When a guy has nothing to lose, he may hit back as a last try at dignity
No motive justifies machine-gunning anyone. But it certainly explains it.
Reportedly, the would-be assassin of Trump was bullied almost daily. He had no life, no close ones, no defenders, and one shot at feeling in charge.
When you pester a dog every day of its life, don’t be surprised when it becomes vicious. Humans degraded every day are still responsible for their actions. No one made them do it. But no one ever standing up for them doesn’t help them toward maintaining empathy. They are hated, and they hate. Are they powerless and worthless? They’ll show everyone. Revenge.
Instead of asking why he was so crazy to choose to end his young life as a murderer, ask why not even one of the students or teachers ever stood up for him. Bullying is not just a couple of bad guys or gals. It’s a whole community looking away, showing no heart, soaked in gutless indifference.
“An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.”
― Victor Frankl in Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning.
Where do all these ‘normal’ people get the arrogance to decide that it’s their world and anyone eccentric is dispensable? That’s supremacy. Why bully fat kids? LGBT+ kids? Non-White kids? How dare they? What kind of parents or teachers don’t spot when young ones are cruel, anti-equality?
Sometimes, these victims decide to murder their classmates or teachers. This one had ambition and tried to murder Trump. That’s how much he felt abandoned—not by a couple of kids but by the whole USA. And Trump made fun of everyone, from war veterans to the crippled. An ideal target.
Of course, the craziness of weapons of war freely available in the US is a crime in itself. But on top of that, each bullied person only needs one ally to get a life. Where was everyone before he decided to go down in flames?
Cruel societies breed cruel people. Be careful where you put the blame.
Don’t Learn the Wrong Lesson from This
The call for unity and mutual civility after this assassination attempt does not fit the problem. It’s a cure for a sickness the patient doesn’t have. The illness is that one candidate is the bully-in-chief, intimidating everyone, even his own Party. That set off a bullying victim. The remedy is to say to politicians: Bully to your delight, but know you might pay a very high price.
Biden should not moderate calling out that the next elections are about defending democracy, freedom, NATO, and world peace. That truth never threatened Trump’s life. It was his own bullying that almost became fatal to him. And the total inadequacy of the US Secret Service, for sure. It’s still seeking a ‘motive,’ ‘ideology,’ while the cause stares us in the face.
Trump says he wants to unite the country, but he doesn’t know if he can because ‘people are very divided.’ He left out by whom. And Biden has nothing to unite. A vote for Trump is a vote against civil rights and equality.
BTW: Only a Hellenistic culture could let one bullet change the course of history, the Olympic system of you either win or lose. Fierce, cut-throat competition ensures that one will lead the pack instead of teamwork.
Full disclosure: No one ever bullied me. I never bullied or pestered anyone. I protected everyone, like the blue-color guy in our posh school/class. How could you not? What’s with all the evil entitlement and supremacy?
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