Eric Cantor had his 60 minutes of fame on the show of the same name. Lesley Stahl asked him why Jews are Democrats and not Republicans, as he is. Shorter Eric Cantor: It’s the damn tikun olam! It makes me so friggin’ proud!
“It’s Tikun Olam. That is a concept in Judaism which means repair the world – and it’s a very charitable concept. And it’s that way in the Christian faith and others as well, that you give back. And clearly there is the ability to characterize all the social programs that exist at the federal level as reflecting that need to repair the world and to help those who can’t help themselves.”
Yeah, right. Jews are charitable, give back, need to repair the world, and help those who can’t help themselves. Those are Democratic values. What are Cantor’s values? What are Republican values? They’re the 1%. Isaiah wasn’t the 1%. Jeremiah wasn’t the 1%. The 1% are not the values of the massive proportion of American Jews. Eat your heart out, Eric Cantor!
I agree. I am a life-long Democrat, even though the party has shifted so far to the right (passing through the center) as to espouse aggressive wars, huge military, reduction of civil rights, war on international human rights law, etc.
Old habits die hard, and of course the Republicans are even more explicitly the party by, of, and for the “1%”. But the democrats are no slouches in this respect. Sigh.
Oh for a Party-99 !
Living nowadays, after zionism has long engulfed, consumed and digested the remnants of cosmopolitan Diaspora-Jewish culture, it’s probably hard to comprehend the degree to which socialism, unionism, secularism, internationalism etc. were identified with Jewishness (by Jews and their haters alike) since mid 19th century through the WWII cataclysm.
Those understanding Yiddish (German would probably do…) may appreciate this consummate Tikun-Olam song (US,1889) by David Edelstadt:
http://www.mazicmusic.com/MP3/Year%20in%20Yiddish%20Song/In%20kamf.mp3
(in memoriam of beautiful ideals which perished along with the innocent masses who lived by them)
I think that Jews identified and supported leftisst ideas as a form of resistance to a prevailing social and political reality, the reality of being governed by others. The creation of Israel reversed the problem: Now in charge of their own destinies, assaulted by resistance from others, the reaction was probably inevitable. In any case, Israel is fast becoming the authoritarian reactionary state that Jews traditionally abhorred.