Populism or variations thereof are the fore runners of genocidal dictatorships. In the twentieth century, alone, between Stalin, Mao and Hitler over a hundred million people were slaughtered. However the phenomenon is a recurring scourge since time immemorial. Today in an interconnected world it has once again reared its threatening genocidal head. While there are many lesser populist lights the three that dominate and even threaten the planet’s survival are Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Donald J. Trump. The latter’s culpability is as much for the fact that he has abandoned the USA’s value system and the responsibility of being the leader of the fight against democracy.
The urgency of the situation is highlighted by the very war that is being fought over this issue in Eastern Europe where the populist Putin has ignited a neo colonialist take over against a neighbor Ukraine in order to prevent the latter from becoming a democratic society. The USA’s leadership position may well be resolved in the midterm elections which for several reasons have assumed an extraordinary significance. An election in which Trump with his populism and post truth dominates.
For a host of reasons, which will become evident, Jay H. Ell is returning to historical references to remind all that this threat has always existed. It is now exacerbated by the Interconectivity of the world and the threat of Armageddon from nuclear arsenals. While life survived the earlier retrogressive assaults on society the danger of extinction exists with the current crisis.
IN THE BEGINNING AND NOW
Whether or not you believe in the monotheistic religions and their texts or not, “populism's” first literary appearance was in the Hebrew Bible, (HB), also known as The Old Testament, written over three millennia ago. Populism has again taken over as the policy of several former right wing parties most of whom had originally ascribed to fiscal conservatism with varying emphasis on providing societal safety nets for those who were not wealthy. Ironically, the last rites of the death of this so called “trickle down” Conservative Reagan/Thatcherism was executed by the Capitalists in the British markets with the sensational drop in the pound following the naive former Prime Minister Truss announcement that the holy grail of Conservatism - no taxes, would be the UK’S answer to their current fiscal mess.
Many right of center political parties world wide are adopting “populism”and post truth as the themes of the day as their monetary strategies have failed in the light of modern day challenges including pandemics, illegal immigration and a full scale war and escalating inflation. This has resulted in a growing gap between those, the one percent who are rich and the rest. The latter are racked with mistrust and anger at the establishment and yearn for "the good old days". The cynical demagogic "populists" seize on the moment which bolsters their innate authoritarian tendencies claiming they and only they can fix it.
Jay H. Ell owes the historical insights to the late Rabbi Jonathon Sacks who believed that the HB, has to be re interpreted constantly in terms of the times. Accepting that trust in society has broken, he made an appeal to all the religious groups and secular humanists to return to morality. Democratic society is broken. it cannot function with an unregulated market economy and the naked unchecked power of the State. There has to be trust and a societal commitment to those less fortunate than the achievers at the top end of the game. There are billionaires with more income than countries as well as companies who dictate society. But more of Sacks later.
Conventional economics too has taken a dive. Raising interest till there is unemployment to bring down inflation is simply not going to happen. In spite of the USA Federal Reserve’s punishing array of tax hikes the number of job openings is over close on eight million. With turmoil everywhere the “populists” should learn from what is going on around them and what has happened to previous populist movements that have ended in the dustbin of history. Populist autocrats are a short step away to becoming dictators.
Frances Fukuyama the renowned political scientist predicted the end of political history in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Liberal democracy had won out. He argued in a recent Atlantic piece that while the Democracies are experimenting with the same populism that are the staples of the dictatorships of the world, they are ignoring that the latter are experiencing unprecedented turmoil. This in spite of the fact that the protestors face draconian consequences yet find a way to register their desire for freedom.
Antagonists of the rejection of the purveyors, “I alone can fix it” abound - just look at Russia, China and Iran which are experiencing this backlash. Meanwhile the West is flirting with populism. Italy, for example has just elected an unashamed neo fascist as leader, while America is far from giving up on Trump. Fukuyama emphasized the crucial role America plays in this regard.
This column has repeatedly focussed on the America midterm elections being of inordinate significance. The “Republicans” are running on conspiracy theories, rank populism and post truth. There is denial of the already evident ravages of the populist cult like behavior which has become the mantra of the former fiscal low regulatory "Republican" Party.
OXFORD DICTIONARY MAKES POST TRUTH WORD OF THE YEAR AND SACKS
But back to Sacks who started in earnest in 2017 to reinterpret the HB in the current climate. His sounding of the alarm occurred when the Oxford Dictionary included the definition of post truth for the first time making it the word of the year in 2016. He referred to the earliest description in the literature of post truth in the Prophets specifically Jeremiah. (Sacks made no secret of his favoring of the leadership of the prophets, “Who spoke truth to power”).
It is not easy to become the Word of the Year. The decision is not a subjective judgement but based on extensive data and research. In the year 2016 the usage of the word increased exponentially. It was associated with politics. The definition was simple:
“Post truth is an adjective relation to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”.
The Oxford dictionary initially associated the frequency of the word with Brexit and the 2016 USA Presidential election. Rabbi Sacks went one step further and said it did influence Brexit and probably the 2016 USA PresidentIal
But more interesting is his alluding to a not often referred to section in the HB when Moses’s leadership was challenged by what today can be defined as a populism.
THE FIRST LITERARY DESCRIPTION OF POPULISM.
The first serious attempt at toppling Moses transpired when the wandering Israelites learn that they would not see the Promised Land and would sojourn in the desert for forty years. There is mistrust, anger and a sense of hopelessness in the air - the ideal time for a populist to attack the establishment and create an alternative truth. Korach the leader of the populists desires power for himself. The comments are in effect Sack’s interpretation and warning of the impending threat the world is facing. He entitled this interpretation, “When Truth is sacrificed for power”. Korach is the First Populist in literature.
Korach: You have gone too far. All of the community is holy everyone of them and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s people… Why do you set "yourself above the people”. KORACH DOESN’T CONCEDE THE ELECTION". THE BIG LIE In fact Karoch voted for the Lord three times at Sinai. Moses states his legitimate appointment for that time, namely G-d, but for a job he didn’t want. But to no avail.
Moses is accused of nepotism notwithstanding that he did not make the appointments. Korach comes from the tribe of Izhar and had aspirations to be Chief Priest. He is joined by surrounding tribes who also are resentful for one reason or another. The tribe of Reuben was also angry that no leadership positions had been allotted. Sacks claims that this is nothing but a naked bid for power outside the system that the society operated. It also involves collective responsibility as other leaders and their followers join in.
Then corruption is on the agenda to which Moses responds: “”I have not taken aa much as a donkey from them, nor have I harmed any of them.
Then back to the past
- MAKE THE JEWS GREAT AGAIN
There has to be an alternative narrative so its back to the glorious past that never was. The populists talk about the good old days was when they lived as slaves in Egypt. Make America Great Again
Datan and Aviram two other protestors deliver the fundamental Post Truth: “It is not enough that you have brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey, (return to the fantasy world that never was) to kill us in the desert, that you insist on lording it over us. What is more: you have not brought us to a land of flowing with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of field and vineyards (It is important to note that Moses promised nothing of the sort). Do you think that you can pull something over our eyes? We will not come up!” The gauntlet is thrown down. Will they storm the Sanctuary?
Moses response is to have the Lord swallow them into the ground to prove he is right. An approach that Sacks challenges as force resolves nothing and angers the survivors as well.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Martin Luther King was famous for repeating the quote, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice”. President Obama had the words embroided in a carpet in the Oval Office. He was much more sanguine about the bumpy road to equality. And so he should have been. There is little doubt on a rational level progress has been made but the attitudes and behavior of the human race in the face of fear and uncertainty have not. The prejudices are deep seated while the solutions are simplistic cruel xenophobic and even genocidal. The attempts to respond with reason, facts and truth are met with an alternative reality - it is not democracy stupid it is inflation and crime. This is a recurring theme in the short aspirational story of America which needs no repetition here. The current American saga will have to play out in the midterms where either America will take one giant step backwards for mankind or cling onto justice by the skin of their teeth.
There is another reason Jay H. Ell would like to set the record straight on the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.
SACKS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Rabbi Sacks while lauded and honored in academic, philosophical, social scientific as well as inter religious faith groups also has been subject to criticism or outright attack within his own faith, political groups, and of course some fundamentalists. The central gist has been his failure to involve himself in Party politics specifically Israel. For the record he has consistently supported a two state solution to the current crisis and called for greater incorporation of the minority Jews in Israel as well as the Arab citizens.
On a more global scale he genuinely reinterprets, from his frame of reference the HB. While a vigorous supporter of the free market and democracy, he believed that without morality they are meaningless. While originally recognizing the Free Market unconditionally as it created jobs and raised literally billions from poverty, he attacked the unregulated concept. He argued, that it was an excellent device for creating capital but useless at distributing it equally - Reagan and Thatcher had unleashed chaos. He quoted the financier Ray Dalio who claimed that the inequity in distribution was the greatest threat to society at the moment. Needless to say he had endless Biblical references - the widows, the orphans and the poor.
Jay H. Ell disagrees with many of Sack’s positions. His gneral response to good faith challenge was that the HB is a commentary on arguments with God starting when Abraham demands, “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked”. Jay H. Ell wonders what his reaction would have been to the coalition populists Netanyahu and the racist Ben - Gvir who wants to throw Arab citizens out of Israel?
Sacks will go down in his history for his paradigmatic changes not only interpretation of the HB, but for his general philosophy which has been articulated in many publications included his latest best seller, “Morality”. For those many skeptics who have twelve minutes to spare listen to his Ted talk on YouTube “How we can face the future without fear, together to sample his unique mind. Two years ago this column attempted to do justice to Prince Charles statement ‘That he was a light unto the nation” in an Obituary. November marks the second anniversary of Sack's passing.
AT THE END OF THE DAY
Populism never ends well. At worst there is genocide at best repression and suppression of human rights.
The response of just a few of the “Republican” Legislators to the attack on Paul Pelosi is rich bearing bearing in mind their whitewashing of the attack on the Capital on January 6 coupled with the violent rhetoric and post truth 2020 election denial. Nancy Pelosi who was the intended victim has been demonized on the election trail with more money spent on attacking her by the "Republicans" than any other "policy" matter. As for the rest they have been calling it a false flag operation
Would Elon Musk given Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin an opportunity for free speech on Twitter?
It is interesting that the “Republican” Party who claim to be arbiter of family values and morality believe that these values don’t apply to members of their own party.
The conventional wisdom is that the midterms are trending Republican. Anyone who claims to forecast the midterms is clairvoyant. It depends on turnout as to which America survives for the moment.
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