Cynicism and Wake Up Calls: World War I, Vietnam, October 7th
Opinion: The following article is commentary and its views are solely those of the author. This article was first published the 20th of July via The Angry Demagogue.
Europe and the UK had WWI, the United States had Vietnam. Israel had the birth of the post-Zionist left in the wake up call that was the Yom Kippur War, and now (learning that the wake up call did not last) the events of October 7 have demanded that the country face new challenges – intellectually, politically and socially.
The Challenge of October 7: Part 1 – Introduction
World War I and Vietnam gave birth to the cynicism and inferiority complex to Europe and the United States respectively that has reached its nadir in the contemporary West. The utter lack of self-confidence in the traditions, virtues and ideas that moved the West forward from ancient Athens and Jerusalem to the Middle Ages to the enlightenment and on to the computer age. As technology moved forward, the ideas that underpinned it retreated to a nihilistic denial of the monotheistic idea that is the basis of all Western life.
Today’s engineers, physicists, humanists and social scientists miss the historical arc that moves from Plato and Aristotle’s break from paganism and the Jewish intellectual monotheistic heritage from late Biblical and post-Biblical times through the Church Fathers and the medieval Jewish, Christian and Moslem thinkers to our current times. The bits and bytes of the computer age didn’t just happen to be created in this cultural milieu. That is not to say that the monotheistic religions over the past 2,500 years have not held back important thinkers, caused wars and acted (shall we say, pagan-like?) over this time. They have. Each of the monotheistic religions have something to atone for, as do great Eastern religions – Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism in their various forms. And no one can deny that in addition to freedom and scientific advances, the Western tradition also created evils such as fascism, Nazism and communism.
Racism, slavery and misogyny existed throughout history in all cultures and while it was the Judeo-Christian tradition that finally ended at least the “acceptance” of these practices, they seem to rear their ugly heads again and again. We see that in the rebound of antisemitism in polite society.
The fundamentalists of all religions and ideologies unable to live with the belief that what they hold dear can be challenged and therefore we have before us various post-modern narratives instead of historical honesty. In my own religion, the fundamentalists go so far as to deny that a great rabbi ever visited a Jewish library and read the stories of a non-religious Jewish writer. The hagiography and insistence that “the greats” never sinned is part and parcel of the fundamentalist narrative and is due at least as much to the same loss of self-confidence that the secular world has endured as it is to blind belief. On the other side, we have “great” historians who create theories that belittle ancient truths with as much scientific proof as the ancient traditions themselves.
In Israel, as we stated before, the Yom Kippur War was the shock that told the elites that maybe they were mistaken in their Zionism and that a new post-Zionist, post-nationalist, European style country is what should replace the pioneering, self-sacrificing, idealistic country that had been built. They looked at Western Europe and saw a peaceful, prosperous continent and wanted to copy it. What they ignored of course was the beginnings of a demographic crisis, the total dependence for their defense on the United States, and most importantly a loss of creativity and energy that comes with the cynicism and exhaustion of a continent that went through two world wars and was free only because outside powers fought their occupiers and tormentors. Half the continent was still under occupation of course in 1945, but that did not affect the post-Zionist worship of the free half then under the nihilistic force of post-modernism.
After the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli establishment and not only the establishment was ready to move on from the Zionism and Judaism that formed the basis of the Jewish and democratic state in order to move it from its pariah-hood in its own neighborhood. The lure of peace and stability and the hope of a comfortable future was put in the hands of those who felt it was Israeli pride and self-respect that was the reason why the country could not live in peace with its neighbors. Shimon Peres, the tactician, par excellence, who was more responsible for building up the IDF than any other single person, decided to turn into a strategist and went so far as to oppose the study of history in schools. Only forward-looking people need apply.
October 7 has brought the country to another crisis of confidence, but the consensus that is being established is neither a return to the post-Six Day War euphoria nor the post Yom Kippur War depression. Over the coming few days we will examine the intellectual, political, military, diplomatic, cultural, social and economic changes that the post-October 7 country is forcing on the old leadership of both the left and right, the religious, fundamentalist and secular. The current election battle is being fought along the old lines, but the country is moving away from them. It could be that the change will come in this October election, but it may take more time until the leadership is changed and the discussion moves from the old battle lines to new, unknown disagreements.
Over the next few days, we will examine the changes that need to happen in order for Israel to deal with the trauma and, dare we say, opportunities that the failure of October 7 has brought.
Disclaimer: the views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of the author, and not necessarily the opinions reflected by angrymetatraders.com or its associated parties.
Follow Ira Slomowitz via The Angry Demagogue on Substack https://iraslomowitz.substack.com/