Philo- or Anti-Semitic?

20250618

I get accused both of being Jewish and anti-Semitic. A good balance.

I am as easy to understand as the cats that mooch at our back door. Their purposes in life are to eat, sleep and populate the world with kittens. That’s me. Like every product of evolution, my purpose is to perpetuate my genome. As a human, let me add my memome. Human society, a sort of superorganism, seeks to perpetuate its culture. Count me in. I want to raise kids perpetuate my DNA and culture. I am unique only in the extent to which I will acknowledge it.

Every society has the same objective – self-perpetuation. They often make bad choices with regard to how to achieve that objective, and often fail. The Soviet-era Історія стародавнього світу – history of the ancient world – which I am reading brings this point home. It is laden with propaganda from the failed experiment in communism. Every paragraph reminds the reader of the eternal conflict among the slave-holding upper classes, the common people and the slaves. And the history itself is an account of the eternal conflicts among peoples for dominance: Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Macedonians, Romans…

Each of us is descended of people who sought domination. When we become too effete, too comfortable to continue, our societies collapse. The theme has interested historians from Herodotus through Gibbon, Spengler, and hundreds of modern writers.

Currents sweeping through twentieth century American society doomed my first family. They were taught not only to hate me, but American society and themselves as well. Their wrecked lives have given them no satisfaction and me no grandchildren. I escaped those swirling currents, swimming to a far place in which people still believe in themselves to start a second family.

My adoptive land is squeezed on one side by an old-fashioned tyrant, Vladimir Putin, whose desire to dominate is as primitive and transparent as that of Darius, Xerxes or Alexander the Great. From the west we are being pushed by utopians whose theology convinces them that there are no differences among peoples, that bloodlines are an archaic concept, that human vermin are destroying the earth, and that products of human ingenuity – medicines, vaccines, artificial foods, pesticides and such – are superior to what took nature four billion years to evolve.

There are Jews on all sides of every issue. The first thing to recognize about them is that Jews themselves are the product of a uniquely long - four thousand year - evolution in an environment of relative genetic isolation. Their character and mentality were shaped by unique hardships, from which they emerged as the most intellectually capable population on earth. They are also among the more defensive, aggressive, insular and self-conscious of peoples. They are a true force of nature. As such they work both for and against my genetic interest – that of raising my children.

The Jews at the forefront of the medical freedom movement, the champions of free speech, the pursuit of truth absolutely delight me. The extent to which America remains a free country is due in large measure to their efforts. Their writing, as it appears in Substack, on YouTube and elsewhere, thrills me daily.

On the other hand, throughout history the Jews have, whether consciously or not, worked to weaken the European societies in which they lived. They sold alcohol to Russian peasants and Oxycontin to American peasants. They have advocated the rights of every conceivable minority at the expense of straight white males. It is in their nature. Note that they have championed Palestinian rights at the expense of Jewish admissions to prestigious universities and the Jewish state of Israel.

Where does that leave me? As an intelligent observer, on the one hand very philosemitic, admiring their strengths, but on the other, apprehensive.

Which brings me to the Israel-Iran conflict. My initial reaction was to ignore it. It is true that Israel gradually bought and otherwise acquired land that had for centuries been occupied by Muslim Palestinians. The Arabs probably have a legitimate beef. On the other hand, they have never been open to any sort of negotiated peace. They have embraced terror to a far greater extent than any other people. Aside from their victimhood, there is nothing much about them to attract sympathy.

I would not have condoned Israel’s attack on Iran. That is in part because I would not have expected it to succeed to the extent that it has. I would not have had an answer with regard to what to do if Iran did get the bomb. I did not appreciate how fervently they wanted it.

I did not appreciate how deeply entwined Iran was with Russia. I am only now paying attention to the implications of the links among Iran, Russia, Venezuela and other bad actors.

Iran provides an example of a non-nuclear takedown of a dangerous player on the world stage using vastly superior western arms. Iran did not have the technology. The Israelis are measurably smarter. Moreover, a tyranny simply cannot do nearly as effective of a job harnessing human potential as a free society. This has been as true of Russia in today’s war as it was in Alexander’s confrontation with the Persians. Venezuela, having seen Russia hamstrung, Iran hammered and Syria crumble should be starting to worry. Even a tyrant needs friends.

I relate this back to my genetic interests – the threats to my children. In the short term there is less likelihood of support for Ukraine from the USA. Many observers doubt it was coming in any case. It may hike the price of oil, favoring Putin. On the other hand, Iran will not be supplying Russia with Shaheed and ballistic missiles. Landlocked Russia stands a good chance of losing the important Iranian corridor for exports of oil and metals to China and India. On balance, I think that the collapse of Iran favors my interests.

I’ll close in wrapping back to my opening. I’m not Jewish. I deplore the Jewish roots of the American deep state, but I love the Jewish efforts to fight that deep state. Throughout it all, I admire Jewish intellect. What to tell my children? Whatever they do, pay attention! They have a vastly outsized effect on human society.

Graham