Is it Really Small vs. Large Government?

The recent outbreak of the measles has quickly moved into the political arena with two of the Republican presidential contenders, Chris Christie and Rand Paul, essentially saying that vaccines are very good but people should not be forced to vaccinate their children. Rand Paul goes further to say that vaccination has on occasion brought on severe mental problems. This argument that its good but should not be imposed on all and should be strictly voluntary gets to the heart of one of the differences between the Right and Left, the individual vs. society. Neither politician claimed that the vaccines are not good for society. They stand for minimizing restrictions on an individual’s rights. Or so it seems. Why then at the height of the Ebola outbreak, the right was quite vocal about restricting movement of individuals who potentially contracted Ebola? Governor Christie forced a nurse returning from West Africa to live in a tent in isolation for several weeks. Imposing on an individual’s freedom did not enter the discussion. Both the isolation and the vaccination were taking away freedoms for the benefit of society as a whole. Maybe it’s because in the case of Ebola, a few were disrupted for potentially the benefit of many while the vaccine was all giving something up for potentially a few. Following 9/11, after the deaths of 3,000 innocent civilians, the Right had no difficulty in abrogating some rights of individuals, spending a trillion dollars and sacrificing the lives of thousands of our soldiers and hundreds of thousands of foreign civilians, to prevent a reoccurrence. At the same time refusing to even bend a little, allowing minor firearm controls or spending a fraction of the moneys spent on the “War on Terror” on social improvements to reduce the gang violence in the inner cities saving an even greater number of lives. So again, why the difference? One possibility is that Ebola was scary and fear motivates the Right whereas the Measles not so much; or that gang violence effects the “other” and isn’t a threat to middle class whites. Maybe it’s because in the case of Ebola and terrorism the threat is from the outside and our machismo demands we fight it. Whatever it is I don’t think it’s a big/small government or an individual liberties issue.

Confluence of Terms Adds to Confusion About the Middle East

A number of years ago, on one of the cable networks I watched a series on Islam filmed by a South Korean crew. Among the presentations were programs on Muslim food and Muslim dress. Then they showed programs on Islam in Africa and China. In the Muslim food and dress programs they featured Arab food and dress while in the Islam in Africa they showed Muslim women celebrating regional festivals topless. The contradictions were innumerable. It is very difficult to interpret news reports relating to the Middle East. Religions are mixed with ethnicities, nationalities with religion, ideologies with ethnicities and culture with race. This, though predominant in discussions of the Middle East, is not unique to it. The nation of India is often confused with the Hindu religion and a non-existent Indian ethnicity. In the case of India, confusion stems from ignorance whereas confusion regarding the Middle East often is part of a strategy. All the cultural traditions in the Arabian Peninsula are portrayed as Muslim in the Western press though Arabs represent only a minor part of the billion plus Muslims In the press one often sees and hears about long beards worn by men in robes as Muslim beards. The mutilation of girls through female circumcision, again a tradition in parts of Africa and Asia practiced by both Muslims and non-Muslims is presented as a requirement in Islam as are“ honor killings” and other regional traditions. Not all Muslim women wear hijabs. Teenage girls in Chechnya dress like any European teenagers and as mentioned above in Sub Saharan Africa sometimes tribal women wear no tops. One hears a lot about the head covering of some Muslim women but not Orthodox Jews nor Mennonites (in Medieval Times Christian women wore something that strongly resembles a hijab). And by the Way Amish men and the Duck Dynasty also sport long beards. Islam is a religion with adherents of all ethnicities and cultures whereas there are Christian Arabs in the West Bank and Egypt and a Jew(ethnic and religious) sits in Parliament in Iran. When it comes to discussing Israel it becomes even more convoluted because of the concentration of religion, ethnicity and culture. Criticism of Israel is often condemned as anti-Semitism or an attack on the Jewish religion. Judaism, the basis for both Christianity and later Islam, is an ancient religion predominantly practiced by one ethnic group though there are Ethiopians and a small number of converts from other ethnic groups that practice the religion. There are Jews throughout the world, who for the most part are atheists and do not practice any religion. The term Semite refers to a race and, though it includes Arabs, is most commonly used to refer to Jews especially when used as anti-Semitism. Zionism is an ideology attributed to ethnic Jews but also endorsed by a large number of Fundamentalist Christians. Israel is a nation, though aspiring to be a Jewish theocracy, has within its population, Muslims (about 20%), Christians of various denominations, agnostics and atheists. As a result, a statement made by an Iranian or a member of Hamas saying they want to destroy Israel, though they may mean the elimination of a form of government, in the press it is often interpreted as eliminating a religion, Judaism; an ethnic group, Jews; or a race, Semites. Even in the minds of bigots who rail against “Jews” I suspect it isn’t clear whether their rage is aimed at adherents of a religion, members or an ethnic group, proponents of an ideology or citizens of a nation. Though often it is politically advantageous to lump them all into one, they are not the same and to really understand what is going on in the world, it is necessary to understand the difference. In Israel there is much debate relating to the occupation of Palestinian lands and the quest for a theocracy. There and within the predominantly Muslim countries the difference between the terms is clear and a discussion can be had without confusion. Unfortunately in this country it is almost impossible to have a meaningful debate. A critic of Israel is too often accused of being anti-Semitic or if an ethnic Jew, a self-loathing one and an offense committed by someone proclaiming to be Muslim is an offence by Islam, while a critic of Muslims automatically is tagged an Islamaphobe.

Post Racial?

There is much focus on race in the news lately; the shooting deaths of unarmed black men; the militarization of the Ferguson police in response to racial demonstration; lack of awards to black actors and directors and the Kanye West rant against a white musician winning over a black. Have we indeed progressed? I remember, following the Civil Rights movement there was an attempt in the media to downplay racial differences. Commercials would show blacks and whites in the same scenes pushing the same products. Children were being taught that all people are the same and differences in skin color are no different than the color of one’s hair. But that quickly changed. Advertising changed. Adds targeting a white demographic now no longer included black actors while other adds could be directed at exclusively black audiences. It’s not clear to me why or how, but within a decade political movements (Black Panthers, Black Muslims) emphasizing the racial difference while fighting for black power, gained strength. No more was the focus on “everyone is the same” but now the battle cry became “different but equal”. Of course the racists loved this preaching fostering a further separation of the races. They realized that wherever there is a declared difference, there cannot be equality. The more powerful segment, whether by virtue of numbers or resources, will always have the upper hand. Back in the early sixties I remember walking down a street in Washington DC. Strolling in front of me was a young, interracial couple obviously on a date. Over the course of a few blocks, several cars slowed down, rolled down their windows and yelled racial slurs at the white man. During the same period, fulfilling my military obligation, I was stationed in a small compound in Baltimore. Just outside the front gate was a bar. One night, returning to the base after a night out I stopped at the front desk to check in. Behind the desk was a black sargent who was speaking to a shaken light skinned young man who looked like he might have a bit of African blood. He was explaining to the sargent that he wanted to stop at the corner bar for a drink. The bouncer asked for his ID. He was 21 but the card indicated his race as Negro so he was refused entry. He was a well-educated northerner and was perplexed. He had never faced such overt discrimination and didn’t know how to respond. The sargent told him that this still happens down here and suggested he go to black neighborhood for a night out. So where are we now? Today I can go to an upscale restaurant even further south, in Charleston and as often as not see an interracial couple. In the same area we frequent a more modest restaurant and it is not uncommon to see small gathering of friends that include both black and white. There has been great progress. In part, it is due to our increased mobility, better education and the fading of the slave era propaganda claiming the racial inferiority of Negros to justify their enslavement. So when I hear complaints about the absence of black representation at entertainment awards or in the academies I have mixed emotions. On the one hand I think it is driven by discrimination whereas on the other I think we may have made more progress than I think and the reason there are not more blacks may be just that, on this occasion, there were not as many good performers and we were not pursuing the “different but equal” but the “everyone is the same” philosophy and seeing race no greater a differentiator than the color of hair. Or maybe I’m just blindly optimistic.