tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1625076107995960519.post3161790555464640657..comments2024-01-26T03:40:32.465-05:00Comments on Breath of the Beast: Recipe for Survival: An American Brain and A Russian HeartYaacov Ben Moshehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16711165551258127500noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1625076107995960519.post-71309711412792013922007-03-01T00:48:00.000-05:002007-03-01T00:48:00.000-05:00Total freedom of speech requires something of the ...Total freedom of speech requires something of the speaker, something that may be more and more absent to day, civility and an awareness of possible harm. The example often cited of yelling fire in a crowded theater comes to mind. This is true of all freedoms, the come with tremendous responsibility. If we foresake that responsibility, well will soon lose our freedoms as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1625076107995960519.post-18785668266621014402007-02-14T18:16:00.000-05:002007-02-14T18:16:00.000-05:00--"I am a Boston area Jew who grew up (I’m now 57 ...--"I am a Boston area Jew who grew up (I’m now 57 years old) in a prosperous suburb; but I also consider myself a Russian Jew. I find that politically and emotionally I have more in common with the Russian Jewish community than with most of the rest of the community I live in."<BR/><BR/>Are you my long-lost big brother? <BR/><BR/>YBM, I left Newton 19 years ago, first to Watertown, then to Florida. Funny thing, our next-door neighbors in W-town were a lovely Iranian couple (Heidi and David), very secular, never any problems, sweet kids, too. I thought of them, of course, when I read your groundbreaking essay on The Beast.<BR/><BR/>Do you ever read "Midstream" mag? I remember an essay there years ago by some guy from Russian background who made the point, if I may paraphrase: "We Russians respect strength more than anything. Ask anyone in my family which is more admired, my Uncle Yevgeny, the math profesor, or Uncle Yuri, the boxer--no contest! We admire Uncle Yuri, who singlehandedly knocked cold three thugs in a barfight!"<BR/><BR/>I recalled that article as I read your essay, and there is a lot of truth in it. As you pointed out, when we/they come to such a blessed place as America, we lose touch with that, shall I say, "DARWINIAN" sense or instinct that is elsewhere so necessary to the survival of a species.<BR/><BR/>Of course, this can't explain the bizarre goings-on in Israel since 1993, which just baffles me. Except that maybe that "species" is destined NOT to survive, as Darwin could have told us. It certainly isn't because they have no obvious and apparent and painful threats to their survival.<BR/><BR/>Menachem Begin must be spinning in his grave these days. :- (Jewish Odysseushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16704379332151214452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1625076107995960519.post-55669964390908047272007-02-13T23:27:00.000-05:002007-02-13T23:27:00.000-05:00Solomonia has honored this post with this post:An ...Solomonia has honored this post with this post:<BR/><BR/>An American Brain and A Russian Heart<BR/>Breath of the Beast has a new one up. This one's a little more controversial. While I agree with the author in spirit, and don't generally think much of the ACLU these days, I'm not sure I agree with him completely in the example he cites, although I understand the spirit of what he's trying to convey. The piece is well worth a shufty, though.<BR/><BR/>This is a wonderful point and something I thought about very seriously in putting together this post. Sol's thought-provoking response made me think again and I posted this comment on Solomonia:<BR/><BR/>Thanks once again-<BR/>I know what you mean about not agreeing completely. I have that same reaction when I read what I wrote. I am reaching for something subtle here and I know I have not quite hit it. Maybe I am wrong but I think we have to have more faith in the system and each other in some ways. Just reiterate, t I am still 100% in favor of freedom of speech. I advanced the example that I did exactly because it strikes such a balance. The ACLU, in insisting that the government can't pick and choose, ignores the ancient exception of "advocating the violent overthrow of the government" and the newer "hate Speech" exception. If the Skokie march, intentionally targeting holocaust survivors, is not hate speech then I must have missed something important. <BR/>My point here is that any government could use either of those exceptions to outlaw almost anything. After all, neo-Nazis, anarchists and Communists, by definition are all advocating the overthrow of our system. What keeps that kind of thing in balance is not so much the activities of the ACLU (although they do serve a purpose in some cases) but the inherent checks and balances built into our system of government. The mutual contract shared by citizens of a free republic is more of a binding force than the law that underlies it. I think that the ACLU is tone deaf and so gets in the way of that process more than it helps.<BR/>Best Regards,<BR/>YBMYaacov Ben Moshehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16711165551258127500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1625076107995960519.post-10922935843564125252007-02-12T10:03:00.000-05:002007-02-12T10:03:00.000-05:00With speech restrictions the problem always is: wh...With speech restrictions the problem always is: who decides?<BR/><BR/>Being a minority Jews must stand for unrestricted freedom of speech lest some new king arises who did not know Joseph.<BR/><BR/>If speech can be restricted how will Jews be able to complain?<BR/><BR/>I agreed with you in '76 about Freedom of Speech. I do not agree with you now.<BR/><BR/>BTW I am unreservedly an enemy of Islam. Not just the fascists. However, our best tool against them is to let them speak for themselves. The words of the Koran and the Hadiths condemn the lot.<BR/><BR/>Free speech for all.<BR/><BR/>Why? Here is where I agree again. Speech has consequences.M. Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09508934110558197375noreply@blogger.com