Bernie is not a revolutionary democratic socialist but an uncompromising fanatic
Compromising with others is not for those who are partly wrong. It’s to allow for cooperation with people who don’t see completely eye-to-eye with you. Of course, you don’t compromise with Nazis or gangsters. But it is a major tactical mistake to reject softening you stand with anyone else.
If Bernie Sanders could understand that, he could be the next US president. But he refuses. His whole life he’s been uncompromising. That’s nice if you face an enemy. But it becomes dysfunctional between friends.
Bernie assumes that compromise divulges unprincipledness, corruption, and weakness. He will stand strong for the truth even if alone. He’s done so all his life. This way, he’s won much admiration but made few friends.
Unfortunately, Sanders has attracted endorsement of allies to the Arab Palestinian cause, which also is corrupted by its leaders with “we won’t make a deal.” It’s the dictatorship of those who ‘know’ they’re more right than others. But patronizing thought flies in the face of true democracy.
The next US president needs to surround himself with a whole groups of expert thinkers and visionaries, like former competitors in the Democratic race. Only a leader who doesn’t always need to be right can do that. After Trump, the US doesn’t need yet another know-it-all at the top.
Also, the US People would never elect an anti-Zionist. Playing the Jewish-ethnic card won’t make a difference. Americans aren’t stupid enough.
Biden, wash your hands with soap frequently and Jill, start decorating the White House to your taste in your mind already. The race is over.
Especially now the leadership fiasco of Trump is clear for almost all to see. His flagship stock market and unemployment figures collapse under the new corona economy. The need to pump a trillion dollar into the economy shows extra how not only immoral but also how foolish it was to give such an amount as a tax break to the super-wealthy. The Donald is done.
But just as we were scared how Trump wouldn’t have accepted his defeat in 2016, we may now brace ourselves for Sanders supporters not showing any great sportsmanship when their Democratic candidate bites the dust.
The CNN Democratic Debate 3/15/20
After writing the above, I watched the CNN debate between Biden and Sanders. From the start, with all his misspeaking and forgetting words (Ebola), Biden spoke to the point. But Sanders sounded like a broken record. Biden countered points Sanders made, Sanders just repeated himself. He doesn’t listen, he just talks. As Churchill famously said: “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”
Another weak point of Sanders is that he talks like a trained politician. Whatever he’s asked, he never says yes or no, beats around the bush and then only says what he wants to talk about. Biden, on the other hand, answers questions directly and candidly. The contrast was striking.
Another glaring difference was that Biden spoke about what concretely needs to happen now, while Sanders all the time went back to analyses and the big picture. They both again ignored the small stockholder who is charmed by Trump. They only talked about wage earners and the outright poor. This is a serious oversight. They already dropped this ball at 2016.
A big discrepancy further is that Biden said how he has adopted excellent points from Sanders and Warren. Sanders could not give one example of trying to woo voters with other preferences than for him. It’s in his view the same thing all over and over again: my way or the highway.
This reminds me of how my parents explained the essence of proper behavior in traffic. The goal is not to be right but to be safe. What’s the use of your epitaph saying: “But I had the right of way”? The goal is to win the election and not: to have the most absolutely perfect ideas.
Sanders kept talking about how [his] leadership is: taking an unpopular but righteous principled stand and working diligently to get a majority for that. That sounds nice but Biden’s leadership is what’s called for: uniting a leadership team and together working incrementally to a better world.
Closing the debate off, Sanders stressed (again) that the greed of the health industry must be stopped while Biden stated that this is the time to bring together the brightest minds in healthcare and do as they say. This first fights against evil, the second unites the good. Big difference.
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. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 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 that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
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 agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. 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. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
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
