His ethical tradition does not strike me as unsurpassably subtle. To describe it as the Jewish tradition would be inaccurate and deeply antisemitic.
“[In times of war], it is correct to kill even the righteous among your enemy” seems like an excellent exoneration of Hamas.
What does “chosen” mean? To some, to the piece’s author, it’s exceptionalist, supremicist. To many Jews it is bitterly ironic and reflects a duty to which we are called rather than any privilege.
@Jonathanglick It is absurdly poorly argued, by a person who puffs himself up as an intellectual so extraordinary solidaristic values must give way. He caricatures every position not his own, although to be fair, that one caricatures itself. 1/
@Jonathanglick It’s not the shoddy argument that’s interesting in the piece. It’s the overtness and self-consciousness of the embrace of anti-universalism and overt supremacy as “Jewish”. There’s an extraordinary polarization occurring. Of course, two Jews three opinions. But when, somehow, this miserable war comes to a merciful close, will you and I and he recognize ourselves to be part of a shared community in any meaningful way at all? Should we? /fin
@Jonathanglick You know a lot more about this stuff than I do, and I have to say I am less inclined than I ever have been (which, admittedly, has never been much) to study Jewish tradition, but wouldn't the predicate of that story (God spared the livestock of the righteous) call into question that very ugly conclusion?
@Jonathanglick (that would apply both to saving the horses and killing them, right? re logical rigor, yeah. for the most part i treat any ethical or political claim grounded even in part on theology as lunacy, and don't spend much time trying to evaluate. perhaps that's biased, unfair. but though of course some theologically grounded claims are fascinating and wonderful, as a class i think what renders them exceptional in the ease with which they justify the otherwise unjustifiable.)
“Silicon Valley is the land of low-capital, low-labor growth. Software development requires fewer people than infrastructure and hard goods manufacturing, both to get started and to run as an ongoing operation. Silicon Valley is the place where you get rich without creating jobs. It's run by investors who hate the idea of paying people.” @pluralistichttps://pluralistic.net/2024/05/30/posiwid/
@dpp in the punditosphere this was a weak case, the one that seemed like a real stretch. if all the highly paid politics-knowers thought that, you’d think at least one of twelve would have been persuaded by the defense at least consider it somewhat marginal and have to mull over it a bit. i haven’t followed reporting on the presentation at trial closely, but the prosecution was apparently very persuasive!
@Alon (i thought the longer discussion of the role of infrastructure as simultaneously political and antipolitical factional fait accompli, and then dueling, perhaps impractical, infrastructure schemes of let's-call-it-saudi vs iranian blocs might interest you.)
“the monopolist is like a politician who wins power – whether through greatness or by deceit – and then gerrymanders their district so that they can do anything and gain re-election. Even the noblest politician, shorn of accountability, will be hard pressed to avoid yielding to temptation.” @pluralistichttps://pluralistic.net/2024/05/18/market-discipline/
@admitsWrongIfProven@fraying@Nerdfest good point. though it is an eternal mystery that Tesla, Starlink, SpaceX exist and have sometimes done remarkable things, much as I don't like to credit their founder and under his influence they sometimes do awful things.
