Mischling Manifesto (new jew manifesto)

How is being half jewish different than being jewish? How is it different than not being jewish? God I didn't want to write this but it seems to write itself as I can't believe people's ignorance sometimes. If I don't want to write about it, somebody will. As a mischling, you are an outsider who is also in the circle. Some mischlings become even more jewish than their full blooded brothers through much trial and error and blood and tears. I find the whole thing daunting.
Anyways, I have a bit of ADD so I may skip around here. Me and my brother have been working a temp job at a lumber mill. A lot of the workers there have complaints about the new owner of the business, that he doesn't pay enough. That he doesn't keep temp employees past a few months because than he'd have to hire them permanently. Anyways, my brother heard one of the employees say "What a JEW." Is the guy a jew? No. But to many people, he is what jews represent. And I for one, am sick of the stereotype.
Before you gripe, I'm not one of those people who complains "antisemitism" at every turn. I have been friends with every type of person under the sun, including some who claimed to not be very fond of my mother's people. Am I a masochist? No, but in my youth I had things to prove. Now I don't. If somebody wants to be a bigot I let them be. As far as I can tell, if I tell a guy like our fellow employee that I'm jewish, he will probably find something about me he doesn't like and match it up with his stereotype. Like maybe he thinks I'm a liberal long haired hippy even though I don't consider myself liberal OR conservative.
My father, who is not jewish, took me and my brother to visit an old man he had known once. He was a guy in southern california who used to employ my dad to mow his lawn and do various other chores. When the guy was going off on jews and how he hates his them worse than anyone, my dad reminded him that "my wife is jewish." The guy turned pale and looked like he was going to croak on the spot. He apologized profusely. My dad wasn't angry. He too had heard this stuff quite a bit I'm sure. Plus it was an old guy. What are you going to do?
But the memory stayed with me for a long time. Why did the guy hate jews? I loved my jewish family. They were fun. I enjoyed passover and it always seemed like a fun and mystical holiday. Why did the stereotype about greedy jews bother me so much? I think it was because I felt like it was such a flagrant misunderstanding.
When I see people on twitter who believe the jews run everything, or the holocaust didn't happen, I'm not sure what their endgame is. I will speak about the holocaust. A lot of people these days call it the holohoax because they don't believe it actually happened. I guess they believe if jewish people started this myth it would put them in a position of power where they could take over israel and run shit and nobody could say anything because of their past oppression. I guess if I wasn't jewish and I never met a jew in my life and everytime I turn around I see Wolfowitz and whoever seeminglyis in political positions of power, a lot of jews obviously in showbiz, I might wonder what the trip is. But I'm here to say, I lived among jews and I've lived among nonjews. In my experience, I generally love us. I spent time in Ireland too. I have Irish blood. If I had to choose between Israel or Ireland, I'd choose both. I'd be bi-continental. But I don have to say jews stick together partially because of antisemitism. With all of that out there, it's comforting to be around people who are of a similar background.
Anyways, back to the holocaust. On my mom's side, My grandmother was put into concentration camps as a teen. She had been starving in the ghetto where she watched her father die. Her boyfriend and mother and siblings (all but one) were all killed, most in the gaschambers that some say today did not exist, and one in the warsaw uprising. She had one brother who survived and moved to Israel. When I was cleaning out her apartment I found notes from a psychiatrist who talked about how my Grandmother suffered from post traumatic stress from watching SS officers throw babies into the air and shoot them. Did she talk about this anyone else? NO. The general stereotype of we jews going around throwing holocaust hissyfits at everyone we meet goes against the odds of what my grandparents were like. They tried to keep it under wraps as much as possible. My grandmother only granted an interview about what happened to her when she heard about people saying it never happened.
My grandfather was quite a bit older and had a family of his own, a wife and two daughters, who were taken from him and massacred. My aunts I would never know. I often think that if the holocaust hadn't happened, I wouldn't be here right now. My grandparents would have carried out their lives with their significant others of that time and would never have married each other. On a sidenote, if my father wasn't a vietnam veteran who, having survived being a marine and going to school, wouldn't have met my mother without that experience. This doesn't mean my birth is so important that I'm glad the holocaust and the vietnam war happened. It's just something I ponder sometimes. It's so strange to me that people argue about something  they supposedly think didn't happen whereas I wouldn't be here if it hadn't happened. But the problem is, what can I say to these people that hasn't already been said? They are frustrated by what seems to be a staggering number of jews killed. Ya know what? That's what a genocide is. And I'm not one to say it hasn't happened to others. Look how many other people were killed in world war 2! I don't suggest that isn't a tragedy. The reason why the holocaust is a big deal to the jews is because of the huge percentage of the population it wiped out. And something I think about is my grandma used to say it was the best ones who died. Maybe she meant the children, maybe the elderly. Or maybe the ones who were selfless and didn't cling to survival. The ones who gave up their bread for others.
I just wish I could take some of these people who hate jews and have them meet my grandmother and eat her delicious food. I wish they could take part in the fun holidays, sing the songs, dance the dances of my mother's people. But that's only a part of me. The other part of me knows that hate runs very deep and isn't given up very easily.
A lot of people these days, including a group of  men who claim that they are the real jews and the  ashkenazi jews are evil imposters, cling to a belief that the ashkenazi were not original biblical jews and instead converted to judaism in the 15th century. I don't know what's true or false, I wasn't there. But judaism afterall, is a culture and a religion. If your great great grandparents converted to catholicism and you're a practicing catholic does that make you a fake catholic because of their conversion? BUT the argument stems from the fact that people don't think ashkenazi jews belong in israel. There is a guy on the internet who makes videos and interviews people who did an "expose" on how ashkenazis are fake jews, and how we are horrible clowns that run around in big hats. Yet than he goes on to interview a drummer who "PLAYED WITH THE BEASTIE BOYS!" Hey Brodius Maximus,quit hating on jews and than idolizing their art at the same time. This happens all the time with basic bitch jew haters. I knew this one asshole who would go off of on me for being jewish and than he would proclaim his love for Kubrick. "Best director ever." "He was jewish," I'd say. "All you jews want to claim everyone for you own!" I merely mentioned it because I was so tired of the hypocrisy. If you're going to hate on us than stop celebrating our art. It reminds me of how Joe Strummer used to say people who don't smoke shouldn't be allowed to listen to art created by people who smoke. It's kind of A silly thing to say, but it speaks about his authenticity.
when you're a mischling, it's like the jewish version of being mulatto. You don't quite fit in either side. But you're extra close with your fellow underdogs too. I am not saying this as woe is me. I don't know if I would enjoy the comfort and homogeneity of a people who are perfectly accepted. It's not what I know.
I just know that all my life I have heard people say rotten things about jews. Am I oppressed? NO. Guarded? Yes. I even recently had a roommate who confided to me that his grandparent had been a nazi. He didn't know I was jewish, and I kept my mouth shut about it. I don't know why.  A lot of people would think it was a subservient position. For me it was one of survival. I don't have a lot of money, I'm living in a convenient affordable circumstance, and I wanted to avoid awkwardness. We became pretty good friends. The worst he'd say about jews were a lot of them lived in beverly hills and a lot of them had money. That's probably why he never guessed I was! I was broker than him.
Now recently, I responded on twitter about the young lady who was mean to the lyft driver with the hawaiian bobblehead. I made some  quips directed at the absurdity of the situation. Pretty soon, Alt right people started retweeting me. I went through one of the guy's tweets and he was a pretty stereotypical jew hating holocaust denier. I wasn't thrilled about that.
But what are we going to do? Whine about it like the ADL? Personally, I think the jews on the Alt right are dealing with things in a better way. They are reaching out all across the board. They are having conversations online with people who have never met jews before. They are listening to their point of view.They are arguing with them. They are communicating and expressing their freedom of speech. It could be said that it's healthier to bash it out over the internet than to do as we have in midevil times. On the other end of the coin, people who completely sell out to the other side remind me of the jews who considered themselves patriotic germans before jews, but still got sold down the river. And what about jews who don't give a crap about being jewish? Internet bigots wax philosophically about the "Evil Talmud," but how many jews even read the Talmud? And furthermore, there is weird stuff in every kind of midevil literature, religious and otherwise.
The idea that jews are pushing for mass immigration is complicated. A lot of jews, believe that if they take the position of sovereignty, it would be hypocritical because they needed the help in the 1940s. They can't believe in good conscience that they could ignore Syrians, for instance. But there's a hell of a lot of jews who are as diehard as any confederate flag waving good old boy when it comes to the subject. To lump a whole group of people is ignorant. But a lot of people who preach this stuff aren't necessarily stupid in the classical sense of the word. What I actually believe about jewish power, and I've thought about this  a lot, is that a lot of jews are put in positions of power, some from merit, and some from masters above them to be sort of frontmen and make it SEEM like jews have a lot of power. Some jews have money but look at where the real dough is! You think Stephen Spielberg is even in the same category as these billionaire sheiks from Saudi Arabia?
The judaism I sometimes feel at odds with is certain sections of orthadox judaism. In some ways, there's a comfort to that world. I lived in Pico robertson in LA for a number of years and enjoyed it. But the kosher thing, come on. Really? My whole thing is I think you're better of eating as little meat as possible. I feel like most orthadox stuff is obviously not divine. All the rules, the separation. I find it embarrassing actually. But than if you meet these people, many of them are likeable! Not all but many. I just couldn't live like that, worrying about whether I flicked a light switch or not on the sabbath. And separating your dishes, etc. I'm already OCD enough. I also HATE the concept of circumcision. I think it's a crime to chop off our foreskin. Lets us have the whole thing please! Life is already fucking hard enough. So basically I think Judaism would be pretty rad if they stopped chopping off foreskins and taking kosher laws so damn seriously. And don't get offended about christmas. Anyways I think there's a new breed of new jews coming along. We don't get shocked so easily. We mix easily with the crowd. We work blue collar jobs.

Why U2 is influential to me.

    When I was a young kid for years my favorite band was the Beatles. I got my first cassette of theirs, a greatest hits collection, and wore it out. I went through my parent’s record collection and listened to Seargent Peppers, Revolver, and other LP’s. But than one day almost thirty years ago, I was on a camping trip with my family. I was in the very back of the station wagon near the rear speakers. And out of that speaker came a loud blaring repetitive guitar line that echoed into my ear. There were vocals that sounded like they came from a modern day impassioned philosopher. The song was called “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” And the band was U2. I was probably 11 or 12 but it was the most essential piece of music I ever heard. Pretty soon it became my favorite band, even more than the Beatles.

When my family pulled up into a pizza joint in southern Oregon, I looked on the juke box. There was that song again. I put it on and sat transfixed as I listened to the song again. A couple years later, I had the whole Joshua Tree album. I was also learning how to play the guitar. I was at a bookstore and saw that there was a chord book for every song on the whole album. I would sit down with my guitar and chord book and play along with the cassette until I knew every song.

A few years after that, I saw them play the Zoo TV tour. It was an amazing concert. How was this band of four guys from Ireland able to transfix a crowd of several thousand all by themselves for nearly three hours? The songs. The reason why U2 is the most important band isn’t because Edge is the best guitar player, Bono is the best vocalist, or Adam and Larry are the greatest rhythm section. What makes them important is their body of work. No band that has been around for four decades can compete with their discography and continue to create compelling music at the same time.  Even though their latest album is not quite they dynamo that their first albums were, there is still enough great material to make it worth listening to. Their music means something to people. It’s spiritual, yet it leaves you alone at the same time. “I can’t change the world, but I can change the world in me when I rejoice,” Bono sings on October, their second album. I rejoiced along with their records growing up in my youth, and I still do as I gravitate towards middle age. And I believe they will be listened to for a long long time. 

  Nothing was charged on any

credit cards. But my peace of mind had dissolved and my paper went unwritten.  So that’s my excuse,

along with waiting too long to finish it. That’s when I decided sometimes I’d rather not have to think for

 myself. I’m kidding of course, but maybe, Dystopia is fun sometimes.

This got me to thinking about our hero Mae in Dave Egger’s book “The Circle.” Why had she

decided to suppress her emotions so many times in this novel, going against her own conscience

and what she felt was comfortable? The answer lies in the need for comfort and security. It also

shows how easily somebody can be controlled when you lavish all kinds of gifts upon them. Mae

 is not that much different from you or I. She wants to provide for herself. She wants her sick father to

get the proper care he needs. When it’s realized that her parents are able to be put on her medical plan,

the pressure is compounded as well. Mae feels a need to prove herself. She starts going to more

meetings, accepting copious invitations to parties and luncheons that she no longer has time for. Her life

becomes all about the Circle.

                When Mae decides to go on a Kayak ride, she is given a guilt trip. Why would she want to go

alone? Why not post it onto the online forum and see if other employees from the Circle would want to

go? But anybody knows that when you’re making plans it becomes so much more complicated with each

extra person invited. Mae soon begins to realize that she doesn’t have the luxury of alone time

 anymore. The spontaneity of the past is gone. She must do whatever she can to keep this job.

                  Nicholas Carr, when writing his book the Shallows, makes some interesting observations about

Google and it’s godlike omniscience in the lives of it’s employees. On page 151 he mentions how

“Google recruits volunteers for eye tracking and other psychological studies at their in-house usability

lab.” And that “Google continually introduces tiny permutations in the way it’s sites look and operate,

shows different permutations to different sets of users, and then compares how the variations influence

the users’ behavior- how long they stay on a page, the way they move their cursor about the screen,

what they click on, what they don’t click on, where they go next.”  All of this research greatly contributes

 to Google’s bottom line. And Google is no different than many other businesses out there.

                I once worked for an App development company and one of the Startups we were working with

wanted to be able to take user information based on all past purchasing and push coupons and

advertisements towards them. This is something we are seeing more and more of. I’m afraid that even

though transparency is convenient, people are losing something sacred at the same time.  On page 202

in the Circle, Francis records a sexual interaction with Mae. Even though she is startled by this, she has

 become so used to these intrusions of technology that she no longer seems to be capable of outrage. Is

this what having cameras on our phones is setting us up for?  

                “I won’t advertise it or anything,” Francis assures her. And there’s really nothing she can do. She

is so caught up with becoming transparent that she figures she just has to let it go. The other end of the

coin is that there is probably so much stuff out there, eventually, it doesn’t matter if a video of you

having sex is out there because people will probably ignore it.

                What Mae doesn’t seem to realize in this story is that for every newfound freedom and

convenience that she accepts, she seems to give up more and more of her freedoms.  It makes me think

of the 40^th law in Brian Greene’s book “The 48 laws of power” where he states “What is offered for free

is dangerous- it usually involves either a tick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for.

 By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full

price- there is no cutting corners with excellence. “  Although, I do realize she is not trying to get by as a

freeloader, I recognize how easy it is to sometimes takes the shortcut. But Mae is merely doing what a

lot of us do.  Because it’s fun to surrender and be part of the pack.   People in general crave a sense of

belonging. But is the workplace the proper place to find this sense of belonging?  Are we designed to

choose our social schemes around people who happen to be found in our workplace?

                Mae’s friend Annie, who initially is ther person who got her the position at this place, is a

mentor of sorts. She constantly calms Mae down and urges her to fall into line. When

misunderstandings happen, like Mae unknowingly turning down an invitation for a Portugese themed

party, Annie assures her it’s not that big of a deal, that these things happen to everybody at the Circle.

Everybody seems to revere Annie. It’s a lot for poor Mae to live up to. So she gives it her best. She works

extremely hard to prove that she is worthy of the gifts bestowed upon her.  She soon is working

overtime to become the dynamo of social media that everybody at the company is encouraging her to

be. And she seems to be having fun. Because Dystopia can be fun.

Even in Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, where employees take a mellowing drug called Soma, people are

generally content. It’s all some people care about. The danger is that eventually does society begin

punishing those who don’t fall into line?

Report on Debates 

I think that the debates were overall very impressive and informative. I’m grateful that I listened to them, and wouldn’t have thought of sitting down and actually listening to a whole debate if I hadn’t taken this class. The first debate I watched was the Democratic Debate in Flynt Michigan.

One of the things that impressed me the most was Bernie Sander’s history with civil rights issues. Sanders was arrested in Chicago in the 60’s for trying to desegregate the schools in protests. He has a lot of “street credibility” on these issues. I believe that Hilary was also sincere when she talked about seeing Martin Luther King speak when she was 14 years old. I believe that is what makes the Democrats in some ways more likeable than the Conservatives is their ability to converse about race more honestly. When they talked about the anti-crime bill of 1994, Bernie Sanders made a great point overall about bills- that they have good and bad issues within them. A man was saying that because of that bill, more black men were incarcerated. But Bernie pointed out that if he had voted against the bill, it could be said that he voted for assault rifles and violence against women. I believe both candidates are excellent speakers.

In the Democratic debates, Bernie Sanders brings up over and over again the loss of the middle class. He talks about having been to Mexico and seen people working for .25 a day. He believes Hillary sided with Wall Street, and if she's going to say anything against them she shouldn't be giving speeches for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hilary defended herself to claiming that Sanders is a one sided candidate and criticized him for not seeing the whole picture on many issues, and for voting against the Export import banks. Bernie believes that we have to do all that we can to avoid jobs going overseas so that the “fatcats” can save money by employing slave laborers.

On the 2^nd amendment issue, they had the father of a 14 year old girl who was nearly killed by a man with a gun in an Uber car in Kalamazoo Michigan. HE pointed out that the man who shot his daughter had no mental illness or record in his past. I think that this issue is complex but I agree more with Sanders. They both feel that guns should be restricted. Where it seems they differ is that Sanders doesn’t believe that gun sellers should be punished if somebody buys the gun and uses it. Hilary seems to want to completely outlaw guns where it seems that Sanders has a more realistic view, and even though he is “not popular” with the NRA doesn’t believe in completely outlawing guns.

On March 10, 2016 there was a Republican Debate. It seems like they behaved themselves a bit better than other debates but there was a lot of arguments

One thing that impressed me about Cruz was taking a stance against Common Core. My ex girlfriend is a school teacher in Pacoima California and believes that Common Core is not useful in increasing knowledge and productivity. It seems to add more confusion than anything. I think it’s great that Cruz took such a strong stand against it, saying that he would end it as soon as possible.

I know that a lot of people think that Trump is full of it, but I think he has a pretty accurate grasp on a lot of things. I like that he says that we are too easy on other countries that we Trade with. He says that as a businessman, he can’t believe what a bad deal we have China. He says China makes it very difficult to do business in over there, and yet we make it easier for them. He seems to be interested in evening out the playing field. As a business man it seems like he thinks that America has been getting screwed.  I agree with him that we should build more products in America.

Regarding Islam, Rubio makes a very good point that a lot of people who serve in the armed forces are Moslems. Trump feels that there is “tremendous hate” from Islam and points out how horribly women are treated. I think it’s a very complex problem. . I thought it was cool when Rubio countered Trump by saying he was interested in being politically correct, but just plain correct. When I was in India I knew a lot of Muslims who weren’t radicals. Rubio believes we need to work with the Sunnis to try and improve our relationship with Muslims. I think Trump takes a harsher position with them, which makes him popular with the conservatives.

Short Essay - Position Paper:  Throughout the semester, students will be researching their debate topic.  The internet assignments will supplement other research materials and the arguments used in Taking Sides by focusing attention on the civil liberties/civil rights aspect of the question, the ideological and partisan dimensions, and the involvement of interest groups and the branches of government.  By the end of the semester, it is hoped that each student will have significant mastery of the topic and the issues involved, as well as being prepared to take a personal, well-reasoned position on the policy question under discussion.  Students are not expected to defend their assigned debate position, but rather formulate their own stance on the issue. It is at this point that the student should compose a three to five double-spaced page position paper on their topic.  The paper is worth 60 points and the bibliography is worth 30 points.  Peer review is worth an additional 10 points.

 

The following format should be used:

Opening paragraph:  The first paragraph of the essay should briefly define the issue being addressed. (what policy is under review) and state the thesis.  The thesis in this instance should include the student’s position on the issue linked to the most compelling support for the selected positon.  It should sum up the main idea the student wants to make about the position chosen to defend.  The thesis statement serves as a working guide to organize the defense of the selected position.  The best opening paragraph begins with a general statement, followed by a clarifying statement or two, and ends with the thesis sentence.  Some introductory paragraphs pose questions that are explored in the discussion of opposing points of view.

Supporting paragraphs/Body of the Paper: 
For each of the main arguments (review the debate worksheet), write a paragraph that supports the position.  As applicable, identify those who advance this argument and the rationale they use in making the point.  The paragraphs in the body of the essay break down the central point

or thesis into manageable parts, discuss each part, and relate each part to the others.  For each paragraph include a general statement or topic sentence, a specific or clarifying sentence and sentences that provide details or examples.  Remember that this is a good place to cite sources.

Paragraphs to Discuss Opposing Views/Body of the Paper:  For each of the main arguments that run counter to the student’s selected position, write a paragraph that first lists the opposing perspective and then refutes it.  Be careful not to criticize unfairly those who hold opposing views, but rather explain why the argument is not convincing, may be irrelevant, or only be partially true.  Again include in each paragraph a general statement or topic sentence, a specific or clarifying sentence, and sentences that provide details or examples.  As applicable, identify those advance this argument and the rationale they use in making the point.  Remember that this is a good place to cite sources.

Concluding paragraph:  The final paragraph should restate the thesis as the student summarizes their main assertions or points.  Make certain that any questions posed in the introduction are answered and that a course of action based on the evidence presented is suggested.  

Sources Cited:  Sources used in the essay should be cited either in the text or in a bibliography (any academic format is acceptable, but MLA is preferred).   A separate link to Purdue University’s online writing lab is shown as a resource separately.  This gives excellent guidance on how to cite your sources in the text and to complete a solid bibliography.  The SRJC Writing Center (in Emeritus) is available to assist students less familiar with academic citations and bibliography formats.  Remember that citations and bibliography is thirty points out of the total grade for this assignment.  Spend enough time on this part of the assignment to get all your points.

 

 

Should corporations be awarded religious freedoms? For me, as a libertarian, this is a difficult question. I feel that we as a society should not inflict our religious beliefs on each other in the workplace. But I also feel that business owners have the right to run their business as they see fit. I guess these views are not fully compatible. Through some soul searching that I've taken, I'm more on the side of the businesses to choose how they want to run themselves in terms of religious freedoms as opposed to the employees and their need to be taken care of. If the corporation is upfront about their position from the very beginning, A person can choose not to work for them.

 Business owners and entrepreneurs are up against a lot in this nation. Various codes are stringent and one can easily lose their ability to do business. Permits are costly. It takes a lot of courage to start a business or corporation. I feel like they should have the right to run it how they see fit. As much as I wish I was more liberal on the subject, I just can't seem to side with the employees in most cases. Although a person who is running a business has no right to inflict their views on other people, I think it's worse to go work for somebody and then expect them to capitulate to your demands regardless of how they feel about this. At the same time, I feel that the business or corporation needs to be honest with their employees from the get go so that they know what is and isn't available to them.

As I argued in my debate, Hobby Lobby offered several forms of contraception for their employees. They just didn't want to participate in anything that would be damaging to an embryo anytime post-fertilization, including sponsorship of the morning after pill.