Thank you for the novel recommendation. Erich Fromm was also concerned about the potential of democracies in the west to deteriorate into totalitarianism. There are some quotes from him to this effect in the first commentary on this Substack. I do not have enough knowledge of the examples you mention to comment meaningfully. I do hope that Russia gets out of the Ukraine so that peace can be achieved. Speaking in general and not about these specific examples: I agree that not enough is done to call out antisemitism and reject it. And it is indeed disturbing that some Jewish people seem to "go along" with antisemitic ways of thinking, perhaps believing that this puts them above the Jewish people or in some way protects them from antisemitism. The truth is that antisemitism is toxic for humanity as a whole, and no person who engages it in will truly benefit when it comes to fulfilling their human potential. Antisemitism is spiritually empty, projecting common human flaws in an exaggerated way upon the Jewish people instead of taking personal responsibility, and it has to be confronted peacefully at the individual level through soul searching. People have to ask themselves soul-searching questions about why Jew hate or why collaborating with antisemitism is attractive to them and then try to self-improve so that this toxic phenomenon is no longer appealing.
Scattered feathers on Kristallnacht
Thank you for the novel recommendation. Erich Fromm was also concerned about the potential of democracies in the west to deteriorate into totalitarianism. There are some quotes from him to this effect in the first commentary on this Substack. I do not have enough knowledge of the examples you mention to comment meaningfully. I do hope that Russia gets out of the Ukraine so that peace can be achieved. Speaking in general and not about these specific examples: I agree that not enough is done to call out antisemitism and reject it. And it is indeed disturbing that some Jewish people seem to "go along" with antisemitic ways of thinking, perhaps believing that this puts them above the Jewish people or in some way protects them from antisemitism. The truth is that antisemitism is toxic for humanity as a whole, and no person who engages it in will truly benefit when it comes to fulfilling their human potential. Antisemitism is spiritually empty, projecting common human flaws in an exaggerated way upon the Jewish people instead of taking personal responsibility, and it has to be confronted peacefully at the individual level through soul searching. People have to ask themselves soul-searching questions about why Jew hate or why collaborating with antisemitism is attractive to them and then try to self-improve so that this toxic phenomenon is no longer appealing.