Politics as Vocation?
The following was sent by an Israeli friend in response to my recent posting,
"Olmert Rejects Syrian Overture to Restart Peace Negotiations?"
"Unfortunately, Olmert (as all other of Israel's PMs, and numerous Ministers past and present, and likewise Knesset members) prefers expansion to peace. Olmert has already stated that he will never give up the Golan, so what is there to talk to Syria about? Also Olmert (as Sharon before him) rejects the Saudi Arabian plan, which would give Israel recognition by all other Arab countries and normalize relationships with them. Again, holding on to all of the West Bank and the greater Jerusalem is more important to Olmert than is peace. This is not true for most Israelis, a recent poll showed. But Israelis unfortunately continue to elect officials that care less for the welfare of Israelis and care more for land. Expansionism and ethnic cleansing are the names of the game." (from an Israeli friend)
....................................
I pass along this comment sadly because it hits at the heart of the Israeli hold up on peace efforts. Israel's pols, as ours, are checked by virulent minorities which would:
a) claim Eretz Israel as g-d's grant to Israelis alone -- Rabin's assassin manifested their willingness to terrorize in order to maintain this fantasy stemming from ancient mythopoetic accounts of Israel's origins.
b) greedies who want to get and keep it all.
c) cynical pols who make their appeals to a) and b) to get themselves elected to political office and the personal benefits and power such carries with it.
The U.S. is being driven by comparable political forces subverting our own national interests:
a) our oil and other imperialist greedies (Iraq)
b) those who would not offend our powerful right wing Israeli lobbying groups: AIPAC, ZOA, etc. (How sad to see their abandonment of the original heroic Zionist ideal -- a drive for Jewish security and social justice.) by restraining Israel from its mad self-destructive military lashing our both at its captive Palestinians and neighboring nations.
c) our dangerous right wing ('Christian'-in-name-only) cultists pursuing Jim Jones style self-destruction of humanity as a whole (Armageddon) which will feature them presumably ending up joining the happy band of Muslim suicide bombers in the enjoyment of their own 99 virgins on high -- the Falwells, Robertsons, other the wanna be assassins, and 'born again' money and power hungry exploiters of human needs and anxieties.
One is frighteningly reminded of Max Weber's early warning shortly before his death in 1920 of the rise of what would become Nazism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber
As the founder of sociology Weber anticipated the unholy alliance between the greedies of capitalism and the Calvinists driven to manifest their holiness through the acquisition of great wealth. And one must particularly read his Politik als Beruf (Politics as Vocation) for an understanding of the betrayal of the interests of the public by pols' drive to get themselves elected by any means -- fair or foul:
http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/DSS/Weber/polvoc.html
Need it be said again. The best, indeed, critical interests of Israel and the United States are being betrayed by our Olmerts and Bushes, bent on getting and maintaining power -- even at the greatest risk to our respective nations. The majority of Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans want peace. They have no personal stake in oil domination in the Middle East on behalf of external corporate interests. The majority of Israelis have no interest in subsidizing of settler enroachments either directly by Israeli governments or indirectly by our U.S. gifts over the years of many billions for settlement expansion and the and military toys with which to kill any who object -- Israel's occupied Palestinians and nearby neighbors such as Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. What next -- will they (we) attempt to Lebanonize Iran? How foolish when any exploration of the sentiments of Iraqis, Palestinians, Iranians, Afghanis, Syrians and others reveals that great majorities simply want peace, prosperity, and the modern accouterments that go with them. It is our respective 'Satanic' pols who are defeating the best interests of all of the above. It is almost enough to make one believe that a Satan does exist in the human hearts of some.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
"Olmert Rejects Syrian Overture to Restart Peace Negotiations?"
"Unfortunately, Olmert (as all other of Israel's PMs, and numerous Ministers past and present, and likewise Knesset members) prefers expansion to peace. Olmert has already stated that he will never give up the Golan, so what is there to talk to Syria about? Also Olmert (as Sharon before him) rejects the Saudi Arabian plan, which would give Israel recognition by all other Arab countries and normalize relationships with them. Again, holding on to all of the West Bank and the greater Jerusalem is more important to Olmert than is peace. This is not true for most Israelis, a recent poll showed. But Israelis unfortunately continue to elect officials that care less for the welfare of Israelis and care more for land. Expansionism and ethnic cleansing are the names of the game." (from an Israeli friend)
....................................
I pass along this comment sadly because it hits at the heart of the Israeli hold up on peace efforts. Israel's pols, as ours, are checked by virulent minorities which would:
a) claim Eretz Israel as g-d's grant to Israelis alone -- Rabin's assassin manifested their willingness to terrorize in order to maintain this fantasy stemming from ancient mythopoetic accounts of Israel's origins.
b) greedies who want to get and keep it all.
c) cynical pols who make their appeals to a) and b) to get themselves elected to political office and the personal benefits and power such carries with it.
The U.S. is being driven by comparable political forces subverting our own national interests:
a) our oil and other imperialist greedies (Iraq)
b) those who would not offend our powerful right wing Israeli lobbying groups: AIPAC, ZOA, etc. (How sad to see their abandonment of the original heroic Zionist ideal -- a drive for Jewish security and social justice.) by restraining Israel from its mad self-destructive military lashing our both at its captive Palestinians and neighboring nations.
c) our dangerous right wing ('Christian'-in-name-only) cultists pursuing Jim Jones style self-destruction of humanity as a whole (Armageddon) which will feature them presumably ending up joining the happy band of Muslim suicide bombers in the enjoyment of their own 99 virgins on high -- the Falwells, Robertsons, other the wanna be assassins, and 'born again' money and power hungry exploiters of human needs and anxieties.
One is frighteningly reminded of Max Weber's early warning shortly before his death in 1920 of the rise of what would become Nazism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber
As the founder of sociology Weber anticipated the unholy alliance between the greedies of capitalism and the Calvinists driven to manifest their holiness through the acquisition of great wealth. And one must particularly read his Politik als Beruf (Politics as Vocation) for an understanding of the betrayal of the interests of the public by pols' drive to get themselves elected by any means -- fair or foul:
http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/DSS/Weber/polvoc.html
Need it be said again. The best, indeed, critical interests of Israel and the United States are being betrayed by our Olmerts and Bushes, bent on getting and maintaining power -- even at the greatest risk to our respective nations. The majority of Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans want peace. They have no personal stake in oil domination in the Middle East on behalf of external corporate interests. The majority of Israelis have no interest in subsidizing of settler enroachments either directly by Israeli governments or indirectly by our U.S. gifts over the years of many billions for settlement expansion and the and military toys with which to kill any who object -- Israel's occupied Palestinians and nearby neighbors such as Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. What next -- will they (we) attempt to Lebanonize Iran? How foolish when any exploration of the sentiments of Iraqis, Palestinians, Iranians, Afghanis, Syrians and others reveals that great majorities simply want peace, prosperity, and the modern accouterments that go with them. It is our respective 'Satanic' pols who are defeating the best interests of all of the above. It is almost enough to make one believe that a Satan does exist in the human hearts of some.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
posted by Ed Kent at 9:09 AM
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