others are for illnesses that were not a particularly big deal (e.g. chicken pox), which I find questionable. But I'm very critical of the idea that "vaccines" are the primary cause of, for example, autism, as there are multiple other, better causal explanations available.
Your husband actually recapitulated an argument in the Talmud by thinking "that one of the ways Jews are 'chosen' is that they are 'chosen' to need the guidance (and assistance) of G-d and wisdom traditions more than other people." From https://www.sefaria.org/Beitzah.25b.7?lang=bi:
"For what reason was the Torah given to the Jewish people? It is because they are impudent, and Torah study will weaken and humble them. . . . Based on their nature and character, these people, the Jews, are fit to be given a fiery law, a hard and scorching faith. Some say a different version of this baraita: The ways and nature of these people, the Jews, are like fire, as, were it not for the fact that the Torah was given to the Jewish people, whose study and observance restrains them, no nation or tongue could withstand them."
In secular terms, perhaps one could say that Jews require intellectual and moral rigor. If we abandon our own traditions, we may look for (or try to impose) a "hard and scorching faith" elsewhere.
Hahaha yes, my husband didn't study the Talmud so I guess he needed a little spiritual help to get him there! He was secular, and is now getting much more into the religious and traditional aspects of his Jewish identity. We're (slowly) learning together. Mushroom downloads tend to be of information that's been long-known, but not known to you.
This column really nails what a lot of people, myself included, have been feeling. Maybe being politically homeless isn't such a bad thing. It's the chance to improvise and improve on old ways of thinking about politics. According to some astrologers, we're in the midst of a new astrological configuration where old ways of doing things are dissolving, opening the door to better solutions: https://youtu.be/lSqlVSb3mjE?si=rDs79qMFed79hrfg
I'm listening to this now. It does feel like there's a cosmic shift of sorts. An awakening. Since 2020, it's seemed to me like there's a divide, with some people stuck in old ways of thinking and many others experiencing a shift in consciousness.
You're still a phenotypic leftist, even though you're not a political leftist anymore. Meaning, you are humble, curious, care more about kindness and justice than respect for authority, group loyalty and rigid boundaries (or being put in a box). Am I right?
Also I have a handful of hippie-ish folk-musician second cousins, my mom's half-brother definitely leans left (also a successful musician), and one of my first cousins was a big-time Bernie Bro. The romantic poet-blood runs strong.
There might actually be a genetic component to one's "phenotypic" right/left spectrum, though early childhood development (and one's cultures of origin) probably also plays a role.
I think so? It's probably at least a little genetic / in my blood. My Italian great-uncle (biological) told me I'm descended from socialist-y Calabrians, and on my dad's side I'm a great-great-great-something niece of the Scottish poet Robbie Burns, who was from a poor family and had a bit of a radical edge (in addition to being a giant slut). Also, I'm the product of people falling in love and making babies outside of their religion/ethnicity/class. But I swear the present-day left is nothing like what I thought the "left" was when I was a kid.
I've never hear Robert referred to as "Robbie". Or a "giant slut". As a proud Scott, I find that rather offensive, and am canceling you.
My apologies, I guess it's "Rabbie", not "Robbie" haha.
Slàinte! Much better.
Hahahaha, he WAS though! The family story is that a lot of my branch of the family was embarrassed by the relation! He had like a dozen kids by four different women. Anyway, I invoke my right as someone who shares maybe a fraction of a percent of my DNA with the guy to repeat stuff my aunt told me about him.
No, I was just kidding!
A similar journey to mine. I’m now further to the right than you believing that we need some kind of hard reset to restore the western world to its senses but that may be because I’m male.
Yeah, I flipflop around this opinion too. I lean harder toward wanting a reset in the sense of integrating pre-colonial wisdoms and certain cultural practices into society. I see woke leftism / liberalism as being a very white colonial project.
So good.
As a Jew, what do you think of my husband's revelation?
I don’t know your husband’s name but it sounds like the words of Joshua.
I'll need to revisit my copy of the Bible!
He succeeded Moses and led the Israelites out of the wilderness into the Promised Land. Among other accomplishments.
I've found that 99% of the stuff that comes to you while on mushrooms can be found in some thousand+ year old book or wisdom tradition or another, haha.
Yes, I was fairly confident I wasn't the first person to receive this download!
Oh, yes, sorry, I know WHO he is, but not any details or anything he said. Agnostic childhood, most of my Judeo-Christian knowledge as a kid came from a kids' Bible I had and Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals (do I get any credit for memorizing those? Lol).
I appreciate your honesty but do not share some of the opinions you offer us here. Big food, big pharma, those who are driving the world economy are clearly problematic. Women should get to be mothers, wives, and be lovers of whatever gender. On this we agree but some of the things you say feel like recycled right wing talking points. Are you aware that the worst of the worst Republicans talk about why they want white pilots and that 'Woke' is actually a term from the Black community that goes way back. If you watched tv news you would have seen many Black protestors at the BLM protests. White supremacy is real and as a mixed race woman I am deeply offended by some of what you say... including that the Jewish people are the chosen people.
No one race or community is better than the other. Individually we each have gifts. As communities we may have focused on different gifts as important but that does not make anyone more intelligent. How is this intelligence you speak of measured and what is included in the tests? How many people would one have to test to determine that one race was more gifted than the other? Systemic barriers funnel many of us into certain professions. The thing you call race realism is shocking to me. I have always loved you and had deep respect for you. I still love you and respect your honesty but need to unfollow you as I feel you are going down a rabbit hole that will not include someone like me or others I care very much about. Some of your comments re the LGBTQ2S community (in another post) have really upset people I know from that community.
I will be unfollowing you but our of respect for our past relationship wanted to write something first. This is not about cancelling anyone. It is about a choice to not engage with certain beliefs that I consider dangerous to some communities. I can see that the left is messy and I don't always agree with their methods but I stand with them... be it a little off to the side. In my own quiet way I resist oppression and support those who are more front line. I see that they too can be oppressive at times. Heck we all can be oppressive but it is those with power who can do the most damage. I believe we are all learning and have seen a softening and questioning of some of the tactics or the need to agree on every little thing. I trust that it is the left that is seeking new ways, and sometimes reclaiming old ways but always looking for better ways to live with one another on this planet. I do not feel the same way about the right who clearly want to go backwards and return to a time when white supremacy and the patriarchy ruled every little aspect of our lives. As a mixed race woman this terrifies me.
As a friend I ask you to reconsider some of what you say. Not to censor but rather to remind you of the danger that lies in some of the beliefs you are expressing here.
Hi Jonina, I appreciate you taking the time to comment and let me know your feelings. But I think you've misinterpreted this essay.
Regarding the comment about white male pilots -- this is literally the *only* time in this essay where I suggest white men are better at something than other people. Literally every other racial reference I make favours non-white people. For the record, I believe the *average* neurological differences that make white males better airline pilots are the same ones that make them less capable doctors than Indians (etc), and make them on average more "autistic" -- in several other essays, I'm quite clear that this underlies much of the disconnection to nature, to Spirit/God, to community-mindedness, and to their own bodies, I suggest in both this essay and in others that it leads to worse parenting (and one of the authors I mention here talks about how many Indigenous parenting practices worldwide result in healthier and happier children, something I discuss in other essays) and to other negative outcomes and behaviours. For the record, I suspect that Indigenous people are well on their way to overtaking white people in several industries, by merit. I implied in the section on Big Pharma that Indigenous, Indian, and Chinese understandings of medicine and healing were incredibly valuable and superior for a wide range of conditions (in particular chronic ones).
I state in this essay that the group I'll be most critical of is white people, and this is reflected in other posts. If I'm to be accused of bigotry against any group, it should be white people.
"Individually we have gifts" --> I absolutely agree. I tried to make that clear here; again, all but ONE example I gave where I suggested there were *average* differences between races favoured non-white people. I agree there's historically been systemic barriers to certain races (and to women) entering various professions (etc) and I don't think anyone should be locked out of a profession on the basis of their skin colour or sex; however, I also believe that rewarding merit will not yield equal representation in all industries. I gave two examples where pushing for representation could potentially put the lives of people at risk. I think this is more dangerous than acknowledging (with a source cited you can look up!) that male men might have an advantage at piloting or Indians might make unusually good doctors (click the link! Look at the study!).
The essay is called "Why I Left the Left", not "Why I Think the Right is Right." I am obviously opposed to white supremacy; for many reasons, but among them I am married to a Jewish man, one of the historic prime targets of white supremacists. I suggested white men have an advantage when it comes to flying airlines, very specifically, in an essay and on a Substack that otherwise skews towards criticism of white people.
I realize "woke" was originally a term used by Black people, but things have changed. The essay I linked to regarding "wokeness" being seen as mostly a "white" thing was written by a Black man. One of the "Why I Left the Left" essays I link to at the top is written by a Black woman. Many people of colour (and Jews, if you are among those who consider them "white" now) see "wokeness" as being a predominantly "white" thing.
I don't put a lot of stock in IQ tests; I think they measure some aspects of intelligence reasonably well, but they miss far more and I've argued elsewhere that they overestimate the intelligence of people high in autistic traits, which you could extrapolate to they overestimate the intelligence of white people.
Jewish people have been less than 1% of the population throughout history but greatly overrepresented in numerous industries, among Nobel laureates, and have had an outsized influence on the world. In every society they've lived in where they haven't been actively oppressed, they have risen to fill a disproportionate amount of the upper-middle-classes and "elites", from Rome to today. In many ways, I think denying that Jews as a people are unusually gifted is far more dangerous -- because if you believe that all unequal outcomes are a result of oppression, conspiracy, or nepotism, then this inevitably leads to antisemitism when confronted with the reality of Jewish success. I also did not say Jews were "better", I said they were more capable, and indicated that I believed that was a mixed blessing.
I also said this:
"Just because I discuss average differences and group trends does not mean I think any one group is monolithic or that we should make assumptions about individuals based on race, sex, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic. I don’t do this in the real world and I have no intention of doing so here."
I don’t think skepticism of vaccines in general is defensible since they at least eliminated smallpox. But every vaccination is a tradeoff and some won’t be positive for the person receiving the vaccine, or possibly even positive for strangers who might get sick from increased disease prevalence.
I suspect the benefit is usually positive but I also don’t trust the CDC to be honest because their stance is to say whatever is best for the general public (as far as they know), even if that means lying.
I linked to an older article explaining my position! I think some vaccines are effective and the pros outweigh the cons, whereas others -- in particular newer ones -- may not be as safe or as effective as advertised (e.g. the Covid vaccines, flu shots). Others are for illnesses that were not a particularly big deal (e.g. chicken pox), which I find questionable. But I'm very critical of the idea that "vaccines" are the primary cause of, for example, autism, as there are multiple other, better causal explanations available.
https://thecassandracomplex.substack.com/p/no-vaccines-are-not-the-primary-cause
Ah I interpreted that link as only being about vaccines not causing eg autism, not for the full statement. My bad. Thanks!