I remember a few things since the days long ago when I was
taking a course in Japanese films. One of those things being that in the effort
to give us a wide perspective, the professor saw fit to include other Asian
films in the curriculum; a number of which were Chinese films.
What we got from China – be they short documentaries
or long features – had to do with the Cultural Revolution that unfolded a few
years prior. Even though they were supposed to represent realistic situations
or were a dramatic representation of life in China , the films looked and sounded
like happy musicals. Whether the people were depicted on the farm or in the
factories or in the mines, they sang like joyful children on their way to spend
a day with the Wizard of Oz. The entire repertoire was a display of collective
happiness the likes of which none of us students had seen before.
Of course, we understood what that was: the people of China were so
regimented at the time, they were frightened into acting happy or risk being
sent to a labor camp where they will spend the rest of their lives. That got me
thinking of other places where a similar form of regimentation or a different
one may be imposed on the people. I did not have to go too far looking for an
example. It was right there under my nose in the editorial pages of all the
newspapers. These were missives written by Jews saying the same thing over and
over, day in and day out. Their message was this: You're biased against Israel ; cancel
my subscription. This was not collective happiness; it was regimented wrath.
Needless to say the disease spilled over to the
audio-visuals. They too were coerced into shutting up when it came to telling
the truth as they saw it. In fact, that moment was the start of the Jewish
drive to monopolize the media. It happened when attorneys of their lobby fired
off cease-and-desist orders to the outlets that did not comply with the shut-up
order, threatening them with multi-million dollar lawsuits for slander. The media
got the chill and froze into place only to see the Jews escalate their demands.
They were now asking the media to “balance” things out by telling positive
stories about Israel .
They got what they wanted at a time when they were running around slandering
the Arabs who were by then blacklisted and prohibited from responding.
That was not the only form of regimentation displayed by the
Jews in those days. The natural tendency of ordinary people in Israel at the
time was to shout: “kill the Arabs, kill the Arabs.” When they were told that
the habit looked bad on the screen everywhere in the world, they changed. When
Israeli leaders of Eastern European origin talked like Avigdor Lieberman,
saying things like “we'll break their bones,” someone told them to tone down
the rhetoric, and they did. When the army started to stick gas masks to the
faces of toddlers in a gesture to remind the world of the gas chambers, those
responsible were told to stop the madness because audiences around the world
were getting sick of them. It was further explained to them that contrary to
what they expected, no one was expressing sympathy for them. So they stopped
using the toddlers as propaganda props.
Is there something else that the Jews could have done under
the rubric of regimentation? Yes, there is. In fact, two habits can be
highlighted. One is a modification of an old habit; the other is a nascent
thing. The old is the fact that those who grew up in the climate describe above
and then pursued a career in journalism, picked up the torch and took it a step
further: They created the echo chamber whereby they all repeat the same thing
over and over. As to the nascent habit, you can see an example of it in the
article that came under the title: “In defense of the Tribe,” a piece that was
written by Brian Stewart, and published on May 23, 2016 in National Review
Online.
Brian Stewart discusses a new book that was authored by
Sebastian Junger in which tribal life is explored. Stewart mixes Junger's views
with the findings of a newly published survey indicating that the Israelis are
a happy people. He tries to explain what looks like a paradox created by the
fact that the Israelis seem to live at a perilous time, yet say they are a
happy lot.
Make what you wish of his explanation but the observed fact
is that a record number of people are emigrating out of Israel . This
cannot be happening because they are happy to live there. Yes, there are Jews
who seem less happy to live in Europe, and choose to go live in Israel . But it
is hard to believe that these people become happy the moment they arrive in Israel . The
notion simply defies what is known about the experience of new immigrants in
welcoming countries.
That leaves only one explanation as to why the people who
were surveyed, said they were happy to live in Israel . It is that they were
regimented to respond the way that children would have if taken on the yellow
brick road going to see the Wizard of Oz.