Politics.
I usually don't talk about politics.
Hell, normally i'd go to great lengths to avoid even thinking about it - the main reason being that as little people, we rarely have the proper perspective or sufficient information to make an informed call - but i think i just need to get this off my chest.
Now, for those of you (and i know that are a few) who think Israel is a warzone, a third-world country full of refugees and suicide bombers where the best means of travel is via a camel -
you are sorely mistaken.
Israel is a budding euro-american clone. Our biggest cities are looking increasingly new-yorkish, the smaller, northern regions are european all the way, and there's a surprisingly big entertainment industry, not to mention a huge, budding market for hi-tec and fashion products.
No camels.
That said, you can't avoid the fact that this country is troubled - we deny it as we plow through our daily routines, but there's the military-equivalent of a picket fence separating us from a hostile nation-like guerilla.
Back in the day, not a week would go by without a bomb going off in some major venue. A major military operation goes down every 6 months or so.We all get drafted when we're 18. Our very own uncle sam has become something of a ranking system - your placement and performance in the military determines everything from future employment options to taxes to your driving license.
What's probably worst about this whole shenanigan is that we can never quite figure out who's fault this is.
When Jews started settling in Israel some 60 years ago, this was an Arab region. Then again, they never complained.
We set up our farms and provided steady employment for the local population until they realized there were quite a lot of us, and they don't like it.
Before that, historical findings suggest we've been here before them. This goes all the way back to the biblical era, but gets a bit foggy if you go back some more.
According to the bible - which is the only particular lasting record of those times - we came to Israel and 'liberated' it from the local populace.
Then again, if you believe the bible per sè, then we weren't going to Israel, we were returning here after having been forcefully evicted. The argument is redundant.
We can't reject the Palestinian right to form a country. We've been there before - we were fighting the british and turks for this land 60 years ago. History always repeats itself, and history says that they will get their country, whether we like it or not.
Then again, this is our land. whether it's rightly ours or not, you don't evict a whole country 60 years later because you suddenly remembered you own the premises. If they didn't bother speaking up when we first got here because they wanted our money, they sure as hell should keep their traps shut now.
We don't want them in Israel either. We're decidedly a Jewish country - that's part of the very definition of the place. Problem is that we're also trying to be democratic -
but seeing as we sport the average 2.4 children per household and Islamic nations, Palestinians included, are leaning more towards the 7 or 8 children per family, we can't be both Jewish and Democratic for long.
There's a lot of governmental instability in Israel. Since no one knows what to do, no one does anything - and when they do, they usually end up tripping over themselves. There's no faith in the government, no trust in the leading figures.
We keep switching, tilting between left and right wing. Pushovers and Fascists.
It's come down to a draw - the recent elections ended with a candidate who's victory was such a tight squeeze that although he was elected, he couldn't form a government because he simply didn't have enough supporters.
We ended up electing one candidate, then settling for the other.
Me? I think we got our priorities messed up.
I'm leaning toward the left wing. I think Palestinians deserve a place to live, and i think we're basing decisions on arbitrary prospects like honor and prerogative all too often.
That said, i'd rather have a fascist government than an indecisive one. Here's the thing;
2 years ago we entered Gaza, a strictly Palestinian zone, for the second time this past decade. We were forced to because the Palestinians living in the Gaza strip developed a nasty habit of bombing the adjacent Israeli cities out of spite, boredom and my personal favorite - Islamic honor, which translates, in western terms, to vengeance and fanaticism.
The first time around, we bombed some buildings we thought housed the culprits. We even went as far as to send infantry and armor in there, but we kept being held back by our own indecisiveness;
No one could say that the smart thing to do was to pull out of there and leave them be - it was quite obviously a mistake as nothing was really resolved - but no one could bring themselves to pull the trigger either.
And so, we sat there and waited. Then we left, convincing ourselves that the big, purple elephant isn't really there.
Naturally, five years later we had to go back in when the shit hit the fan.
This time, we went in too hard, and nearly flattened half the area. No one wanted to claim responsibility for the people who would die if we just sat there and waited a second time.
Now, a solid left wing government might have avoided entering Gaza in the first place - but a solid right wing, fascist government would have spared us going in a second time.
This is one example in many, and it's always the same - our indecisiveness is our greatest enemy, and causes the most damage.
Fascism isn't wrong or right - it is, as everything else is, a choice. A decision.
All this supposedly 'enlightened' talk of civil rights and the value of human life is great when you can afford it, but let's be honest - most of us are better off dead. The value of human life amounts to shit, and sacrificing lives for the greater good isn't wrong - it's just harder.
Would that someone had the balls to admit it.
Hell, normally i'd go to great lengths to avoid even thinking about it - the main reason being that as little people, we rarely have the proper perspective or sufficient information to make an informed call - but i think i just need to get this off my chest.
Now, for those of you (and i know that are a few) who think Israel is a warzone, a third-world country full of refugees and suicide bombers where the best means of travel is via a camel -
you are sorely mistaken.
Israel is a budding euro-american clone. Our biggest cities are looking increasingly new-yorkish, the smaller, northern regions are european all the way, and there's a surprisingly big entertainment industry, not to mention a huge, budding market for hi-tec and fashion products.
No camels.
That said, you can't avoid the fact that this country is troubled - we deny it as we plow through our daily routines, but there's the military-equivalent of a picket fence separating us from a hostile nation-like guerilla.
Back in the day, not a week would go by without a bomb going off in some major venue. A major military operation goes down every 6 months or so.We all get drafted when we're 18. Our very own uncle sam has become something of a ranking system - your placement and performance in the military determines everything from future employment options to taxes to your driving license.
What's probably worst about this whole shenanigan is that we can never quite figure out who's fault this is.
When Jews started settling in Israel some 60 years ago, this was an Arab region. Then again, they never complained.
We set up our farms and provided steady employment for the local population until they realized there were quite a lot of us, and they don't like it.
Before that, historical findings suggest we've been here before them. This goes all the way back to the biblical era, but gets a bit foggy if you go back some more.
According to the bible - which is the only particular lasting record of those times - we came to Israel and 'liberated' it from the local populace.
Then again, if you believe the bible per sè, then we weren't going to Israel, we were returning here after having been forcefully evicted. The argument is redundant.
We can't reject the Palestinian right to form a country. We've been there before - we were fighting the british and turks for this land 60 years ago. History always repeats itself, and history says that they will get their country, whether we like it or not.
Then again, this is our land. whether it's rightly ours or not, you don't evict a whole country 60 years later because you suddenly remembered you own the premises. If they didn't bother speaking up when we first got here because they wanted our money, they sure as hell should keep their traps shut now.
We don't want them in Israel either. We're decidedly a Jewish country - that's part of the very definition of the place. Problem is that we're also trying to be democratic -
but seeing as we sport the average 2.4 children per household and Islamic nations, Palestinians included, are leaning more towards the 7 or 8 children per family, we can't be both Jewish and Democratic for long.
There's a lot of governmental instability in Israel. Since no one knows what to do, no one does anything - and when they do, they usually end up tripping over themselves. There's no faith in the government, no trust in the leading figures.
We keep switching, tilting between left and right wing. Pushovers and Fascists.
It's come down to a draw - the recent elections ended with a candidate who's victory was such a tight squeeze that although he was elected, he couldn't form a government because he simply didn't have enough supporters.
We ended up electing one candidate, then settling for the other.
Me? I think we got our priorities messed up.
I'm leaning toward the left wing. I think Palestinians deserve a place to live, and i think we're basing decisions on arbitrary prospects like honor and prerogative all too often.
That said, i'd rather have a fascist government than an indecisive one. Here's the thing;
2 years ago we entered Gaza, a strictly Palestinian zone, for the second time this past decade. We were forced to because the Palestinians living in the Gaza strip developed a nasty habit of bombing the adjacent Israeli cities out of spite, boredom and my personal favorite - Islamic honor, which translates, in western terms, to vengeance and fanaticism.
The first time around, we bombed some buildings we thought housed the culprits. We even went as far as to send infantry and armor in there, but we kept being held back by our own indecisiveness;
No one could say that the smart thing to do was to pull out of there and leave them be - it was quite obviously a mistake as nothing was really resolved - but no one could bring themselves to pull the trigger either.
And so, we sat there and waited. Then we left, convincing ourselves that the big, purple elephant isn't really there.
Naturally, five years later we had to go back in when the shit hit the fan.
This time, we went in too hard, and nearly flattened half the area. No one wanted to claim responsibility for the people who would die if we just sat there and waited a second time.
Now, a solid left wing government might have avoided entering Gaza in the first place - but a solid right wing, fascist government would have spared us going in a second time.
This is one example in many, and it's always the same - our indecisiveness is our greatest enemy, and causes the most damage.
Fascism isn't wrong or right - it is, as everything else is, a choice. A decision.
All this supposedly 'enlightened' talk of civil rights and the value of human life is great when you can afford it, but let's be honest - most of us are better off dead. The value of human life amounts to shit, and sacrificing lives for the greater good isn't wrong - it's just harder.
Would that someone had the balls to admit it.