Monday Media Review carries forward the work I'd intended to finish last Thursday. Today, we talk about a recent op-ed and its aftermath, as both reflect how difficult it is for many human beings to grasp the moral depravity we're living through.
War derangement diminishes us all--but differently. Do we have what it takes to "call in" the war-deranged humans all around us?
#Humanism #War #HumanBehaviour #Gaza
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/what-an-op-ed-and-its-aftermath-teaches
I'm so glad you decided to write about Jacobson’s op-ed because it really threw me for a loop, and I hadn't seen any responses to it.
Yes, the struggle to hang on to coherent stories about our identities at all costs is, as you say, a human matter. Focusing on "humanity writ large" doesn't come naturally or easily for most of us who haven't already made up our minds to make that a practice.
That's exactly it. It is a choice, and a *practice*.
I grew up with many Jewish classmates, and I watched them take very different paths in response to world events. Some Birthright trips really changed them, and one even went so orthodox in uni that he no longer touches even his sister - his mother & his wife, no more. Another went as hardcore Z as possible. Others poured themselves into Liberal & Reform lives, & do amazing uplift work in their communities.
There is *always* a range.
(But yes, I was also struck by the fact that Jacobson's piece just *hung* there, on Oct 6. Adler's reply came Oct 13, and Chotiner's article on Oct 14, but that's not a responsible way to have a conversation. The Guardian should have coordinated a roundtable instead, from the outset, if it wanted to tackle that fear. Irresponsible conduct from legacy media - though where's the shock in that?)