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vicarzUnable to keep my eyes open in front of books, the computer, and then the tv, I turned in around 10. I clicked on WETA a bit early. From 11-12 on Sundays they play spacey trippy music. It’s lovely to hear, and a quaalude to wrap up the weekend. Earlier they play folk music. I rarely like the sound of voices a cappella - though I often in ethnic and/or folk. Tonight the announcer let me know I was enjoying jewish lullabies. Well don’t I feel silly. Tired, but unable to sleep because I’m transfixed by lullabies. Oi. Oy? They were so beautiful. Not restful, but beautiful. I didn’t mind staying awake to hear them.
What is a jew? I remember wondering about that in grade school, realizing we got off these weird holidays. I liked potato pancakes. I had jewish friends, and not-friends. I couldn’t tell who was jewish, didn’t care...both are still the case. I thought a JAP was an Asian slur until I went to college, where UM quickly taught me the New Jersey version of that stereotype – and I hated it. Jews? You don’t have to be jewish to be a JAP, lesson #1. Or female. My first college roommate was a male JAP. Having a gay roommate could have been so fun, but no he was just a spoiled little shit. Ugh.
Jewish…is weird to me. Any group in the world that has ever been prejudiced has or currently does hate the jews. This amazes me. What the fuck is a jew? Why do people care about them? They, perhaps like the Irish, are not physically distinguishable from other populations. I didn’t know my jewish friends were jewish. I don’t often know now. A friend gave me a line that actually opened a whole new line of thought when she said “We’re a hairy little people” while she convinced me to switch razor brands based on her expensive full-body razor knowledge. This was not long ago. I now suspect that jews may be brunettes.
It’s hard not to have a jewish opinion right now, with the middle-east a bastion of love like it is. It’s cute how people with opinions about jews mask them with Israel opinions. I mean people do have plain old opinions on Israel – but if anyone actually has opinions about jews, they often emerge in Israel discussions. It’s rare that the term “Zionist” is used by anyone who isn’t prejudiced (my understanding is that the term and the 'doctrine' have been proven to be falsifications created by old-Russia in some campaign by...Lennin?). Israel is what made me start thinking that perhaps jewish culture is arrogant. I have negative Israel opinions, but like this country I’m not sure how much of what I see are the actions of right-wing leaders who aren’t supported by their populace. There is a sick part of me that would appreciate rounding up palestines in Israeli camps, oh the irony. Wow, that is a sick thought. Funny, but sick. Maybe I won’t post this after all.
I think I like jewish culture. I don’t know if I do, probably never will, probably will never care enough to actually find out, and that’s before we ignore the obvious point that any large group will be too diverse for convenient stereotypes to accurately describe. What I have picked up, right or wrong, is a strong belief in the importance of career success through education. Perhaps those are just the jews I know, but perhaps the stereotypical doc-tah or law-yeh jew is there for a reason? Accountants? I also know the stereotyping that was done by the germans pre WW2 which falsely accused ‘the jews’ of owning everything and shutting others out. Well shit, if you don’t have a law degree and work 80 hours a week, then perhaps you won’t be a well-paid attorney, figure that the fuck out. The views, properly attributed or not, toward the focus on education are consistent with my upbringing and current belief system.
On the other hand, I’ve rarely heard people that bothered to talk to me that were as dead-set in their religions views, or that believed that there was one answer that was so unquestionably right. That’s a weaker picture to me than the focus on education, but one that’s rather troublesome given the state of Israel. Lovely situation where both sides are so dead-set in their righteousness. I think I like the ‘not interested in visiting that place’ American jews. Hmm, ‘American’ auto-corrects to capital while jew does not. I don’t capitalize xtian either - no religion is worth reaching for the shift key.
So, these aren’t valuable opinions. I just felt like voicing things I know and don’t about jews, which is to say – not much. I don’t care much either. That whole god and old-new testament concept lost me with the xtians, similarly religion interests me little except as a thing that makes people act weird. Technically jews are some sort of Christian-like thing, pre-dating, just not…wow Christian auto-corrects but jew doesn’t. See, prejudice aigh! Let’s try muslim, ah that didn’t correct either. If I do quaker, nope not that one. Is buddhist? MS is prejudiced as hell!
All that writing, the edge of a controversial subject, and nothing came. Lots of incomplete thoughts, most bordering on racist sounding opinions. Not the work I was hoping for.
I wrote this weeks ago, and think today I’ll actually post it. I thought about it again the other day while listening to a book review on NPR, written by a jewish woman that had gone and interviewed many terrorist leaders - some of whom had later died in Israeli strikes. One of the things she pointed out was that there was no outright hate shown to her by the people who led these anti-jewish groups. The other VERY INTERESTING note was that many of them in foreign countries had never even _met_ a jew. They didn’t know jews, but hated them based on misrepresented beliefs about how ‘they own everything and control the world.’
Ignorance is hatred, or a close cousin to it. Maybe my experience is why people hate ‘the jews,’ they don’t know who they are. The jews might represent an invisible enemy, so whatever is wrong you can blame on the jews. In areas where there is poverty, unemployment, and general desperation - they would love to have an enemy to hate, and the INVISIBLE ZIONIST CONSPIRACY is a great rallying cry. Of course the real enemies are those people that take the energy of discontent and turn it into a violent force - not trying to do any good, but using the turmoil to propel themselves to positions of status and power. If you don’t have an enemy to draw you together, just create one! They don’t even have to be real!
It’s funny blaming the jews for the world’s problems, when in reality it’s really the republican frat boys that are doing it! That’s right bitch - I’ve learned NOTHING MUA HA HA HA!
Am I the Al, or the anti-Al? I love black and white.
Yesterday I pissed people off and was totally surprised. If talking about THE JEWS pisses people off, at least the reactions are somewhat understandable.
What is a jew? I remember wondering about that in grade school, realizing we got off these weird holidays. I liked potato pancakes. I had jewish friends, and not-friends. I couldn’t tell who was jewish, didn’t care...both are still the case. I thought a JAP was an Asian slur until I went to college, where UM quickly taught me the New Jersey version of that stereotype – and I hated it. Jews? You don’t have to be jewish to be a JAP, lesson #1. Or female. My first college roommate was a male JAP. Having a gay roommate could have been so fun, but no he was just a spoiled little shit. Ugh.
Jewish…is weird to me. Any group in the world that has ever been prejudiced has or currently does hate the jews. This amazes me. What the fuck is a jew? Why do people care about them? They, perhaps like the Irish, are not physically distinguishable from other populations. I didn’t know my jewish friends were jewish. I don’t often know now. A friend gave me a line that actually opened a whole new line of thought when she said “We’re a hairy little people” while she convinced me to switch razor brands based on her expensive full-body razor knowledge. This was not long ago. I now suspect that jews may be brunettes.
It’s hard not to have a jewish opinion right now, with the middle-east a bastion of love like it is. It’s cute how people with opinions about jews mask them with Israel opinions. I mean people do have plain old opinions on Israel – but if anyone actually has opinions about jews, they often emerge in Israel discussions. It’s rare that the term “Zionist” is used by anyone who isn’t prejudiced (my understanding is that the term and the 'doctrine' have been proven to be falsifications created by old-Russia in some campaign by...Lennin?). Israel is what made me start thinking that perhaps jewish culture is arrogant. I have negative Israel opinions, but like this country I’m not sure how much of what I see are the actions of right-wing leaders who aren’t supported by their populace. There is a sick part of me that would appreciate rounding up palestines in Israeli camps, oh the irony. Wow, that is a sick thought. Funny, but sick. Maybe I won’t post this after all.
I think I like jewish culture. I don’t know if I do, probably never will, probably will never care enough to actually find out, and that’s before we ignore the obvious point that any large group will be too diverse for convenient stereotypes to accurately describe. What I have picked up, right or wrong, is a strong belief in the importance of career success through education. Perhaps those are just the jews I know, but perhaps the stereotypical doc-tah or law-yeh jew is there for a reason? Accountants? I also know the stereotyping that was done by the germans pre WW2 which falsely accused ‘the jews’ of owning everything and shutting others out. Well shit, if you don’t have a law degree and work 80 hours a week, then perhaps you won’t be a well-paid attorney, figure that the fuck out. The views, properly attributed or not, toward the focus on education are consistent with my upbringing and current belief system.
On the other hand, I’ve rarely heard people that bothered to talk to me that were as dead-set in their religions views, or that believed that there was one answer that was so unquestionably right. That’s a weaker picture to me than the focus on education, but one that’s rather troublesome given the state of Israel. Lovely situation where both sides are so dead-set in their righteousness. I think I like the ‘not interested in visiting that place’ American jews. Hmm, ‘American’ auto-corrects to capital while jew does not. I don’t capitalize xtian either - no religion is worth reaching for the shift key.
So, these aren’t valuable opinions. I just felt like voicing things I know and don’t about jews, which is to say – not much. I don’t care much either. That whole god and old-new testament concept lost me with the xtians, similarly religion interests me little except as a thing that makes people act weird. Technically jews are some sort of Christian-like thing, pre-dating, just not…wow Christian auto-corrects but jew doesn’t. See, prejudice aigh! Let’s try muslim, ah that didn’t correct either. If I do quaker, nope not that one. Is buddhist? MS is prejudiced as hell!
All that writing, the edge of a controversial subject, and nothing came. Lots of incomplete thoughts, most bordering on racist sounding opinions. Not the work I was hoping for.
I wrote this weeks ago, and think today I’ll actually post it. I thought about it again the other day while listening to a book review on NPR, written by a jewish woman that had gone and interviewed many terrorist leaders - some of whom had later died in Israeli strikes. One of the things she pointed out was that there was no outright hate shown to her by the people who led these anti-jewish groups. The other VERY INTERESTING note was that many of them in foreign countries had never even _met_ a jew. They didn’t know jews, but hated them based on misrepresented beliefs about how ‘they own everything and control the world.’
Ignorance is hatred, or a close cousin to it. Maybe my experience is why people hate ‘the jews,’ they don’t know who they are. The jews might represent an invisible enemy, so whatever is wrong you can blame on the jews. In areas where there is poverty, unemployment, and general desperation - they would love to have an enemy to hate, and the INVISIBLE ZIONIST CONSPIRACY is a great rallying cry. Of course the real enemies are those people that take the energy of discontent and turn it into a violent force - not trying to do any good, but using the turmoil to propel themselves to positions of status and power. If you don’t have an enemy to draw you together, just create one! They don’t even have to be real!
It’s funny blaming the jews for the world’s problems, when in reality it’s really the republican frat boys that are doing it! That’s right bitch - I’ve learned NOTHING MUA HA HA HA!
Am I the Al, or the anti-Al? I love black and white.
Yesterday I pissed people off and was totally surprised. If talking about THE JEWS pisses people off, at least the reactions are somewhat understandable.
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Date: 2003-10-17 07:21 am (UTC)