Hebrew Agrarian | Looking for a path out of modernity | My wife approves of my politics but only some of my jokes | Teaches @ShalemCollege | Opinions my own
Joined January 2009
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My contribution to the political ideologies debate, inspired by recent posts by @TheWorthyHouse and NS Lyons.
With special attention to Philip Rieff, I claim:
1. Western political thought was always concerned with the relationship between individual and communal well-being.
Jewish safety in America depends on America maintaining - nay, strengthening - its Christian identity.
Tocqueville wisely said: “Alongside each religion is found a political opinion that is joined to it by affinity” (Democracy in America I:ii:9).
Neither the creation of American institutions - nor the attachment to them over time - would have been possible without strong Christian foundations. “Cultural Christianity” may preserve the attachment for a while, but not for long. Fidelity to some vague notion of "multicultural democracy" - whatever that is - will not.
Firstly, I think everyone is attaching way too much importance to this offhand remark.
Secondly, even if it was a serious contention, I don’t really fault Netanyahu for thinking outside the box.
Thirdly, I refuse to believe that this former BCG consultant, the Israeli Prime Minister for almost 30 years - the one who singlehandedly made sure Israel did not experience a recession in 2008 - does not understand the dynamics of the global economy.
And fourthly, even ignoring all that, I’m not sure he does not have point. The world financial system following the introduction of Trump‘s tariffs and the sanctions on Russia following the Ukraine invasion in 2021, is not the same system that it was a decade ago. I don’t know enough to defend this position, so I’m just raising it as a possibility.
Benjamin Netanyahu has done much for Israel over a long career and deserves to be remembered as one of its most consequential leaders. I particularly admire his leadership against Iran’s regime and his economic reforms that helped unleash Israel’s technology boom.
But his failure to grasp the potentially devastating threat of U.S. financial and economic warfare against Israel—and his faith in a “resistance economy” as the answer—are deeply troubling. I say this as someone who helped design the Iran sanctions playbook over more than two decades and remains passionately committed to defending democracies like Israel, Taiwan. Ukraine and others. I know firsthand the power of these weapons. If the current coalition returns to power with the same policies, and Democrats take the White House in 2029, this financial warfare campaign against Israel is inevitable.
Highlights include:
"McLuhan’s concept of the global village was not something from John Lennon’s 'Imagine,' but a depiction of a tribal world haunted by in-group preference, mistrust of outsiders, and the threat of violence. Or to put it differently, a migrant who sails the Atlantic to America leaves his co-ethnics behind. But a migrant with a smartphone keeps his co-ethnics in his pocket."
The commotion over the American New Right and Israel panel may have overshadowed some of the other talks that were held at @NatConTalk in Jerusalem. Among these, @NPinkoski's was one of the most insightful:
americanmind.org/salvo/our-p…
The commotion over the American New Right and Israel panel may have overshadowed some of the other talks that were held at @NatConTalk in Jerusalem. Among these, @NPinkoski's was one of the most insightful:
americanmind.org/salvo/our-p…
Fukuyama may end up being hated more for his musical criticism than for his geopolitical predictions.
This was basically Nolte’s thesis. I understand its political and rhetorical import - and do not think it entirely wrongheaded - but I believe it undersells what was unique and original about Fascism. In this sense, I tend to accept Sternhell’s inclinations, if not all of his conclusions.
Le mouvement fasciste naît à gauche, Mussolini appartenait au parti socialiste. Le parti nazi est aussi de gauche.
#Facealinfo
Yiftach Ofek retweeted
Great point. The world is really suffering from a painful shortage of books that consider issues like race, gender and class.
Yiftach Ofek retweeted
Understandably, everyone's dunking on this comment from Fukuyama, but, having read the book, I can confirm that it reads much differently in context. Here's the relevant section:
Yiftach Ofek retweeted
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but siding with Palestine, wearing a lapel pin with the Palestinian flag (lol) and being “pro-Hamas” is Third World behavior
It’s not “based.” It’s spiritually Leftist and anti-American.
The author won a Nobel Prize for his work, so one could hardly call it “underrated,” but I wish more people would read this book. It tells the story of a single Bosnian village by a river over about four centuries, from Ottoman rule until the onset of World War I, and provides what I think is the best account of what modernization meant for Europe.
This is a good and noble response, but is it enough? What is the Right to do when the Left is so intent on breaking the rules of the democratic game? Should it preempt and risk being accused of ending democracy? Or should it continue to adhere by the rules, when the consequences are outlined so clearly?
Our response to @ElissaSlotkin's threat to conservative staffers:
“We are going to help them get jobs, we are going to put them to work, and if anyone comes after them—they’ll have a fight on their hands.”
Yiftach Ofek retweeted
Yes it’s “becoming” that
The Palestinian flag is becoming a symbol of mindless destruction, looting, and wanton violence. How do those who (pretend to) care about the Palestinian cause feel about that? Most don't give a peep.
Meet John Aziz (@aziz0nomics), a lone dissenter who forcefully condemns the desecration of the Palestinian flag by people using it as a prop for criminality. Unlike them, he actually cares about Palestinians (he is one himself):
"As a Palestinian, I find it absolutely disgusting and unfair to see these people waving Palestinian flags while committing violent and criminal acts. Looting a Playstation 5 or a Louis Vuitton bag does nothing whatsoever to help Palestinians."
substacktools.com/sharex/-CA…
I don’t understand how anybody can be shocked by this. Obama is the same racial demagogue he has always been. He was a catastrophe for America, a catastrophe for the Middle East, a catastrophe for the world. Some of us already knew this in 2008. Everyone should have known this by 2016.
Opinion: When Obama speaks, millions of people listen. If he truly believes that it is “undeniable” that Jews “took land off people," then he is an antisemitism superspreader.
jpost.com/opinion/article-91…
Yiftach Ofek retweeted
Win-win-win!
Si Marine Le Pen est élue, 46 % des musulmans et 43 % des électeurs de Mélenchon envisagent de quitter la France (Ifop)
fdesouche.com/2026/10/15/son…
