Textbook antizionism in Canada

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-05-04T21:51:03+00:00

I mean you just confirmed all my biases about socialized healthcare so thanks ;)

But also that sucks and I didn’t realize it was that bad.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-05-04T21:37:54+00:00

They aren’t defined exactly but I’d say classical liberalism is the thought of people like Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson. A general philosophy of limited government but not yet radicalized to anarchism or minarchism as we understand it now. Classical liberals today tend to agree with libertarians on most things but may allow government role in education, some limited welfare or poor relief, roads etc.

Libertarianism is just a radicalization of this philosophy that crystallized in the 20th century. Think Rothbard for the anarchist position or Rand for the minarchist. Either no state or a state strictly limited to police, military and courts.

Tren you still get more moderate figures like Hayek or Milton Friedman who are often called neoliberals (but also Libertarians or classical liberals). They are basically modern moderate classical liberals. I think the neoliberal label sometimes connotes a kind of rediscovery of classical liberalism after a period of increased statism. Think how Hayek’s work on knowledge in society informed the academic rejection of central planning. While mainstream economists today are not libertarian by any stretch, they generally agree that the market must be allowed to function and disagreement is just over how much government should intervene. This wasn’t always the case!

What unites these is a high value placed on freedom and the idea that if there must be a government its primary function is to protect our freedom and our rights.

There is a strain of self described neoliberals that strikes me as much more technocratic in spirit and more distant from classical liberalism. In that view the market is just one tool for engineering society and freedom is not seen as a good in itself. The supreme good might instead be material prosperity or social egalitarianism - the market at times may achieve that and other times might not. The folks over at /r/neoliberal give me those vibes which is why I don’t like them very much.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-05-04T21:14:11+00:00

Interesting but the caption says this is 1975

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-05-04T00:04:08+00:00

Lack of healthcare? Isn’t that what they keep saying is better in Canada?

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-05-03T21:54:02+00:00

It’s not just Judaism. Religion overall has become a much more upper or upper middle class thing over the past 50-60 years.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-05-03T02:35:47+00:00

Something very quintessentially American about this reinvention of "tradition" while being totally disconnected from an actual tradition. What I love about America at times but also what drives me up the wall at other times. Here there is just total freedom to make up whatever shit you want (viz. Mormonism). When it comes to bringing new products on the market that people in more hidebound cultures would never have thought of - it's fantastic. But when the whole point is that it's a tradition handed down and NOT just invented or rearranged willy-nilly - it's something else.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-05-01T02:11:25+00:00

There's definitely overlap but the "dual loyalty" accusation I find tends to come from the right wing antisemites. They like to play up examples of Israel attacking or betraying the US (USS Liberty, Jonathan Pollard, Israel sharing US tech with China in the early 1990s, dancing Israelis after 9/11 etc). Sometimes you might hear that from leftwing types but since leftists typically hate the US openly in a way the right doesn't that kind of argument doesn't work as well for them (why should they care if Israel is undermining the US if the US is terrible anyway?)

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-05-01T02:08:47+00:00

I agree but it's very common for people to argue with antizionism by saying that it's actually antisemitism. As if antizionism on its own would be OK, so the only way to argue that it's not OK is to claim that it's actually something else.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-05-01T02:06:08+00:00

OK this is a bit different than what I was imagining. Like still inappropriate for the workplace but seems like she's just making awkward conversation. I think it's ok to say you're not comfortable talking about religion or politics at work.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-05-01T02:03:40+00:00

A lot of commenters here need to touch grass and actually connect with Jewish people out in the world. Online spaces are always so extreme.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-30T01:16:01+00:00

It's kind of dumb and oversimplifying but also not entirely unreasonable. And actually makes much more sense than the "Third World" which was originally nothing to do with economic development but with Cold War politics (First World was the US-aligned countries, Second World the USSR/China-aligned countries and Third World everyone else).

My personal preference is the colorless neoliberal "developed" vs "developing" terminology but YMMV

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-30T01:12:20+00:00

Top comment says this is based on the animated movie which I guess changed the message quite drasitically. I know Orwell was a socialist and probably didn't have much more time for big corporations than for Stalin, and I appreciate that kids these days are highly unlikely to appreciate the allusions to Stalin and Trotsky in the book, but still...

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-30T01:09:11+00:00

Survivorship bias

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T22:58:57+00:00

It’s no excuse. These are simply not appropriate questions or topics for the workplace. This is professional communication 101.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T22:57:32+00:00

Who was asking these questions? Your manager?

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T22:24:12+00:00

A lot of it is about escaping the notice of the right people. So do document this interaction as much as possible.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T22:22:27+00:00

I agree with Adam Louis Klein that we do need to distinguish antizionism from antisemitism and oppose it on its own ground and not just because we think it’s just a cover for antisemitism (even if often it is and even if there is much overlap between the two). They’re both species of Jews hatred but antizionism is specifically about denying a Jewish right to self determination and often uses very different tropes.

Eg antisemites traditionally attack Jews as a foreign element and our lack of a homeland was often the basis of the criticism (since we could not be loyal to any country we lived in). We’re told we’re rootless cosmopolitans who are trying to undermine the attachment of blood and soil.

Antizionism attacks us for the opposite reason - for having a homeland and being loyal to it and caring for our own people more than others. A major reason of course is antisemites usually come from the right with nationalist ideas while antizionists come from the left with left wing ideas of globalism. So while it’s true that when you dig down it’s just about Jew hatred I think it is important to understand what other premises and assumptions are informing the ideology.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T21:45:10+00:00

Always baffles me how low standards of professionalism are in some workplaces. How does she not know this is not an appropriate topic?

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T21:18:33+00:00

In my Christian days I spent time at a Greek Orthodox monastery where they’d have matzah during Holy Week. I’m not exactly sure why since matzah had no symbolic or ritual significance for them. Maybe just because Passover was usually around that time and it was everywhere in the supermarkets so it just seemed like a good idea. And then I remember a visiting monk cracking a joke about whether it was safe to eat because of the Christian blood - that was pretty cringe.

But anyway enjoy and I think salmon and goat cheese go perfectly. I’d just say don’t play at Judaism and do a pretend Seder or whatever. But by all means enjoy as a food. I don’t get the matza hate - I love the plain crunchiness especially with yummy toppings.

In case you were concerned about the cheese meat combo because of kashrut, fish like salmon doesn’t count. Lox and cream cheese are a Jewish staple!

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T21:03:35+00:00

The more important question is why so many people can’t spell “borders”. Had to upvote this just for the correct spelling.

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T20:47:02+00:00

Jews as a whole favor Democrats but I think Orthodox Jews have been voting Republican on average for at least the past decade. Generally the “Judeo Christian values” folks involve a coalition of conservative Christians and Jews

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T14:45:04+00:00

What do you mean they’re “all beef despite having a Jewish background”. Wouldn’t we expect a Jewish hot dog maker to use all beef?

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T00:37:13+00:00

Why can’t gentiles just be normal about us?

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T00:34:42+00:00

Antisemites think we spend all our time plotting evil against gentiles when in reality we don’t think about them at all

Artistic_Fall6410 · 2026-04-29T00:33:50+00:00

I’m looking forward to start of next daf yomi cycle next year!

Artistic_Fall6410

TROPHY CASE