The Thing I Have Been Wrestling With Relentlessly Is The Heartbreak Of Discovering That My Entire Worldview

THE LORD OF THE RINGS + 🍂

RC: Everything I do and teach has to do with education about the irrational nature of prejudice and how destructive it is and how all of the causes are very clear. Prejudice is an evil in this world and is also part of human nature, but it is something that we can diminish — to a certain extent — through education.

HVS: You have written before about deeply frightening times in our nation’s history; the publication of this book, in today’s deeply divided America, feels particularly timely. Could you have anticipated this when you first began researching your topic?

RC: It’s unsettling beyond words. I can’t even describe my rage and my anger about human nature, really. So number one, I’m not surprised. Anyone who has studied the Holocaust, and the causes of the Holocaust, understands it is part of human nature; we used to teach about the different philosophies of human nature, and Thomas Hobbes was my favorite philosopher: He basically identified the fact that humans have a very negative side to them — a very aggressive, selfish side — and when they are frustrated and when they feel weak, as if they failed, they lash out; they use that aggression. Gordon Allport, a Harvard psychologist, came up with a very beautiful, simple explanation of prejudice: F (failure) yields to A (aggression, anger) yields to D (displacement); in other words, scapegoating: laying the blame on innocent people. That was his explanation of prejudice, and that’s my explanation of what human nature can be characterized by. It is very, very frightening. So the fact that what’s happening right now is not, to me, surprising, because I know that, throughout history, this is how humans have behaved. What is frightening to me is that it is never going to change. But, as I’ve said to my students, any change always comes incrementally. If we can, through education or whatever other means, educate people about why they are acting that way, then maybe we can change. In my doctoral dissertation, among other things, I asked a question: “Can we change attitudes through education?” The outcome of [the complicated process] revealed that while those who were somewhat prejudiced before learning about the Holocaust no longer held those prejudices after, those students who were very prejudiced at the beginning, you couldn’t get them over the line through education. I think we are dealing with this population right now…so I am not surprised. I am angry, but I’m not surprised.

The Berkshire Edge

‘The Jewish World of Elvis Presley’ (November 2020) by Roselle Kline Chartock

"As I discovered, Elvis is the least prejudiced of people; considering his background — coming from the deep South, from a deeply religious

via shagey_

Seeing that many people on the either side of the political spectrum seem to be showing their true colors, which makes me wonder, how can Jewish people navigate politics on this day and age in the sense of, can you ever feel welcome at any of the sides? (Just curious, is okay if you prefer not to answer)

im going to start by saying I’m one single jew and I don’t claim to speak for any other jews with my opinions on this because you’re going to get a different one depending on who you ask.

to me, there’s no way to feel safe anywhere on the american political spectrum. my views can align with one and I can participate in elections just fine, but I’ll never feel safe in a room with just conservatives OR just leftists/liberals/dems. either way, you’re faced with a different antisemitic monster, and people who identity as leftists/liberals/dems/etc are now committing hate crimes as well. people who identify as progressive are hatecriming jews all over the world. my mom is incredibly conservative and everything that comes with that, including internalized antisemitism, and even SHE sat me and my little sister down yesterday and warned us against wearing our magen davids so we don’t ‘identify ourselves’ as jews in public. we’re not safe politically or spiritually no matter how we align or how we identify ourselves socially. it’s been hostile for a very long time - this is nothing new in concept - but now even the left side of the political spectrum is physically unsafe. I’m not sure what the solution is, but it’s getting absolutely terrifying.

Marilyn Monroe at the Plaza Hotel Fountain in New York City (1957). Photo by Sam Shaw.

🥺❤️

Harry for Rolling Stone by Amanda Fordyce

I’ll have a blue Christmas without you… 💙❄️⚡️

@arianatheangel-girl honey!!! I meant to post this a couple of days ago and hadn’t had the chance to be on here, but as it turned out I didn’t get him open until today, so it was perfect timing. 💖 thank you so very much, he’s ADORABLE and you have no idea how much this brightened up the holidays. hugging you so tight from afar right now.

thinking about life