I have to wonder if you're getting paid by the pejorative 😀.
It's true that there are relatively few Israelis now who are either anti-capitalist or anti-Jewish state or that trust the Arabs. Those are the sorts of Left that I can think of offhand, so my use of the term was imprecise. I was thinking basically of the Ashkenazi aristocracy,…
I have to wonder if you're getting paid by the pejorative 😀.
It's true that there are relatively few Israelis now who are either anti-capitalist or anti-Jewish state or that trust the Arabs. Those are the sorts of Left that I can think of offhand, so my use of the term was imprecise. I was thinking basically of the Ashkenazi aristocracy, which is the social group that gave rise to those movements.
Aside from that, though, is there anything substantive wrong with what I wrote?
Glad to hear you appreciate my pejoratives, they don't do this government justice ;) In reality (and full irony) Netanyahu is the poster boy for the wealthy, secular, Ashkenazi elite. How he became the champion of the lower class, less well-educated, traditional Mizrachim from the "peripheria" is a mystery to me and deserves its own masters thesis. The parallels between the core voter bases of Netanyahu and Trump - along with their 'conspicuous consumption' and jet-setting lifestyles - are fascinating.
Whereas the wealthy Mapainiks are models of frugality and humble living.
Anyway, if we're comparing voter bases, the protester demographic is essentially parallel to folks in the 'States that are cheering for Hamas, so there's that. This is evidenced, btw, by the fact that our academics wrote open letters of how they feel betrayed by their foreign counterparts, whom they had considered colleagues and friends.
In other "ethical" news, wealthy backers of the protest movement were explicit about their intention to tank the local economy, which would not affect the lifestyle of their people but would force the poor to do their bidding. I remember when oppressing the poor was considered bad form.
Wealthy Mapainiks? How many of those live in luxury seaside palaces in Caesaria? I think you're about 30 years out of date. The upper class consists of wealthy immigrants and high tech gurus who - while perhaps not right wing - are far from the socialist dreamers of yesteryear. And nearly all are center/right when it comes to security, the Second Intifada having sounded the death knell for the Israeli left.
But no matter. Those high tech and all other professionals from basically every educated group in the country who opposed the reforms were well within their rights to warn of the disasterous consequences of an extremist far right /ultra Orthodox government holding unlimited power after eviscerating the judiciary, with an automatic 61 MK override, to legislate away any human/civil rights they wished. Remove the Arab right to vote? Mandate modesty rules for women in public? Remove LGBT rights? Pour an increasing percentage of taxpayer shekels into schools that refuse to teach basic education? Check, check, check and check.
Anyway, this government is finished and they know it.
I'm pretty sure the newspaper, construction and banking magnates are still with us.
And who questioned anybody's right to warn of anything? You ignored the points I made to repeat the protestor fever-dream of the reform.
The government may be finished and that may be a good thing. The protest was still a combination of plutocracy and mass hysteria, but nothing lasts forever and I assume we'll come back to the reform at some point.
Since when are those magnates old socialist Mapai members? It's a whole new world out there, Michael.
Your points? I didn't read any. But I guess I'm too picky (or jaded, take your pick).
The "reforms" presented by this government - a blatant power grab obvious to anyone with half a brain (okay, a quarter) are dead in the water, along with their proponents whose divisiveness, distraction and dysfunction definitely contributed to the success of the Oct 7 massacre (I just love accurate alliteration, don't you?). Legitimate and needed judicial reforms can and should be carefully negotiated and decided via consensus and compromise, and perhaps even a national referendum.
I have to wonder if you're getting paid by the pejorative 😀.
It's true that there are relatively few Israelis now who are either anti-capitalist or anti-Jewish state or that trust the Arabs. Those are the sorts of Left that I can think of offhand, so my use of the term was imprecise. I was thinking basically of the Ashkenazi aristocracy, which is the social group that gave rise to those movements.
Aside from that, though, is there anything substantive wrong with what I wrote?
Glad to hear you appreciate my pejoratives, they don't do this government justice ;) In reality (and full irony) Netanyahu is the poster boy for the wealthy, secular, Ashkenazi elite. How he became the champion of the lower class, less well-educated, traditional Mizrachim from the "peripheria" is a mystery to me and deserves its own masters thesis. The parallels between the core voter bases of Netanyahu and Trump - along with their 'conspicuous consumption' and jet-setting lifestyles - are fascinating.
Whereas the wealthy Mapainiks are models of frugality and humble living.
Anyway, if we're comparing voter bases, the protester demographic is essentially parallel to folks in the 'States that are cheering for Hamas, so there's that. This is evidenced, btw, by the fact that our academics wrote open letters of how they feel betrayed by their foreign counterparts, whom they had considered colleagues and friends.
In other "ethical" news, wealthy backers of the protest movement were explicit about their intention to tank the local economy, which would not affect the lifestyle of their people but would force the poor to do their bidding. I remember when oppressing the poor was considered bad form.
Wealthy Mapainiks? How many of those live in luxury seaside palaces in Caesaria? I think you're about 30 years out of date. The upper class consists of wealthy immigrants and high tech gurus who - while perhaps not right wing - are far from the socialist dreamers of yesteryear. And nearly all are center/right when it comes to security, the Second Intifada having sounded the death knell for the Israeli left.
But no matter. Those high tech and all other professionals from basically every educated group in the country who opposed the reforms were well within their rights to warn of the disasterous consequences of an extremist far right /ultra Orthodox government holding unlimited power after eviscerating the judiciary, with an automatic 61 MK override, to legislate away any human/civil rights they wished. Remove the Arab right to vote? Mandate modesty rules for women in public? Remove LGBT rights? Pour an increasing percentage of taxpayer shekels into schools that refuse to teach basic education? Check, check, check and check.
Anyway, this government is finished and they know it.
I'm pretty sure the newspaper, construction and banking magnates are still with us.
And who questioned anybody's right to warn of anything? You ignored the points I made to repeat the protestor fever-dream of the reform.
The government may be finished and that may be a good thing. The protest was still a combination of plutocracy and mass hysteria, but nothing lasts forever and I assume we'll come back to the reform at some point.
Since when are those magnates old socialist Mapai members? It's a whole new world out there, Michael.
Your points? I didn't read any. But I guess I'm too picky (or jaded, take your pick).
The "reforms" presented by this government - a blatant power grab obvious to anyone with half a brain (okay, a quarter) are dead in the water, along with their proponents whose divisiveness, distraction and dysfunction definitely contributed to the success of the Oct 7 massacre (I just love accurate alliteration, don't you?). Legitimate and needed judicial reforms can and should be carefully negotiated and decided via consensus and compromise, and perhaps even a national referendum.
Gotta go to bed. Nice chatting with you.