From the bestselling author of World War IV, a brilliant and provocative examination of a central question in American politics and culture that is sure to generate tremendous controversy. Norman Podhoretz says he has never in his entire life been asked any question on any subject as often as "Why are so many Jews liberals?"-or in its more specifically political form, "Why do most Jews always vote for the Democrats?" Podhoretz proposes to solve this puzzle. He first offers a fascinating account of anti-Semitism in the West to show why, for most of that time, Jews quite sensibly concluded that they had much more to fear from the right than the left. But since the Six Day War of 1967, he argues, this position has no longer made sense, and yet most Jews go on supporting the Democratic Party and the liberal agenda. Reviewing the history of Jewish political attitudes and thoroughly examining the available evidence, he then demonstrates that all the usual explanations-such as a passion for justice allegedly deriving from the prophets of the Hebrew Bible-are either inadequate or flat-out false. Finally he proposes his own answer to the great puzzle of why most Jews remain as committed to liberalism as ever. There is no more vigorous thinker or skilled polemicist in American intellectual life than Norman Podhoretz. In Why Are Jews Liberals? he sums up his thinking on the political inclinations of his fellow Jews-in the process confounding conventional wisdom and changing the way we view American politics.
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Arguing the "Torah of Liberalism":
Why are Jews Liberal? "Why is the Pope Catholic?" was my thought as I began the book. Mr. Podhoretz, in the rather academic, rabbinical tradition of arguing the ancient Torah, points out that most American Jews are nonpracticing and now live by the "Torah of Liberalism" without examining the reality of the negative results, both for society in general and Judaism in particular. Poor Tevia. Struggling to keep his values orientation in the midst of contrary evidence, the Fiddler on the Roof's character... more info
Bumping Into the Gates of Heaven:
Bumping Into the Gates of Heaven Jews are, since Carter, inadvertently bumping into the gates of Heaven (i.e. conservatism) while backing away from the gates of hell (a.k.a. the "Church of Liberalism.") This process ebbs and flows, however, as liberal Jews are only slowly coming to the realization that "social justice" must be a willful and individual act of charity, rather than an arbitrary imposition of statist fatwah. An obscure history of a small minority, here are some enlightening... more info
Liberal vs Conservative Viewpoints:
The title of this book is a question many conservatives have long ask themselves, as at the heart of liberalism is an attitude of non-responsibility or acceptance of one's actions, i.e. it's up to someone else to take care of me; or, it's not my fault. While conservatives are more typically self-reliant individualists, they prefer handling life tyhemselves, and keeping others, including government, out of their business. Therefore, with the history of what Jews have faced throughout history, it is... more info
Misses the mark, but is still good.:
I have not read the book, but Michael Medved has, and I listened to Medved interview Podhoretz for and hour.
Podhoretz focuses on religion. It may be true that orthodox Jews are more conservative than atheist Jews, but that is not the primary cause. It took me sometime to figure out how to more reliably predict if someone will be a liberal.
I heard Thomas Sowell interviewed by Walther Williams on the Rush Limbaugh show.
The old black professor says that professors are 30:1 liberal in... more info
