Western White arrogance as the big COVID-19 killer
White racism as the largest slaughterer of … Whites.
Yes, the heading of this blog post sounds offensive. But you know what would be more offensive? If it was true. And I show you why it is.
Is there anything more valuable than freedom and autonomy? (Yes, there is. How about peace? Or lack of arrogance? Or abundant gratefulness?)
Our freedom is us very dear. And rightly so. We should feel blessed not to live in dictatorships. Yet, predictably, this freedom became our idol:
People demonstrate for the ‘right’ to not follow doctor’s advice and get infected and infect others with a deadly virus during a pandemic.
Even when people sow hatred and bigotry and hurt each other, we still value our unbridled freedom of speech.
When people hurt themselves by taking in tobacco, alcohol, refined ‘foods,’ and animal produce, we still value our freedom to choose.
We are left free to kill ourselves as a right.
Self-described-religious fanatics demand the right to infect each other in the name of letting G^d clean up the mess they made.
Even people who hold that not all people are equal are allowed to stand for office and vote, thus threatening democracy.
Some groups trample each other fighting whose rights are more important instead of teaching everyone to live by obligation.
There are some gaps of enlightenment visible in the system, though:
When we made ourselves sick, the doctor will treat us anyway.
We can be obligated to wear safety belts and helmets for our good.
We are obligated to not drive drunk to protect others.
But generally, we in the West can do whatever we want. And it shows.
You thought that people in White Europe and North America are better-informed, more advanced, and smarter? Think again. COVID-19 is making fewer victims anywhere else than in ‘the Free World.’ And when you think again, maybe disable any supremacist thought that they were happy and fit for exploitation, colonialism, and slavery by the ‘centers of civilization.’
Maybe surprisingly, scientific knowledge doesn’t spread as common sense.
“My freedom not to wear a mask is in the Constitution,” yells the idiot.
We should yell right back: “And my Creat^d put brains inside my skull.”
NB: I’m not saying that all the hundreds of thousands of White countries’ COVID-19 deaths were supremacists and got what they deserved, Heaven forbid. It’s often the opposite. The innocent frequently bear the burden of the immorality around them. NB: In the USA, non-Whites are thrice as likely to get sick with the new coronavirus and twice as likely to die from it.
The tremendous scientific progress of the Twentieth Century led many to believe that ‘primitive prejudices’ like religion would be on their way out.
In fact, that wasn’t upcoming progress but rather old arrogance. One can’t learn morality from science. Many nice leaders of Atheism were raised by religious parents. I’m unsure how their children and grandkids are doing.
Many religions are still teaching obedience, gratefulness, humility, respect, generosity, and love because the lessons are still not learned well enough.
It might not suffice us to reject racist supremacy. We Whites might need to put humility on the program too. Not feeling inferior. Feeling just right, just as valuable as everyone else. No matter how many books you read, how much money you have, or how long your family was not targeted.
Science could save the planet if we don’t go extinct through our racism.
This week, I had to travel to a health provider. I have not been outside for half a year. I was stunned to see people of all ages without facemask or a mask only over their mouth. With such a mentality, it’s not safe outside.
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
