Posted on 12/30/2005 9:38:38 PM PST by tbird5
In ''A Fire in Their Hearts," Tony Michels explores a chapter in Jewish life that, he contends, scholars have long overlooked -- the rise of socialism among immigrants in turn-of-the-century New York.
With a few key exceptions, he observes, historians have viewed Jewish socialism as a short-lived import from revolutionary circles in czarist Russia. Socialism, they say, equipped Jews with political skills but failed to have a lasting ideological effect; for the most part, Jewish socialists abandoned radicalism as they took their place in mainstream American politics and life.
The dominant spirit in many histories, Michels argues, is celebratory -- Jews have achieved material success while maintaining their religious identity. Injecting a healthy skepticism, he suggests that Jews did not so wholeheartedly embrace the American dream. He portrays socialism as a transforming experience for many Jewish immigrants, something that shaped their thinking and touched their souls.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
I'm right in the middle of a book about Russia in the 1920s...
Not that I needed this book to teach me about the realities of socialism, communism, marrxism etc. it is really depressing to read how miserable it made the lives of everyone enduring it, even those who embraced the concepts.
"In ''A Fire in Their Hearts," Tony Michels explores a chapter in Jewish life that, he contends, scholars have long overlooked"
The whole history of western philosophy is full with people who wanted to "do good", and most "do-gooders" who were not Jews were Christians.
It works like this:
-- Religion = old and boring
-- Revolution = new and interesting
The ultimate collapse of the Soviet union, and China's own millionaire march.....has killed the red diaper baby boom forever. That's not to say they don't all still vote democrat.
This explains NYC and south Florida, right?
What in the hell is the big deal about this wench?
She sings very well. I've seen women cry when watching her on TV /rolling eyes
You hit it. Womens' emotions are ruining this country. They "feel" this. They "feel" that.
If the women of America would "think" about the well being of their country more than what they "feel", the loony left would lose a lot of steam and there wouldn't be so many examples of why women's suffrage was a bad idea.
Currently, the worst example is Hillary.
Why do you think marketing firms specifically target women these days? Very little advertising is targeted towards men any longer - We're depicted as foolish oafs that don't know anything, and who need women in complete control of our lives in order to be happy...
Not everyone. The members of the Nomenklatura (literally "the names on the list", the senior Communist Party members) lived like the old nobility, with all the rest of Russia as their serfs
Communism did not make Russia more egalitarian -- it simply put a new, and much more ruthless, set of thugs on top
I was talking about the 'proletariat' that embraced communisim and starved nearly as fast as the 'bougouis'.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.