Monday, July 18, 2016

Right and Left, To Be Precise

Late last week....the Free University of Berlin published an interesting research project.

The university is not one that you hear an awful lot about.  It was created in 1948....to deal mostly with the humanities and social sciences.  It was sort of an alternate university in Berlin at the time....to the Humbolt University, which was becoming increasingly more pro-communist.  Today, they have around 35,000 students attending.

The topic of this project in question?  There is an increasing role of Antisemitism and anti-Jew rhetoric coming out of left-wing organizations in Germany.  Most Germans....particularly intellectuals and journalists....will say that it's practically all right-wing elements who are in the category of antisemitic.  Well....no, the study has concluded that the left-wing is also part of the growing issue.

The key issues by the left?  They find Jews to be attached to money episodes and greedy.  In some ways, it's the anti-capitalism game that most leftist and communists talk about.

In the end, the research group at the university concluded that it's only at a mild point today, and not active to the degree of creating a major political spiral.

What to take out of this study?  It really doesn't matter who you are talking to in Germany....in a group of a dozen people, it's likely that at least one or two will be in some form or another.....antisemitic or anti-Jew. They can claim right-wing status, or left-wing status.....it doesn't matter because the rhetoric supports their political view.  In the end, it is probably a certain amount of jealousy over financial accomplishments that gets this dragged into public view and deemed as antisemitism.

In some ways, the university did everyone a favor....to say that it's not a pure right-wing issue.  But for the intellectual crowd to explain this.....they will grin mostly and seem lost in the middle of a thought-process.  It's not easily explained.

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