To save most Israelis from perpetual poverty, we need Human Capitalism
2020 USA presidential elections candidate Andrew Yang (Make America Think Harder), in theory, solved America’s problems. He did not become president (yet), but his thinking outside of the box has all the solutions.
America is too conservative to think that progressive is anything but a derogatory term. Yet, it does not agree that almost nobody owns the economy of almost everybody. The Land of Opportunity for the few.
In the standard (antiquated) economic models, it is possible that ‘the economy is doing great’ while most people are struggling financially. Or, that climate, psychological, and income needs are seen as constrains. Yang’s idea: ‘Not Left [revolution], Not Right [staying put], But Forward.’ Capitalism, with as central value not the dollar, but humans’ wellbeing.
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Israel has, from very different causes, a very similar deadlock.
Most Israelis work too many hours per day and still are in perpetual debt. Their solution: an everlasting ‘Italian strike’ (as they call that here): working, but as slowly as possible. Preferably, one does the work and one supervisor and a dozen colleagues watch and discuss what they think of it.
Economists complain, blaming the victims for not working harder. NEVER trust any economist. There are small lies, big lies, statistics, and economic theories. A good example is the latest move by the Bank of Israel calling for raising taxes because of the costs of the pandemic ‘to save the economy.’ The code word for the narrow interests of the super-rich, totally ignoring, and exacerbating the corona hardships Israeli citizens and companies have.
The truth is that most Israelis cannot argue why but they refuse to be any more productive because they know in their bones that most of their salaries are stolen. Who’s the invisible thief? The banks. They make that even hardworking Israelis generally live in chronic overdraft.
It works like this: You make sure that renters have no protection. So everyone wants to buy a house. Then you give them a mortgage that insures they pay for three houses to get one. Works for 50 years already.
Israel was founded by socialists, and some remnants of that still exist. Especially the charitable Jewish mindset that also gave rise to Socialism.
But, then why does the majority now vote right-wing? Because the left endangered our lives with fancy stories and theories, getting more than a thousand people killed and thousands maimed in the Second Intifada. More lives are at stake if foreign enemies are not dealt with sufficiently.
As long as the left-wing parties refuse to stand up for a safe Israel, we will have right-wing governments that will leave the population poor. Call us old-fashioned but we’re rather in-debt than dead.
(Not just the left-wing politicians are to blame. In a large majority, we voted them into power because we were so naive. When a couple of terrorists put on a tie and smiled, we wanted to believe their lies so badly.)
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Yang Economics could save Israel too. We need policies that are capitalist but centered around human, not monetary, needs: People First. Israel too needs politicians with plans based on facts, not sentiments. His methods and ideas would take Israel by storm. But they’re still unknown here.
The Yang Gang has enough young Jewish smartasses. (Not that we couldn’t learn from the Gentile Yang Geeks!) We need the ones who are here to unite into a movement. We need the ones there to make aliyah, or, at least, come here and speak, start or strengthen a movement.
Yang has attracted lots of Jews, Asians, Gays, beating their timidity and hopelessness. In Israel, the Yang Gang would be populated by lots of Charedics, Israeli Arabs (including Mizrachics), feminists, etc., people waiting for decades for a framework and the courage to get moving.
The Yang Gang in Israel could show the whole world what real progressive success is. Just like the capitalist COVID-19 vaccine policy here did. That was Yang-like. Netanyahu understood, as a smart capitalist, that you need to prioritize human life and health before/in order to save the economy.
Yang Speaks: his own frequent podcasts with thought-provoking guests.
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
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