An unresolved slavery past still hurts US labor relations, society, and Whites

Oppressing also hurts the oppressors, but they don’t become the victims

I met working-class Americans. I saw them on US public transportation, walked (ran) with them in the streets, and was invited into their homes.

Warm, giving people. So good that it borders on the naïve; many of them believe in UFOs and Trump. They’re totally different from the middle-class USers that swarm the world’s tourist destinations, scream at everything: ‘Oh, this is really old!‘, and think that you are exotic. Though all seemingly wearing sports shoes, they don’t roll off their feet when walking. They walk by slowly putting their feet down like birds as if walking on ice that could give way at any second. That’s what you get for living on stolen lands.

American bosses are a different brand. (I had one who was really nice, but the rest were terrible.) Slave society may have ended, but slaveholder attitudes have not. I know because I compare it to my bosses in Holland.

In the Netherlands, workers can be fired when they’re rude at work. When the boss is rude, a worker can go to court. Bosses there also take the fruits of your labor in return for a meager salary, but pleasant work relationships are protected by law. Also there, middlemen are placed between the boss and the workers who can give the unpleasant and unworkable orders from management to the laborers. But, my boss would not pass me by without greeting me: Good morning, how was your weekend? I would do the same in return. Deep love, no. But decency does make a difference. This is not because the Dutch are such good Samaritans. Rather, when the powerless are treated well, society is calm and stable, everything works better, and the rich can keep their money pleasantly. No revolts, no destructive anger.

In the US, if you don’t like the boss, you can go home. If the boss won’t like you, you can go home. You see the trend easily. No workers’ rights. In the Netherlands, when I lived there for 40 years, you could only get fired if you didn’t do your work well or were hurting the pleasant atmosphere at work.

In the Netherlands, big firms have a section personeelszaken, literally: workers’ issues. If there is a problem for a worker, they try to find amicable solutions. In the US, it’s called HR, human resource. When low on toilet paper, printing paper, or people, you need to stock up. Workers are just a commodity for the boss. They might have gotten some legal rights, but that never makes them fellow humans. They should work like robots.

This is not restricted to the work sphere. The whole of US society is cruel and unsafe beyond belief. If you have money, that’s your worth. If you get handicapped, you’re doomed to poverty. Millions are homeless. If you can’t afford healthcare, you can drop dead whatever you have—literally. And ‘the world’s greatest democracy’ doesn’t blush about it. (American kids get brainwashed in school that the US is better at everything, and the kids believe it. Nationalism sits so deeply that it comes naturally to them.)

Talking about democracy, that is corrupted too. In the Netherlands, when 14, I learned that democracy is a system that is ‘run by the majority while regarding the needs of minorities.’ In the US, it’s just a dictatorship of the majority vote—which via manipulating their naivety might be in the wrong (small) hands, just protecting the greed of the super-rich minority. Then, taking weaker people into account is ‘kindness’? It’s just a minimal norm.

Their warped sense of democracy may also jive with the idol status of Free Speech in the US. Anything threatening, demeaning, or slandering whole sections of the population should obviously be illegal, but it is not. How can anyone reason that oppressing others can be freedom?

Slavery may be over but its shadow is still hanging over the USA. White Americans don’t realize how bad it’s also for them. Not just the racism and at work—as if those are not bad enough. Generally, life is still cheap there except for the rich (pardon the pun). You can get shot in the street because almost any maniac can carry weapons legally. Trains and buses are sidelined (do you like the pun?) because profitability is the only valid norm. Cars make more money. They still have (and believe in) the death penalty—in a State built by followers of turning the other cheek.

It’s called Capitalism, but it’s just a makeover of slave society. I’ve sat at festive tables of many rich USers. But, they were all religious Jews. As one of them said: ‘I’m a capitalist, but my religion limits how much I can ignore that poorer people are people too.’ Judaism is the original Socialism.

Meanwhile, most US Whites still don’t know how to dance, run, or be proud of their bodies. The subconscious shame about slavery and racism runs unchecked and deep. They consume more mood-bending drugs than any other population in the world. They are the world’s biggest headache.

The German People have looked History in the eye. They have exchanged their fake, reactionary pride from denying a terrible past for the real pride of rejecting evil in their past. The American People have not done so yet.

The US needs a leader who spearheads facing the worst past so they can recognize what must change in the present to have a vision for the future.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1