Modern Anti-Semitism

[Alan B]

At least Sean will Satan free...

[Svartalf]

I wish my French was good enough to read Sartre in the original. Like rather a lot of french ‘philosophers’ he comes over as overblown, verbose and too wordy to be taken seriously in English. I can never shake of the image of guys like him holding court and having it large in cafes filled with Gauloises smoke and red wine fumes.

Blasphemy in some circles I know!

Sartre WAS an overblown ande verbose blower of hot air. you only had to o^pen one of his books to have Dirty Hands and Nausea.

[L'Emmerdeur]

When I was young I read Nausea and found it a genuinely entertaining bit of philosophical black comedy. Whether that was intentional on Sartre's part or it was purely a result of my callow/youthfully cynical outlook, I still don't know.

[Rum]

I just found the existentialists agonised over the pointlessness of life and stuff far too much.

The French way I guess.

[Brian Peacock]

That's just what philosophers do. What does it all mean I ask you? What does it all mean?

Either way, I think Sartre's essay is interesting, considering it was started under Nazi occupation, and that the bit I quoted was 'bang on point,' as the yoof say.

[L'Emmerdeur]

I agree--the bad faith 'what? it's only a joke, and you're getting all bent out of shape over my sly little memes' schtick of the alt-right is straight out of the playbook Sartre was describing.

[Rum]

That's just what philosophers do. What does it all mean I ask you? What does it all mean?

Either way, I think Sartre's essay is interesting, considering it was started under Nazi occupation, and that the bit I quoted was 'bang on point,' as the yoof say.

He fails to include the scapegoating element though and how powerful that was. Having read around the subject some years ago the degree of effort Goebbels put into placing Jews at the centre of not only Germany’s ills but at the heart of capitalism AND communism was almost superhuman and very skilled. He even briefly (before the war obviously) employed some American marketing ‘experts’.

Such was Goebbels‘ reach and his drip drip approach that by around 1940ish most german’s just took the Jewish ‘conspiracy’ as fact.

[Brian Peacock]

The quote reference the scapegoating issue at the start of its second paragraph. What the quote points out is that the Anti-Semites' reasons are frivolous and incoherent, and that they are not unaware of that. This ties in with what you say about the scale and reach of Nazi propaganda - when you're not obliged to refer to the reality of facts and truth etc then you can say whatever you like. Those who oppose Anti-Semites and Fascists in general make a mistake when they attempt to discuss things rationally with them because the fascists aren't interested in facts or truth or logical coherency etc only with using 'getting rid of the Jews' or whoever as a means to secure their own authority.

[Rum]

I’m still not convinced. Some of the ‘waverers’ might have realised the ‘absurdity’ of their position, but the average ‘good German’ who had been successfully convinced by propaganda probably just took it for granted that the Jews were a poison that needed eradicating. Have you seen any of Goebbels’ films? They are crude and directly to the point and were played every day in every cinema in Germany. The German public had no other sources of information - you could be shot for listening to British radio! An echo chamber of a country with no way of so much as questioning the details of what they were being fed let alone the fundamentals.

It matters not though. Sartre makes an eloquent point (says me!). I think his point is probably more relevant today though, when you do actually have to wilfully ignore or disbelieve actual ‘facts’ to be a rabid ant-Semite.

[Brian Peacock]

There's also the fact that after a point it made complete rational sense to say that you agreed with the Führer on the Jewish question.

[laklak]

I only joined The Party for business reasons.

[Hermit]

Have you seen any of Goebbels’ films? They are crude and directly to the point and were played every day in every cinema in Germany.

You may be thinking of Der ewige Jude. It was indeed crude and directly to the point, but it was not played every day in every cinema in Germany, chiefly because it was a total office flop. Germans stayed away in their millions.

That movie was also made in spite of Goebbels's opposition to its production. When he was shown the script he hated it immediately. German propaganda films were indistinguishable to Hollywood movies in style. Goebbels was an admirer and connoisseur of them. Rather than crude and to the point, Goebbels's productions were fun and entertaining to watch.

Also, devious. Their anti-Semitic payload was hidden - subliminal. When the Germans left the cinema, they talked excitedly with each other about the great Fred Astaire – Ginger Rogers style dancing they've just seen or tried to whistle a Cole Porter type melody they just heard, never realising what else they've just been hit with.

Almost all Third Reich movies were propaganda disguised as entertainment, easy to consume, enjoyable to watch and therefore popular, and that is what made Goebbels so successful as Reichsminister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, an office he occupied from 14 March 1933 to 30 April 1945.

[Brian Peacock]

I’m still not convinced. Some of the ‘waverers’ might have realised the ‘absurdity’ of their position, but the average ‘good German’ who had been successfully convinced by propaganda probably just took it for granted that the Jews were a poison that needed eradicating. Have you seen any of Goebbels’ films? They are crude and directly to the point and were played every day in every cinema in Germany. The German public had no other sources of information - you could be shot for listening to British radio! An echo chamber of a country with no way of so much as questioning the details of what they were being fed let alone the fundamentals..

I feel we're getting a little bogged down in whether Sartre was factually accurate in some rather specific areas.
I posted the quote for what it said about Anti-Semitism generally, and for how it foreshadows modern fascists overt trollism.

[DRSB]

In the Atlantic yesterday:

Jews Are Going Underground

A month of terrible anti-Semitic attacks culminated with a stabbing yesterday of multiple people at a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York.

It was not something done to Jews but something Jews did. A synagogue in the Netherlands is no longer publicly posting the times of prayer services. If you want to join a service, you have to know someone who is a member of the community.

Do not misunderstand me. I was and am in a fury over the multiple assaults, culminating in the Monsey attack, which was the worst since the murders in Jersey City, which, some readers might not realize, was less than three weeks ago.

In Europe and the United States, Jews have been repeatedly assaulted on the street. Tombstones were desecrated in Slovakia. In London, anti-Semitic graffiti was painted on synagogues and Jewish-owned stores. A Belgian daily newspaper accused a lawmaker who is Jewish of being a spy for Israel. A Polish town refused to install small brass plates that commemorate Holocaust victims. In Italy, the town of Schio did the same because, the mayor said, they would be “divisive.” (Divisive to whom?) This intolerance is coming from right-wing extremists, progressive leftists, and other minorities who, themselves, are often the object of persecution. Anti-Semites seem to think it is open season on Jews. And maybe, given the many incidents, they are right.

[JimC]

...This intolerance is coming from right-wing extremists, progressive leftists, and other minorities who, themselves, are often the object of persecution...

One needs to be careful to separate legitimate criticism of Israeli government actions fom anti-semitic racism...