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Jews and Wasps

Submitted by Shalom Freedman, Jan 14, 2008 03:46

This piece makes a great deal of sense to me. However as I think back on my own early years as a Jewish child growing up in a Wasp-dominant and Wasp-elite culture in America I understand I felt it somehow differently. The universal values of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the ideals of American democracy were as I understood it formulated by people of Anglo-Protestant descent but were above all universal. We Americans came from every different race and nation and what unified us were these ideals regarding the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness- freedom of speech, of religious worship, of assembly et al.

The ideals belonged to the Catholics also, and to the African- Americans and to the Italian-American, etc etc.

I of course was however specially proud at any contribution individual Jews, or perhaps more significantly Biblical Hebraic culture made to the inspiration of and formulation of the ideas.

But thinking in those terms led to a sense of something else i.e. of being an 'outsider' seeking to be accepted in a culture in which the norm ideal were the ruling elite, White Protestants.

In any case however mixed and complicated the feelings on a personal level it is clear that what has emerged in today's world is that violent anti- Semitic Jihadism opposes the ideals regarding the dignity of each individual and human freedom which that American and universal tradition espouses.

The great majority of Jews and the great majority of Wasps are in this on the same side of the divide.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
This piece makes a great deal of sense to me. However as I think back on my own early years...	Shalom Freedman	Jan 14, 2008 03:46
One explanation for apparent Anglo-Jewish symbiosis may be that lower levels of ethnocentrism among the British and Americans have made... [MORE]	James Russell	Dec 5, 2007 05:16
The other conjecture that Walter Mead failed to mention that binds the two cultures together is that they've both been... [MORE]	Drumond	Nov 23, 2007 05:48
I am unable to fathom what is in the mind of the author. He forgets that most wars that were... [MORE]	subramaniam shankar	Nov 21, 2007 10:43
If Osama Bin Laden and the Iranian leader were wrong about our morality, we could complain about it; but if... [MORE]	Marie Devine	Nov 20, 2007 12:49
who says public education failed? reading some of the comments here show that our educational system succeeded completely, if you... [MORE]	warren bacon	Nov 25, 2007 15:07
Let us reflect on the beginning. We have explorers that date back to the 1500's. We have the Moors and... [MORE]	Anne-Marie Arthur-Askling	Nov 20, 2007 10:08
It is quiet interesting to see how ideas are borrowed, within the world of research and outside. Within the world of... [MORE]	lilian	Nov 17, 2007 16:04
Ever since I was a kid , terrorist have been attacking us and ALWAYS have said it was because of... [MORE]	Dale Legan	Nov 17, 2007 14:01
Mr. Mead comes off as Churchill without the charm here - his 'Anglo-Judaic synthesis' sounds like something that might emerge... [MORE]	Patrick Kennedy	Nov 16, 2007 17:13
"And as for the bragging about Britain and America's success in war, let's just say you guys chose your friends... [MORE]	dan	Nov 16, 2007 23:03
"Major land powers? Not so much on your own. Napoleon and Hitler both came a cropper in Russia - without... [MORE]	Tom Perkins	Nov 18, 2007 02:51
Sorry Patrick, Stalin only fought a single front war. We had to fight on 3 fronts. Europe, Africa and the Pacific.... [MORE]	Dennis D	Nov 19, 2007 07:24
Nukes would have worked, but not American armies. The notions of personal liberty that made America rich and technologically advanced have... [MORE]	Patrick Kennedy	Feb 17, 2008 12:43
When it came to the actual fighting, WWII was a war between Germany and her allies and Russia and her... [MORE]	Patrick Kennedy	Feb 17, 2008 12:54
On second thought, without Stalin they would never have got ashore. Sea Lion would proceeded to conclusion in 1941. The big... [MORE]	Patrick Kennedy	Feb 17, 2008 15:34
Your point is true, though banal, but your history is hopelessly muddled. In the late 19th Century, the world was perfectly... [MORE]	Kip Watson	Nov 16, 2007 17:02
Yours does. Because where it isn't simplified to the point of absurdity, it's just plain flat-out wrong. Where do you think... [MORE]	Slappy Joe	Nov 16, 2007 21:31
"the world was perfectly justified to fear and resent British and European imperialism"... Having read much of the history of these... [MORE]	dan	Nov 16, 2007 22:53
The French continuation of the Classical Liberal movement in political economy in fact began its own abnegation. It is a... [MORE]	Tom Perkins	Nov 18, 2007 02:50
Saying the natives were lucky to be ruled by Britain for a reasonable length of time takes a fairly long... [MORE]	Patrick Kennedy	Feb 17, 2008 13:16
The author is incorrect about the Brits losing only one war since 1688. They did lose in two wars with... [MORE]	Michol	Nov 16, 2007 16:18
It should be noted that the main British strategy in 1814 was to gain as much land south even to... [MORE]	Dr. Thomas C. LaMar	Jan 30, 2008 22:32
Right now, we have two major problems: 1) The intolerant are intolerant of tolerance. 2) The tolerant are tolerant of intolerance. As an... [MORE]	Dr. Ellen	Nov 16, 2007 13:28
Will China, the next great rival to Anglo-American-Canadian-ANZAK exceptionalism, recognize a distinction between Jews and Christians, the way the Europeans... [MORE]	G. Clarke	Nov 16, 2007 12:04
Since the establishment of the Hydraulic Civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, the Ruling Strata of Civilized Society have utilized the Society's... [MORE]	Cloaude Bogardus	Nov 16, 2007 09:44

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