The morning news brought word of a synagogue somewhere damaged by a Molotov cocktail and a reference to anti-Semitism as a “growing problem.” Growing, perhaps, but not new.
I have always been baffled by people who lump other people into a group that is somehow responsible for their troubles. Jews, of course, are one of those groups. I’m even more baffled by people who define those groups as somehow less human than the rest of us. All [insert group here] are dirty, criminal animals to be avoided at all costs and, in a perfect world, eliminated altogether, they say.
My life and my circumstances are not all they could be. The thing is, those circumstances are the result of the choices I made, day in and day out, for almost 70 years now. No nefarious group of criminals forced me into those circumstances, not even the politicians who extort money from my earnings day in and day out.
And for crying out loud, whatever complaints I might have are not caused by everyone whose skin is a certain tint, whose faces look like they have roots across the oceans or the borders, or whose family worships in a different way than I.
The Molotov cocktail tossers — and tossers they are, yeah? — need to look inside themselves, not outside, to find the root causes of their problems. It wasn’t “the Jews” who made the choices that made you miserable. It wasn’t “the blacks” who spiked the crime rate in your neighborhood. I dare say it’s not even the “Democrats” or the “Republicans” who made you broke and unhappy — not all of them, not everyone who fits in your group of evil doers. Maybe it was a guy named Chuck or Abner or Jamal or George, but it wasn’t everyone in your group, not even close to a majority of them. Don’t be so tiresome, and for God’s sake put down the weapons.
If there’s a “growing problem,” it’s people who forget to look in the mirror when they’re trying to blame someone for why they’re miserable and when they’re looking for someone who can fix what’s ailing them.
End of rant; have a nice day. By the way, whether it’s a nice day or not is on you, too.