Why Jews Should Not Be Liberals Read online

  WHY JEWS

  SHOULD

  NOT BE

  LIBERALS

  WHY JEWS

  SHOULD

  NOT BE

  LIBERALS

  Larry F Sternberg

  To my wife, Ellie, whose support encouraged me

  to complete this writing

  Contents

  Introduction

  How It All Began ... A Brief Outline

  Judaism and Conservatism ................................ 17

  Why American Jews Are Still Liberals ....................... 25

  Wealth, Guilt, And Its Political Effects

  Anti-Semitism and the Religious Right ...................... 41

  Jewish Charity, a Liberal Exclusive? ........................ 53

  Charity or Justice ... What Is More Jewish? .................. 61

  To Be Just Like the Christians .............................. 67

  Jews and the Free Market (Capitalism) ....................... 77

  Jewish Voting Patterns .................................... 91

  Liberals' Belief in the Magic Powers of Government ........... 99

  Jewish Leadership ...................................... 113

  Who Are the True Friends of the Jews? ..................... 121

  Liberals, the Jewish Family, and Abortion ................... 129

  Education, the Liberal Influence ........................... 139

  Jewish Liberals and Morality ............................. 149

  Jews, Liberals, and Individual Responsibility ................. 157

  Affirmative Action (Race Preference) ....................... 171

  Liberals, Guns, and Jews ................................. 179

  The Politics of Class Warfare ............................. 187

  Liberals and Universal Healthcare ......................... 193

  Importance of Jews Changing Their Political Positions ......... 199

  Other Issues ........................................... 205

  Socialism, Liberalism, and American Jews ................... 213

  The 80/20 Principle and Politics ........................... 219

  The Possible Downside of a Political Change ................ 225

  Conclusion ............................................ 231

  Post Script - 15 December 2000 ........................... 239

  Post Script - 21 October 2004 ............................. 245

  Selected Bibliography ................................... 251

  Introduction

  Why Jews Should Not Be Liberals was introduced to the public in mid-August 2001. Within one month, the world changed with the horrendous attacks on our nation via the World Trade and Pentagon homicides on 9/11/01. For the first time in our nation's two-hundredplus-year history, aside from the brief incursion by our British friends in the War of 1812, we Americans experienced some fear that we were vulnerable in our homes from an external menace. This fear led to our president and Congress taking some precipitous actions. The Homeland Security Act passed, we changed our airport people and processes, as a nation we became more alert to potential dangers from enemies located within our borders, and we instituted an aggressive campaign to root out terrorists wherever they might be, culminating in our victorious military campaign to oust the ruthless Taliban group from Afghanistan.

  Then beginning in mid-March 2003, we waged a brilliant military strike to remove the hated Saddam Hussein as dictator over the 24 million citizens of Iraq. The first phase of this lightning air and ground attack resulted in the capture of Baghdad in three weeks. What has followed is a more lengthy struggle to rid that nation of the remaining supporters of that vicious dictator, and to find the plans and programs related to Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction. It is no easy task to take a country the size of Iraq, living under the tyranny of Hussein for over twenty years, and turn it into a working democracy, but with our allies, notably Great Britain, we shall persevere until the task is completed. The capture of Hussein in December 2003 probably marked the beginning of the end of the terrorist resistance to our liberation of Iraq's people.

  As our military casualties mounted during the struggle to free the Iraqi people, many of our citizens, plus those of other nations, began to question the wisdom of our war to depose the Iraqi dictator. It is only natural that we cringe as more of our brave soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen suffer death and injury. Some people even began to liken our campaign in Iraq to the ill-fated one in Vietnam during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The fact that there is truly no comparison between these two wars, as far as numbers of casualties, opposition to our forces from the native population, and the reasons for our pursuing this war, seems to get lost in the criticisms being reported daily in our media.

  Also forgotten most of the time is the fact that we are now engaged in a real war against a real enemy, and that to win that war we must pursue that enemy wherever it resides, and destroy it before it can wreak more damage against us. That enemy, which truly surfaced on 9/11/01, consisting of radical Muslim terrorists, does seek to destroy our way of life. Those countries that harbor and give aid to that enemy must in turn be made to change, by either military or other means. We need to remember that when we were fighting the evil of Communism, we did not hesitate to protect those nations that seemed to be in danger of being overcome by that worldwide menace. There was then no meaningful "anti-anti-Communist" movement here. Gradually more of our citizens will come to recognize that we are today fighting a similar or even, in some ways, a more dangerous enemy.

  While the campaign in Iraq slowly progresses, it occurred to me in preparing this second edition that I should ask myself some questions about the theme of this book. Have the events of recent years affected the thinking and general political attitude of American Jews'? Has there been any meaningful change in their perception of who are the true friends and enemies of the Jews? Is there any more substance to the argument that modern liberalism no longer reflects the traditions and principles of Judaism'? At this point in time, my answers would have to be a mixture of yeses and nos.

  If one judges by the rhetoric coming from the leaders of the Democratic party, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Howard Dean, Albert Gore, and their recent presidential candidate, John Kerry, one would have to conclude that if Jews are listening to these folks and are influenced by them, there has been no change. The Democratic party line has been to degrade and disparage the efforts of President Bush to remove Saddam Hussein as a menace to his own people, his neighbors, and eventually our own nation.

  The concept of removing a great evil in this world, a belief that should be foremost in the hearts of most Americans, and in particular Jews, is somehow being omitted from the Democrats' analysis of our actions. They seem only to be interested in whether we were bowing to the wishes of the principle-less French and Germans, or the ineffective United Nations, in our drive to defeat our enemies. It should be noted that the one Jew who was a Democratic contender, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, did stay with his Jewish principles of removing evil by consistently supporting President Bush and our war to end Saddam's tyranny.

  American Jews appeared to support our war to liberate Iraq in as mild a manner as possible. Slightly more than a majority, according to the polls, were strongly in favor of our initial military action. As the war progressed successfully, there was an upswing in this support, but as events turned murky in the rehabilitation of that country, predictably that support again drifted back to neutral or worse. True, Senator Lieberman remained a stalwart in his support of our president, and other Jewish senators, Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California, reluctantly c
ame aboard with their temporary support, which in Boxer's case soon faded as our casualties increased. In no way did their actions come close to the strong and unwavering support coming from our Christian allies, Tom DeLay, Gary Bauer, Newt Gingrich, and other prominent Republicans. (As an aside, I continue to hope that Senator Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, will one day awaken to the fact that based on his religion and some of his policies, he now finds himself in the wrong party and that he would feel much more at home among the Republicans.)

  Even though several pundits characterized this war against Iraq as one instigated by the "Jewish neo-conservatives" prominent in the Republican administration, there seemed to be little recognition of this claim among the Reform and Conservative Jews. Their vision of the relationship between their politics and their Judaism remained cloudy. There were few if any voices among their ranks saying that this was a just war truly in keeping with the traditional Jewish principle of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world and ridding it of human evil.

  If they were listening to the major networks and CNN and reading the New York Times or Los Angeles Times, they considered our victory in Iraq and our continuing successes in rooting out terrorism wherever we found it relatively unimportant events, compared to the liberals' main struggles for affirmative action, unlimited abortion, gay rights, gun control, and preserving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling for oil. These latter issues were what was really critical to our national survival, according to the liberals, and the war against radical Muslim terrorists, who were our real enemy, was merely an unwanted sideshow.

  Here and there were some faint stirrings of Jews who seemed to be getting the message. Democrats talked a good game but, as so well illustrated by President Clinton's eight years, accomplished little. Only when the rough-talking and acting-from-principle George W. Bush took office, and we were struck in our gut with the suicide planes, was action finally taken. Eventually some former left-leaning Jews caught on, as evidenced by an increasing number of particularly younger Jews slowly evolving and claiming they were switching parties. Whether this change will sustain itself through the next round of elections remains to be seen.

  The acceptance of our Christian friends as true allies of Israel, and not as rivals competing for the religious affiliation of our children, also seems to be gaining ground. When Gary Bauer, a leading Christian spokesman, was given several standing ovations by the fairly representative Jewish group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), this seemed to signal the change that was occurring within at least some Jewish ranks. Monumental changes come slowly, but a beginning is always welcome when it seems to be headed in the right direction.

  So where do we go from here`? As far as the basic thrust of my hook goes, there is little I would change in this new edition. True it is that the hoped-for federal surpluses have not as yet materialized, but my argument as to how those funds should be handled when they come to be remains sound. I could devote more time and space to describing the radical Muslim menace we face, but this subject is being written about with much greater detail and clarity than I could possibly provide. The struggle of Israel to secure its place among the nations of the world continues and again is being reported on daily. There is little I can add to this subject other than to point out that the strongest supporters of Israel in this country remain the Evangelical Christians, and not the politically liberal American Jews.

  As to the reaction to the initial edition of my book, certainly the positive comments I have received from such notables as Dr. Milton Friedman, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Gerardo Joffe, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, David Horowitz, Michael Medved, as well as rank-and-file Jews from all over the nation give me confidence that my message deserves attention from the vast number of American Jews, and non-Jews as well.

  I hope that this second edition will generate new interest among the reading public and that the message contained herein will stimulate additional writings on this subject from authors more well known than me. Freedom is not free, and we American Jews must be ever mindful of the blessings we enjoy living in these free and wonderful and Godblessed United States of America.

  WHY JEWS

  SHOULD

  NOT BE

  LIBERALS

  HOLD IT ALL BEGAN...

  A BRIEF OUTLINE

  Although the actual writing of this book began near the end of the twentieth century, and is not being completed until the twenty-first century is upon us, the thoughts it contains have actually been gestating for more than thirty years. Sometime after moving behind the "Orange Curtain" in Orange County, California, and becoming exposed to the then radically conservative views of that area, I became somewhat obsessed with the idea that the Jews of America must become political conservatives, and abandon their long-held politically liberal support. In order to accomplish this' Herculean feat, what was needed was to find politically conservative rabbis with whom I could associate and learn from and perhaps teach what I already had learned about the conservative philosophy. Thus began my quest for such rabbis.

  To my great disappointment, I found only one at that time, Rabbi Judah Glasner of Los Angeles, an Orthodox rabbi with a small congregation in southeast Los Angeles, some fifty miles from our home. For several years, my wife and I, and occasionally our two preteen kids, made the pilgrimage on Friday nights to lend our support to the good rabbi, whose Orthodox services were conducted in Hebrew, a language we have never mastered. At that time I would discuss with the rabbi, my goal of converting American Jews to the conservative cause. He was always in full agreement and we tried through various methods to create such an intellectual and spiritual organization to achieve that goal. Alas, after a few years, the needs of supporting a family and pursuing a career, plus the rabbi's fragile health, resulted only in minimal results, and eventually abandoning that worthy cause. Still the desire to enlighten my fellow American Jews continued to beat within my heart. Today, with more leisure time at my disposal, and with perhaps some additional insight, this writing finally sees the light of day.

  I approach this effort sporting no great credentials as either a biblical scholar or as one who has achieved great renown in the business and professional world. My professional career began as a certified public accountant back in the late 1950s, after spending three and a half years as a naval officer during the Korean War. Most of my business life was spent working as a financial officer for various small- to medium-size privately owned companies, two of which did succeed in going public during the 1980s. I have been fairly active politically, running for office twice without success on the Republican ticket.

  However, I have devoted considerable time to the study of economics and political philosophy, and have evolved over the years from an "Eisenhower Republican" into what I would now describe as a "conservative voluntarist." I define this to mean one who believes that most beneficial results in this world come about through the voluntary actions of people acting in their own enlightened self-interest. On that point there is an interesting quotation from Samuel Gompers, a Jew, and the one who is generally credited to be the founder of the American Federation of Labor and the American union labor movement. Gompers, a cigar maker, said in 1920 at his last AFL convention, "I want to urge devotion to fundamentals of human liberty, the principles of voluntarism. No lasting gain has ever come from compulsion. If we seek to force, we but tear apart that which united, is invincible." Oh, for such leadersunion or management-who would advocate those sentiments today.

  After moving to Orange County, California in the early 1960s, I became influenced by the publications of FEE, the Foundation for Economic Education, founded by a great political philosopher, Leonard Read. Since 1946, this organization has brought to the attention of the world the brilliant writings of Ludwig Von Mises, Henry Hazlitt, Frederich Von Hayek, Frederick Bastiat, and other expositors of free market, limited government, and private property principles. I have learned more from reading the various publications of FEE and attending their occasio
nal seminars, than I have from any other source. I am somewhat surprised that many of my conservative friends are still not aware of this wonderful organization.

  Thus, I am basically a literary amateur with a fairly solid foundation in free market economics, a rudimentary knowledge of Jewish law and tradition, but endowed with a burning desire to transmit a message to primarily American Jews, that their political and societal goals will best be achieved by abandoning the phony liberal gospel they have been indoctrinated with these past two generations. I also hope this writing will assist our Christian friends to understand why Jews have been so liberal these past two generations, and what it will take for them to change. The message I hope to transmit, using the words and thoughts of people far more learned than I, is that if one believes in his or her own Jewish religion, its traditions and laws, that politically, an American Jew must become a political conservative or libertarian or voluntarist, and not a liberal.

  One problem I encountered as I began to write this book is that each day seemed to open new vistas for me to explore in order to render as complete a writing as possible. There is an enormous amount of reference material that could yield me new insights to reinforce my basic theme that American Jews should not be political liberals. From the Talmud to the Torah, to the assorted authors of magazine articles and prestigious books, there are pearls of wisdom and insight to study. Still, if I was ever going to complete this task, I needed to close off somewhere, without having researched much of the relevant material. Thus I plead my case that, for whatever it is worth, the words contained herein represent my best and latest thinking as of the date this book finally surfaces.

  Before we get into defining what modern liberals believe and practice, a few words about conservatives and conservatism.