I've been called a 'leftie', even though that's not how I think of myself at all. Admittedly, my views tend toward social and fiscal progressivism. But I think of politics in more nuanced ways than 'right' and 'left'. On security matters, for example, I believe we need to invest in the military and security (especially as the international scene is evolving). Does that make me a 'hawk'? On trade, for another example, I'm a believer that freer is better. Isn't that what the 'right' used to promote?
I don't think right versus left captures the way most people think. Or rather, what it does is flatten, simplify and tribalize people, which only serves certain political purposes; politicians who want to use right vs. left to leverage hostility and to demonize opponents in order gain support for their positions; also political commentators who want ways to categorize people into groups to express their opinions in bite-sized, social media digestible ways. But it's not an accurate image of the state of reality or the way people actually think.
When we talk about 'right' and 'left' we are usually talking about the extremes, and what makes this ironic is that the extremes are indistinct because they meet, at which point it's meaningless to separate them. Both the far right and the far left are equally intolerant and anti-democratic. The far right, for example, doesn't believe in democracy because they think uneducated people and poor people, which is the majority of people, are either too ignorant or too irresponsible to make good decisions and therefore can't be trusted with power. A form of authoritarianism is preferable. People on the far left also want a form of authoritarianism because they believe democracy expresses systemic racism and bigotry and favours financial special interests. People are too ignorant, greedy or prejudiced to be trusted with power.
It always comes down to one thing: Who can be trusted with power. Which is why we rise and fall as a society on the amount of trust we have in each other. As the level of trust sinks the more the fortunes of authoritarians rise. This is why authoritarians trade on distrust, attacking as untrustworthy just about everything that engenders trust in our society; institutions, media, officeholders, judges, experts etc.
We increasingly live in a world where trust is at risk. The globalization of information has made us feel like everything everywhere is always happening to us. But it's not. The fabric of belonging that was woven through our participation in the activities of local groups, such as ecumenical community groups and benevolent societies, has frayed. The social media algorithms in which we are all immersed that rewards extremism, portrays and promotes a scary and mostly fictional view of reality. One that makes us believe that every road trip ends in a firey car crash. Our challenge is to not fall for it. The best way to do that is to choose a different reality, one that provides proper perspective.
It's been anti-Semitism since October 7th that has expressed for me, in a most salient way, the need for perspective. The increase in violent incidents is undeniable. Just this past week there was a molotov cocktail thrown at the door of a synagogue in a Montreal suburb, which is alarming. The question is, is it a one alarm, a 2-alarm or a 5-alarm fire? Obviously we should be concerned about the anger out there against Jewish communities because of the tragedy in Gaza. It's an understandable, and unacceptable, uptick in violence borne of a sense of moral outrage and political frustration. And yet, I don't feel personally unsafe, and I don't think I have any reason to. I'm heartened by the fact that the people in power, political leaders and authorities, have been unequivocal in denouncing the violence against Jewish institutions. I'm confident that the anger and frustration will pass once hostilities subside. Anti-Semitism (like all forms of prejudice and the need to blame others) expresses unfortunate aspects of human nature. We should remember that if you had to choose any time in history to be alive as a Jew, it would certainly be now. We are still living in our golden age. I don't think I'm being pollyannaish or naive.
This new year, by all means vow to eat healthier, and drink less. By all means get a gym membership, and pledge to do more regular exercise. But don't forget about your mental health. Check your view of reality by disconnecting from the false one you see online. Participate in real-world activities. Communicate with people individually, not by adding comments on social media posts. Increase time spent with actual people. Go to a live event, a concert, a play, a show at the museum. Read the local weekly community newspaper - it'll remind you that life is actually still pretty normal.
May 2025 be a year in which we pledge to re-orient our compass toward a truer perspective.
