The Jew News Review – June 15, 2024 – “The case for optimism”

Shabbat shalom! And a shout out to all the Dad’s out there. I miss my old man, but think of him often and wish he could be here to enjoy the new generation of Hirsh Govermans, many of them sporting some shade of his amazing blue eyes. 

If you are someone like me who watches the news, has more than a few social media outlets, reads a lot and enjoys culture, or in other words, you are still breathing, you may be thinking, as my mother occasionally tells me, that the country and the world are going to hell in a hand basket. And based on the onslaught of negative news we are all subjected to, that would be an understandable position to take. But the truth is that all the good news on all subjects is covered-up by the algorithmic driven dynamic whereby bad news gets higher ratings and drives more clicks than good news. Hence, we can blame big tech for the general malaise, which maybe, explains why in the midst of one of the best economies in the history of the world, grandpa Joe is not getting much respect in the polls.

But the case for pessimism is compelling. Let’s do a quick review of some major forces and trends from the last few decades, courtesy of Substack writer Matthew Yglesias: a disastrous war in Iraq; a ruinous financial crisis followed by a decade of anemic growth when most of the new wealth went to those who were already well off; a half-assed response to the deadliest pandemic in a century; a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan; rising prices and interest rates; skyrocketing levels of public and private debt; surging rates of homelessness and the spread of tent encampments in American cities; undocumented migrants streaming over the southern border; spiking rates of gun violence, mental illness, depression, addiction, suicide, chronic illness and obesity, coupled with a decline in life expectancy; a Supreme Court in ethical decline, and of course, climate change, the war in Gaza and the new wave of anti-semitism. Phew. I am already depressed just writing this shit down.

But, are we missing the bigger picture? Can we make a case for optimism amidst these disasters and dumpster of despair? 

According to Yglesias, there is counterbalancing good news, but we just don’t get to see it. Poverty, for example, has decreased significantly across the world, steadily.

And child mortality is another positive indicator of a world getting increasingly “better”. Here is the good news on that front, with a historical prospective on how this indicator can get even better.

If we narrow the aperture and look just at our good old US of A, we can see more positivity. It’s true, for example, that we had a span of highly unequal growth in the wake of the financial crisis. But in our recent economic recovery  wealth has grown most rapidly at the bottom and so have wages. That’s good news!

Yglesias points out even more good news:

Back when homicide was, in fact, surging in 2020-2021, I thought “things were worse in the 1990s” was a lame response. But we’re now living through the third straight year of falling murder, the drop appears to be accelerating, and the fact that the spike peaked at a lower level than we saw in my childhood does feel relevant to me. It’s not just that the murder situation is getting better, the overall policy feedback loop has improved — that, not “spiking rates of gun violence,” seems like the story to me.

Public debt has gone up, but private debt is at record low levels. Obesity is a genuine problem, but the rate has been rising as far back as we can find records(i.e., the 1880s and possibly earlier), so this is hardly a reason to feel like the world is suddenly in disarray. The actual big news on obesity is that we, for the first time ever, have a new class of drugs that appear to be highly effective in treating it. There are more GLP-1 agonists in development, and it looks like they have benefits beyond treating obesity.

Similarly, while falling life expectancy has made a ton of news year after year, fewer people seem to have noticed that last fall, the CDC reported that life expectancy rose in 2022. What’s more, the data is laggy. But traffic fatalities fell last year for the second straight year. And we know that the murder rate declined in 2023 and that the Covid death rate also declined, so this fall when we get the 2023 life expectancy numbers, they will likely report another rise that again won’t get as much attention as the drop.

So, pay no attention to that man (or woman) behind the curtain. Those algorithmic levers they are pushing to get your attention and sell more advertisements is a major reason you are feeling depressed, or anxious about the crazy shit we deal with daily. And while we Jews are getting more than our fair share of bat shit craziness, there has been some good news on that front as well. But truthfully, not enough. 

Last week ended with the good news about the dramatic rescue of four hostages in Gaza, but was quickly followed by main stream media and left wing nonsense about the cost of that rescue. In what fucking world does a heroic rescue of innocent hostages held for over 8 months become a story about how many innocents were killed in the process? By the way, those “innocents” were holding the hostages in a densely populated area whose “innocent” citizens just polled 90% support of Hamas! If your son or daughter were being held hostage for 8 months by rapist/terrorists, how many “innocents” would you be willing to sacrifice for their rescue? The Associated Press, a long time bastion of journalistic excellence, went with this ridiculous headline: “Gaza’s Health Ministry says 274 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid that rescued 4 hostages”. How many times are they going to use the ridiculously stupid lies from the Gaza Health Ministry, and why is the lead about the Palestinians?! Fuck!

And here is the absolute kicker from the BBC. Their news anchor, Helena Humphrey, actually asked an IDF spokesperson if Israel had provided a warning to Gazans before the rescue attempt. Really. Because of course everyone knows that proper hostage rescue etiquette dictates that you must first inform the terrorists holding the hostages of the exact time you plan to rescue them. Even worse, Humphrey starts out by stating, “I would like to start out by getting your reaction to the news of the four hostages and them being released.” Released! Are you fucking kidding me?

How am I doing making the case for optimism? It ain’t easy these days. But, let’s get to the good stuff, and I will try and lean toward some good news.

1. Ceasefire/Hostage Deal: The IDF renewed operations in and around Rafah. Meantime, negotiations on a ceasefire/hostage deal continue, but a deal seems elusive. Visiting the region, Sec. Blinken accused Hamas of changing the goalposts of negotiations and questioned whether they are negotiating in “good faith.” Doesn’t sound like it, but this is good news. The more the US runs out of patience with Hamas, the more likely the leverage increases on wiping them out, which is the only outcome Israel will accept and the only outcome that could lead to a lasting peace in the region.
2. Northern Israel underwent the most intense Hezbollah barrage to date during the war, with the terror group launching 30 drones and 100 rockets in a coordinated Thursday attack. This is not good news. 
3. Antisemitism Intensifies: In the past week there’s been a concerning spate of antisemitic incidents in the New York area. What’s newsworthy is not just the frequency of the events but the alarming change in tone, with self-described pro-Palestine protesters threatening violence against Jews and denying the atrocities on 10/7.
   • “Day of Rage” Protests: Protesters gathered at the Nova Exhibition in New York City. It recreates the Nova Festival where Hamas slaughtered hundreds of young Israelis 10/7. The protesters shouted “long live the intifada” and unfurled a banner reading “long live October 7th.” One video shows keffiyeh-clad protesters filling a subway car in New York and chanting, “Raise your hand if you’re a Zionist. This is your chance to get out.” Also, the homes of several Jewish board members of the Brooklyn Museum were vandalized with signs calling them “white supremacist Zionists” and red paint, including red inverted triangles and red handprints (both associated with violence against Jews).
   • Anti-War or Anti-Jew? Elected Democrats condemned the protests. House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries said the language was “designed to justify the killing of Jews.” Rep Alexandria Ocasio Cortez called it “atrocious antisemitism – plain and simple.” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she’s now considering a ban on wearing face masks in NYC subways, after, in her words: “a group donning masks took over a subway car, scaring riders and chanting things about Hitler and wiping out Jews.” New York law long banned face masks in public, but that rule was lifted during COVID. 
4. Shiva call – Super Jew Morrie Markoff, listed as the oldest man in America, calls it a day at 110 – Mr. Markoff, who was born in New York City on Jan. 11, 1914, six months before World War I began, joined the “Supercentenarian” club this year. Mr. Markoff attributed his longevity to regular walking; he and his wife, who lived to 103, often completed three miles a day into their 90s, holding hands, they joked, “to keep themselves up,” his daughter said. He believed in eating simply, rarely drank alcohol and avoided water in plastic bottles. If that is the recipe for human longevity, I should be dead soon. Optimistically, I probably have a few more years.

5. Swift silence is golden – While Taylor Swift’s popularity knows no borders, one non-musical choice has recently added to her appeal in Israel, said Paz-Klapp — her abstention from speaking about the Israel-Hamas war. Her Israeli listeners are well-aware of their growing isolation on the world stage as public opinion turns against Israel’s eight-month war. Simply saying nothing about it has won Swift points with Israeli fans, many of whom view her music as an escape from the trauma of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that launched the war and the surging global censure of Israel.
6. Hot rodent men – A new trend among the glitterati is to compare the hot men on screen to rodents. I am not making this up. The rat trend grew out of an ongoing meme format comparing people’s faces to different animals. Horses, bears, eagles and dogs were the usual categories for men, while foxes, cats, deer and rabbits were for women. But somewhere along the line, it morphed into comparing the faces of the culture’s current heartthrobs — Timothee Chalamet of Dune fame, Jeremy Allen White from The Bear, Barry Keoghan who danced naked in the iconic closing scene of Saltburn, both Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor from the sexually-charged tennis flick Challengers  — to rodents. So, here you go.

That should do it for this week. Remember to be careful out there, and, try to stay optimistic!

Brad out.