“Democratic Socialism:” an oxymoron (Part Two)

Socialism, by which I mean “pure socialism” is a great way to generate votes in societies that are functional democracies.  People want free housing, free healthcare, free schools, free police protection, free public transportation, etc., etc. The current mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani,  ran his campaign on these ideas and he won the office by a substantial majority.

He is not the first:  Prior to the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini presented himself as a unifying, populist leader, promising comprehensive political freedom, social justice, and economic prosperity. Khomeini tailored his message to appeal to a broad coalition of secular liberals, leftists, and religious traditionalists who all opposed the authoritarian rule of the Shah.

Prior to taking power in 1959, Fidel Castro promised to restore democracy, reinstate Cuba’s progressive 1940 Constitution, and implement moderate social reforms. Castro initially presented himself as a nationalist liberator rather than a communist. He intentionally moderated his rhetoric to unite a broad coalition of wealthy liberals, middle-class professionals, and rural peasants against the brutal dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

Prior to the 1945 August Revolution, Ho Chi Minh promised absolute national independence, democratic freedoms, and moderate social reforms targeting colonial and feudal oppression. Ho Chi Minh minimized class-warfare Marxist rhetoric during his rise to power. Instead, he founded the Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) in 1941 as a broad, patriotic, non-partisan coalition designed to unite landlords, peasants, bourgeoisie, and workers against French colonialists and Japanese occupiers.

Prior to the October Revolution of 1917, Vladimir Lenin  captivated the Russian public with a hyper-focused, radical populist platform summarized by his famous three-word slogan: “Peace, Land, Bread.” Amidst the chaos of World War I and the collapse of the Russian monarchy, the Provisional Government chose to stay in the war, which triggered massive public anger. Lenin exploited this frustration by presenting the Bolsheviks as the only party capable of meeting the urgent needs of the suffering working class, peasants, and soldiers.

The Bolsheviks promised an abolishment of private property, redistribution of wealth to all “comrades,” and an end to the food shortages that had plagued Czarist Russia.

Most of these regimes made good on their promises. People did receive free housing, free health care, free education, and a handful of others. In return the ruling parties installed brutal dictators who eradicated freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and many other rights that we in the west take for granted.

The biggest scam of all was the National Socialist Party (NAZI Party) of post WWI Germany (led by Adolph Hitler) which was a complete oxymoron.  There was nothing socialistic about the NAZIism, though it was Nationalistic. I only mention it in this essay on socialism because they had adopted that word to describe themselves. They were SINOs: Socialists in Name Only.

The reality is this: No country in the world currently practices “pure socialism” as a textbook economic system. In its purest theoretical form, socialism requires complete public, state, or worker ownership of all means of production, distribution, and exchange, alongside the total elimination of private profit and market-driven capitalism

Instead of pure systems, modern nations operate on a spectrum, utilizing different economic models that blend socialist ideals with practical realities.

Marxist-Leninist States (Authoritarian Socialism)
These nations are historically the closest to “pure socialism” because their governments exercise immense central control over the economy, though they have all introduced market reforms to survive.

Cuba: The state dominates almost all industries and provides universal healthcare and education, but it allows restricted private entrepreneurship.

North Korea: Operates a highly isolated, centrally planned command economy. However, it officially prioritizes its homegrown Juche ideology over traditional Marxism and tolerates illegal or semi-legal private markets.

China, Vietnam, and Laos: These nations maintain ruling Communist parties and heavy state intervention. However, they are structurally mixed economies or “state capitalist” systems that heavily rely on global trade, private businesses, and foreign investment.

The Nordic Model (Social Democracies)
People frequently point to countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland as examples of successful socialism. These are not socialist countries.They are highly successful mixed market economies.

  • They feature high economic freedom and robust private property rights.
  • They fund extensive social safety nets, universal healthcare, and free education through high personal income taxes.

Constitutionally Socialist Nations
Several countries list “socialism” in their founding documents or official names, such as India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nicaragua. Despite the constitutional language, these nations operate primarily as capitalist or mixed market economies, and the term is used historically to reflect social justice goals rather than state ownership of production.

Socialism in Fiction
The United Federation of Planets as it is depicted in the science fiction franchise, Star Trek, is probably the ultimate in socialism as (at least on Earth). The Federation utilizes a post-scarcity, moneyless economy where humanity is no longer driven by the acquisition of wealth. Instead, citizens focus on self-improvement, personal growth, and contributing to the betterment of society, with basic necessities provided abundantly by advanced technology.

In Star Trek: First Contact, Captain Jean-Luc Picard explains it this way: Lily Sloan, (whom Picard is encountering in 2063) asked Picard how much the Enterprise-E cost to build.
Picard: “The economics of the future is somewhat different. You see, money doesn’t exist in the 24th century.”
Sloan: “No money? You mean you don’t get paid?”
Picard: “The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity“

The Federation functions across several core principles:

          • Post-Scarcity and Replicators: Advanced replicator technology eliminates the fundamental need for money by synthesizing food, clothing, and everyday items instantly. Because the cost of an item is effectively reduced to the energy required to produce it, poverty and hunger have been entirely eradicated.
          • The Pursuit of Passion: Without the requirement to work for survival, labor is voluntary. Individuals are free to pursue vocations they are passionate about—whether that’s Starfleet exploration, scientific research, art, or teaching.
          • Federation Credits: While internal commerce is obsolete among Federation citizens, the Federation uses “credits” as a medium of exchange when trading with non-Federation cultures (such as the Ferengi) that still utilize currency-based economies.
          • The Limits of Abundance: Despite the post-scarcity model, certain resources cannot simply be replicated. Large assets like starships, land, and specific raw materials are limited, requiring coordination and rationing within Starfleet.

          The government appears to be a social democracy, set up along the lines of the Constitution of the United States. Each planet has a seat and a delegation in the Federation General Assembly; each country has a seat and a delegation on it’s planets general assembly.  What we’re looking at here is an intergalactic version of the United States democracy.  On Earth they have eliminated the use of currency.  There is private ownership/control of individual businesses, but instead of making a profit these “entrepreneurs” get housing, food, health care, a means of transportation, vacations – basically anything they want. They just have to provide the service, or the goods to whomever visits their business. Likewise the individual worker may obtain anything they need or want in exchange for their doing their job.

          An example comes from the series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Commander Sisko’s father is a restaurateur and chef in New Orleans. A customer enters the restaurant, and transaction goes along just as one would expect, except that at they end no money is exchanged (and of course, no tip). Everyone works at a job or a self-owned business, but everyone does what they want to do. They do what makes them better persons; they work for “the good of all.”

          One would think that because society provides all your needs and wants that there would be no property crime. But, humans are still human and there will always be a few people who just refuse to live within the law. But their crimes are way more heinous because there is simply no excuse for it.

          Although I believe that the ultimate destiny of mankind is to emulate the Star Trek economy, the problem here is that this is Science Fiction, the key word here being “fiction.” It would be a great thing if people were naturally altruistic, but history has proven otherwise.

          Historically, every experiment in instituting socialism has failed its citizens. Oh, for the most part, these governments have made good on their promises, but the trade offs are brutal, because in exchange for giving you all the “free stuff” these governments have taken away your civil liberties. The most extreme case is the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Iran’s citizens live under the brutal rule of Sharia Law, which (for example) should a woman be found wearing the hijab improperly or failing to wear it entirely it violates strict state laws, which can result in harsh penalties ranging from severe fines and confiscation of vehicles to extended prison sentences, flogging, or even the death penalty for repeat offenders or perceived organizers of dissent.

          Many countries have the words “democratic” or “republic” in their official name and most of the time they are oxymoronic, in that they are neither democracies or republics, and their citizenry certainly does not enjoy the rights and privileges that the words “democratic” and “republic” imply, at least this has been true historically. Does that mean that “democratic socialists” absolutely must end up as autocratic shit-holes? No, but the historical record suggests that humans are weak, and will give in to the chance to play god if so tempted.

          Having said all that, I have to state that it is my hope that someday people will put aside petty selfishness and decide to voluntarily and individually act for the good of society at large.  The dawning of the Age of Aquarius is upon us. There is hope therefore that humanity will wake up.

      (This is Part Two of Two Parts. Read Part One HERE)

“Democratic Socialism:” an oxymoron (Part One)

It is poor literacy and understanding that leads people to label themselves as “democratic” socialists. Socialism is the collectivization of the means of production. This means resources are owned in common and it needs to be decided how they are to be allocated. Now you can argue that rather than having an authoritarian government handle the economic planning, the planning can be done through direct or representative democracy on a larger scale. However, that misses the point. It actually doesn’t matter if the central body of planners are democratically elected, selected by merit, or dictatorial party members. One might be better than another but all of them fail in the end because of the “Knowledge Problem” as explained by F.A. Hayek. Planning still means one idea flowing downwards in the economy as to what needs to be produced or not produced. Although central planners could grasp the scale of a village economy (such as happens on Israeli Kibbutzim), historically, it has not proven possible on a national scale. It is impossible to have the required knowledge to interfere in such an equilibrium. People’s preferences change on an individual level not even daily but by the minute based on many external factors like environment, culture etc. No socialist tool such as “surveys” and the like can fix that. Those methods are simply ineffective at accurately relaying necessary information and accomplish the satisfaction of the needs of even the minority of society. This is why market economies have been successful because they are a decentralized model where everyone expresses their preferences by their own volition through purchasing or not purchasing goods and many entrepreneurs are in constant competition to fulfill those needs or be expelled from the market altogether. This is why the comrades in the USSR produced a lot of jeans but not enough buttons for them because the arbitrary planners allocated that resource elsewhere. Whereas in the market you have a constant trial to increase the  efficiency of production methods.

Now a lot of socialist revolutions are initially democratic as the well meaning people get together to take down the “tyrants” and create the equal utopia. However they soon realize the problems of the system. This is why we should promote  individual talents in a way that it collectively benefits society rather than make everyone less productive. At this point, the bulk of the population is tired being told what to do and what reward they will get in spite of all the inefficiency in their economic life. But the revolutionaries who are now in power don’t want to relinquish control. After all they have a near dogmatic belief in the greatness of socialism, and the evil of capitalism. Thus it is natural that eventually almost all socialist societies end up oppressing their populations while the rules of socialism itself don’t apply to the new great class of revolutionary-bureaucrats. I don’t even have to quote examples of this you all know that 20th century has been the history of collapse of all the societies I’ve just described. Thus it is no surprise there eventually are only two roads. Either you liberalize like a lot of “socialist” countries already have done or a strongman takes control.

An alternative is market socialism which states that co-operatives can compete in a market. Co-ops already exist under market economies. Demanding that every firm function as a co-op is just limiting free competition and thus reducing productivity. For a completely co-op based economy the factors of production would still need to be centrally allocated as there is no private property and this also opens the stage for nepotism, bribery and corruption.  Some failures could be considered exceptions but historically the above has been the rule if you aren’t deluded enough to not see it. Excuses don’t work to defend what has been true for almost every socialist experiment.

People hear politicians proclaim that they are “Democratic Socialists,” but history has proven that all socialist societies, by which I mean “pure socialist,” usually deliver on what they promised to get into power, but ultimately the trade off for free housing, free food, free whatever has been your civil liberties. “You shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you” takes on a whole new meaning here. It means if you do “bite” (criticize, engage in civil disobedience, strike, picket) you may well end up in a gulag.

People, even those raised in Western Democracies, may fall victim to the rhetoric of “Democratic Socialism” because they believe it to actually mean “Social Democracy” such as the Scandinavian countries have actually achieved.

(This is Part One of Two Parts.  Read Part Two HERE)

The two state solution has been tried, and it failed

It’s been tried twice. The first time was in April 1921 when Britain hived a part of Mandatory Palestine into an Arab (Palestinian) state: Jordan. But the world would not recognize that, and without any notice, the land promised to the Jews by the Balfor Declaration was shrunk by seventy-five percent and then forgotten, leaving the land “from the river to the sea” as Palestine.

The second time was when Israel unilaterally gave away Gaza. In September 2005, Israel 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 and pulled out every soldier — a total withdrawal, not a partial one. For the first time, Gaza was fully self-governed by Palestinians, with no Israeli soldier or settler left inside its borders.

In addition to Israel’s “gifting” of Gaza to the Palestinians, over forty billion dollars was given to Gaza’s “government”  in the period from 2005 through 2023. If that money had been invested in Gaza’s infrastructure, I speculate that Gaza would be comparable, possibly even rival the United Arab Emirates in wealth. Its capital, Abu Dhabi is said to be the worlds wealthiest city.

But things went down the shit hole pretty fast. Palestinians used that self-rule to elect Hamas in 2006, then let the terror group seize total control in a bloody 2007 coup. Hamas had control of those donated billions, so what followed was not statehood-building. It was 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 fired at Israeli civilians, a tunnel network built for war, and finally Hamas’ 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟕 2023 (attempted) genocide.

When that “two-state” experiment blew up in the world’s face, nobody in Europe said the model had failed. Nobody said sorry to Israel. They kept demanding Israel hand over more land — never blaming the actor who turned the last handover into a launching pad.

The best thing about the “two state solution” is that it has the word “solution” in it. Say it enough times and people forget to ask whether it ever worked.

𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞.

“European Jews are not really Jewish”????

As part of the convoluted exercises that “antizionists (aka, “Jew haters”) wallow in, they attempt to validate their claim that Israel is totally inhabited by Ashkenazi Jews, and that therefore Israel is a colonial venture, so these folks make the claim that  “European Jews are not really Jewish.”
This claim is moronic. Those who say it clearly don’t know European Jews, their history, or their culture.
👉 Hebrew calendar
The Jews who lived in Europe followed the Hebrew calendar that developed in Babylon in the 6th century BC. The months were Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul, Tishrei, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar. These month names appear on tombstones, wedding records, and various community records. People who “came from Europe” would not use a Hebrew, Levantine calendar.
👉 Yiddish – Hebrew letters
The language they spoke was written in Hebrew letters. Yiddish was an exile language with words from the various languages where Jewish people lived, but the common denominator was that they were written in Hebrew letters, the same letters Jewish people wrote in when the Second Temple was destroyed. Why would “people that came from Europe” not use Latin letters?
👉 Names
For most of the 2,000-year exile, Jews did not carry last names at all. They went by their first name, ben meaning son of or bat meaning daughter of, and the father’s name. Only about 200-300 years ago did European governments force them to take European last names for bureaucracy and taxation purposes. The names were usually a translation of their Hebrew name, the town they were from, or their profession.
👉 Jerusalem

A recurring motif throughout the entire exile is the yearning to return to Zion, as seen in the ending of the Passover tradition saying “Next year in Jerusalem,” breaking the glass at weddings while saying “Jerusalem, if I forget you, let my right hand forget its skill,” and in prayers about Jerusalem such as “and our eyes shall witness Your return to Zion.” Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi wrote in Spain in the early 1100s about his longing for Jerusalem.  This fact also proves that so called “antizionism” is in fact “antisemitism.”  You therefore cannot separate Zionism from Judaism.

👉 Talit

They prayed with the same talit their ancestors prayed with in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem before the Romans destroyed it. Same scripture. Same tefillin. Same mezuzot on their doors. How could Europeans make this up?

👉 Jewish life

They observed the same religious festivals, ate kosher food, kept Shabbat, studied the Hebrew Bible with passion and dedication, and recited the same prayers.

👉 DNA

Research shows that Ashkenazi Jews have Levantine DNA. Look up the work of these researchers. It is absolutely fascinating: Harry Ostrer, Doron Behar, Michael Hammer, Karl Skorecki, Antonio Torroni, David Goldstein.

Bottom line:

To single out European Jews as not Jewish, or fake, or imposters, is simply repeating old Jew-hating tropes. It is a tool to keep the thorn in the side of the Jew even today, when the Jew has a strong sovereign nation, and is no longer a humiliated second-class citizen.

We are back in our national homeland, and our identity is as strong as it has been for millennia.
(Image Credit: BedrockPerson (CC BY-SA 4.0) Edited.)

Not “genocide,” not “apartheid”

We all have heard the buzzwords regarding the war in Gaza such as it’s a “genocide” and Israel is an “apartheid” state who has no claim to the land. None of which is true.

The term “genocide” refers to both the act of killing and the intent to destroy a group. It’s not solely about the act of killing, but rather the deliberate and systematic effort to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. That’s not what we’re seeing in Gaza. Do you know that there are over two million Palestinians living in a very densely populated area and after two years only seventy K have been discorporated in this war. If Israel wanted to commit genocide the body count would be much higher but it isn’t because Israel warns Gazans before a bombing by dropping leaflets, sending text messages and “roof-knocking” (something only the Israeli military does). Also if the standard for genocide was civilian casualties and destruction in war, then the term would apply to virtually every modern urban conflict since WWII: Mosul (2016), Fallujah (2004), Aleppo (2016), Kabul (2001-2021), Marawi (2017), Grozny (1999-2000), etc. Does anyone honestly believe Israel is trying to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group?

Do you know that nearly 20% of Israeli  citizens are Arab Muslims? Two million are Arabs and 1.7 million are Muslims. Supreme Court Justice Khaled Kabub  is an Arab, Lucy Aharish  is a news anchor and Dr. Shadan Salameh is an Arab woman leading the biggest ER In Israel. You can’t do so as a Jew in Gaza. How many Jewish leaders or judges rule over Gaza or anywhere in Palestine? Israel Arabs enjoy a much better life being treated as equals than Jews do in Gaza (as the only Jews in Gaza were the hostages). Is that fair?

I think we  can all agree that nobody wants to see children harmed, but sadly in war children suffer the worse (even more so because Hamas terrorists wear children as human armor). In the Iran-Iraq war there were over 100,000 civilians casualties and in the US war after 9/11 387,000 civilian casualties. That’s not terrorism or genocide, that’s war. In Nuseirat refugee camp they found alive hostages, in Rafah (refugee camp) they found Sinwar, Hamas fighters and hostages. Hamas member Ismail Barhoum was killed at Nasser Hospital. Mohammed Sinwar a Hamas member at the European Hospital complex in Khan Younis was killed.

Stop using heavily populated refugee camps, schools and hospitals then playing victim afterwards.  Hamas wages a war and then hides in their tunnels as their civilians are stuck above ground. Not to mention the many children Hamas killed or kidnapped on Oct 7th such as Kfir Bibas (9 months old) and his brother Ariel Bibas (4 years old), Shahar Siman Tov (age 6), Arbel Siman ToV (age 6), AOmer Siman Tov (age 2), Tahel Bira (15 years old), Yahel Sharabi, (13 years old), Noya Dan (she was 12), and Liel & Yannai Hetzroni (both 12), Aline Kapshetar (8 years old), Eitan Kapshetar (5 years old) among many others.

Now for the claim of occupation. Before Israel was there Palestinians didn’t own any of the land. The Ottoman Empire had it before the British government. The British government gave the land to the Jewish people. It’s legally theirs. Palestinians at the time were little more than squaters with no land.

Before the British government and even before Ottoman Empire had the land, was there a country called Palestine? Nope, it was under the Mamluk Sultanate and before that under the Ayyubid dynasty, then Fatimid Caliphate, the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. Additionally, the Kingdom of Jerusalem (a Crusader state) briefly controlled parts of the region before the Ayyubids reconquered it. We can go further there never was a Palestine, but history does show during the Iron Age, the land belonged to the Israelite kingdoms, Israel and Judah. The land was restored back to the Jews to become Israel  in 1948.

If anyone disagrees answer me this simple question, what year was Palestine Independence Day established?

Israel has pursued lasting peace and even two state solutions with the Palestinians on numerous occasions such as 1947 (UN Partition), 1967 (Khartoum Resolution), 2000 (Camp David), 2001 (Taba), 2008 (Olmert offer), 2009 (Bar-llan Initiative), 2016 (John Kerry plan), and 2020 (US Peace Plan). Palestinians rejected all roads to peace. Today Palestinians are in the “Frak Off” stage of “Frak Around, Find Out” after the (real genocidal) massacre on Oct 7th.

Sharps disposal SCAM

A lot of pharmacies are distributing  one page pamphlets and displaying posters promoting the proper (and legal) disposal of sharps. Sharps are syringes and injection pens used by all sorts of patients (diabetics for example).  The pamphlets promote a program called the MED-Project, and it sounds like it’s a government program that will supply you with sharps containers that you just have to mail (pre-paid postage adhered to boxes).

I tried it. After filling out a form online, I received a 1.4 qt. plastic sharps box. All good I thought.  Between my wife and I, we filled the container in about six weeks. Them I packaged it up in the box supplied, and dropped it off at the Post  Office. Sounds great right?

It’s not free. The initial text implies it is, and I guess technically that first box was free. But, you have to order your supplies, and the company you order from is called Pureway.  They have several different choices in sizes. The basic one, the one I initially received from them is a 1.4 qt box. They offer them in six pacs (each one comes with it’s own pre-paid mailing box) and these six packs are $118.00, so if you use one each month, you are looking at $236 per year.

In contrast, (and this is the way I usually go) Amazon sells a five pack of 5 qt containers for $28.95. Typically we fill one up 2.5 months. The catch is that I have to take the container to a designated sharps disposal bin (there are several around the town I live in), so no different then taking one to the post office.  Those 5 containers last just over a year, for a savings of $207 each year.

In other words, MED-Project AKA Pureway is ripping you off $207 yearly, and there’s no real convenience, unless you live in a rural town that provides no sharp disposal bins.

Let the buyer beware.

Why the “palestinians” are interlopers

One of the biggest and lesser known stories of Nov 29 is that the lands allocated to a Jewish state (two color map) were essentially those the Zionists reclaimed from malaria through land purchase, science and education (the two-tone blue map is the incidents of malaria and the middle map shows Jewish land ownership of those lands reclaimed from malaria).

Moreover, the sudden and extremely rapid increase of the Arab population in the 1920’s and 1930’s in this barely populated backwater region (this was the highest population increase rate in the world in 1931/2) was only in part due to immigration spurred by Zionist development of the land. The major share of the massive Arab population increase was thanks to Malaria eradication, which was the work of the Galician born famed microbiologist and ardent Zionist Dr. Israel Kligler (credit to the great historical work of Anton Alexander).

With this knowledge it remains even a greater tragedy that the now much more numerous Arabs of the land directed their efforts towards brutally fighting Zionism rather than choosing to live side by side with an emerging Jewish state. More than a year after the Oct 7 massacre we mark once more the Nov 29 moment when the Jews said yes to the UNGA plan of partition (having prioritized having a state, even if tiny and mostly desert and lands reclaimed from malaria and no Zion and no Judea) and the Arabs said no and proceeded to wage a brutal war to the present day (having prioritized – still – the goal of the Jews not having a state at all and of any size).

 

(Note on map titles: for twenty centuries, before a campaign of denial was underway, it was well understood that the name “Palestine” merely denoted the Roman/Christian/Colonial/European name for the geographic region where the Land of Israel was and was therefore deeply associated with Jews and the their continuous connection to the land.
Hence the League of Nation in establishing the mandate recognized the “historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine” as the “grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country” and which is why the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra of Jewish musicians became the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra…)”

Open Letter to the Democratic National Committee

Since the beginning of 2026 I have responded to every letter, email, ad in my newsfeed, etc; from the DNC (or affiliates) with a version of the following letter. This includes surveys (which are really fund raising methods … actually everything I receive from the Democratic Party is a fund raising attempt).
I have a little problem. Although I am a lifelong Democrat, as were my parents and my grandparents (I am 72 now), and although I agree100% with the Party’s platform concerning women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, senior rights, and a host of other issues, I cannot in good conscious support the Party monetarily so long as they tolerate antisemitism (usually hiding under the word anti-Zionism), especially at the leadership level. Mostly here, I am referring to the anti-Israel comments by Senator Bernie Sanders (whom I voted for when he ran for POTUS) and those ladies popularly referred to as “The Squad.” Bernie and “the squad” are right most of the time, I would even say I agree with them 95% of the time, but they repeat lie, after lie, after lie about Israel. It’s like I am hearing Donald Trump (the liar in chief) and the MAGAs, the lies are so incredibly nauseating.
  • Israel is not practicing apartheid.
  • Israel was not founded by European Colonialists.
  • Israel is not now, not has it ever committed genocide.

These are all lies: propaganda authored by people who hate Jews, and these lies make Bernie, “The Squad,” and the Democratic Party look like blatant hypocrites.

Progressives (and I would characterize myself as a Progressive) are supposed to stand against misogyny, racism, oligarchical rule, yet, by attacking Israel, they are seen as supporting regimes that suppress women, openly murder LGBTQ individuals and Arab oligarchs (such as the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, etc.).

Concerning the hypocrisy of Progressives

When I posted the above meme on Facebook, boy did I get some backlash. Progressives don’t like it when someone points out how hypocritical they are.

Example 1: They claim to be pro-woman and anti-misogyny, yet they support a country that subjugates women in some of the worst ways.  In Gaza and in parts of the “west Bank,” women are forced to wear the hijab, not allowed to leave the house without a male escort, not allowed to work in healthcare (or many other professions). Their husbands have permission from their prophet to beat them, or divorce them without notice. In even stricter Islamic regimes such as Iran, they are not allowed an education, are forced to wear the burka (where all you can see is their eyes), and not allowed to drive a car. In some of these countries teenage girls are subjected to FGM  I think the only thing stopping that from happening in Gaza or the “west bank” is those countries proximity to Israel.

Example 2: Progressives claim to support LGBTQ rights. In Gaza and parts of the “west bank” it is routine for LGBTQ citizens to be thrown from the tops of buildings, or drug from behind pickup trucks.

Example 3: Progressives want to see the right to vote enshrined for everyone. The last time the citizens of Gaza were allowed the opportunity to vote was in January 2006. That was twenty years ago.

Example 4:  Progressives, for the most part, claim to be pacifists. On October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorists invaded  Israel from Gaza, Thousands of militants breached the Gaza-Israel security fence at over 30 points using explosives, bulldozers, and paragliders and targeted more than 20 Israeli towns, kibbutzim, and the Nova Music Festival, where over 300 people were killed. Approximately 1,200 people were killed, including civilians, women, children, and the elderly. It was the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. Around 251 people were abducted and taken into the Gaza Strip as hostages. The terrorists committed heinous atrocities, including gang raping women and teenagers (some women were found with their pelvises broken in multiple spots); torturing and murdering parents in front of their children, and children in front of their parents. Infants were executed in microwave ovens.  Am I exaggerating?  Not at all. These monsters were so proud of themselves that they video recorded it.

How did Progressives respond? Many of them applauded the terrorists, saying that Israel had it coming, and justifying it with a litany of lies (Israel practices “apartheid,” “Israel “illegally” occupies the west bank, Israel “enslaves” the “palestinian” people, etc., etc., ad-infinitum, ad-nauseum).  Funny thing about the lies: Progressives are fond of pointing out Donald Trumps pathological lies, but when it comes to Israel and the Jews, they are guilty of much worse.

Don’t get me wrong. Donald is by far the worst POTUS our country has ever endured. He undoubtedly wants to be a dictator (a “King”). 

A lot of Jews (a minority, thankfully) support Trump. They point out that he moved the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, this recognizing Jerusalem as the legitimate and historical capital of Israel . They point out that he recognized Israel’s legal control over the Golan Heights. They point out that he expedited military aid to Israel.  All this indicates is that like a broken clock, Trump is right about something twice a day.  What they don’t see (or don’t want to see) is a man who has been a lifelong antisemitic, who will throw Israel and Jews under the bus as soon as we no longer serve a purpose for him.

For Progressives, these decisions further turn them away from Israel simply because Trump made them. No other reason. Trump did it so it must be wrong. Trump supports Israel, therefore Progressives must not, even though it implies that Progressives are supporting regimes with heinous records regarding the civil rights of women, LGBTQ an ordinary citizens. “Oh but that’s not true,” they will say, “it’s really about freedom of religion. People have the right to believe and practice any religious dogma they prefer.”  People have such a right, but Jews are not “people.” So it depends upon whether your religion is acceptable or not for you to have the right to practice.  It doesn’t matter that in many cases people have been forced to convert to Islam (and the Quron states in numerous places that people must convert to Islam or be executed). Another hypocrisy: Progressives believe in freedom of religion yet they support a religion that denies that very freedom.

Most Progressives are atheists or agnostics. This illuminates yet another hypocrisy. They will say that they support Moslems because we have “freedom of religion,” but in reality they would outlaw all religion if they could.  When they wish they are all into exposing conservatives for being pedophiles, or gay, or adulterers, but they could easily apply some of that to Islam, which promotes pedophilia (Mohammad’s first wife was six years old when they married. He waited until she was nine to consummate) misogyny (including FGM), and the wholesale murder of LGBTQ individuals. They disallow the freedom of the press (except for Iran’s propaganda outlets such as Al Jazeera), freedom of speech, and most of the other items listed on the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.  They won’t because after all “Islam is the religion of Peace,” (tell that to the victims of Oct 7 2023) and besides it’s very fashionable to support Moslem rights above everyone else’s right (such as Israel’s right to exist).