Awhile back I wrote a column entitled “Destroying the Jewish People One Schoolteacher at a Time.” Apparently it offended Jewish people that find nobility in helping people while complaining that they do not have the quality of life that they desire. I will again remind the Jewish community that we are well on our way to financial extinction by placing helping others at the expense of our own monetary well being. Rich people give more to charity than poor people because they can, and I would prefer us be wealthy than panhandlers, which we will end up being if we keep going into industries that value helping others at the expense of our survival economically.
There is nothing noble about being poor, and there is nothing sinful about being rich. For those who help others and are unconcerned with your financial lot in life I applaud you. For those who try to help others but complain of your financial hardships because you became schoolteachers or social workers, nobody forced you into a financially unrewarding life. You did it to yourself. The smiles on those kids faces don’t seem as sweet when the car payments are due.
Below is a partial response I received from a well intentioned bleeding heart, and my response to her.
“Traditional Values for Jews include valuing education, social justice, and good medical care. These are not the worst of Traditional Values to adhere to, and certainly reflect more positive core values than that of the dominant culture here. It is interesting-I work for a Jewish owner of the facility, and he pays the lowest in the area-I shall leave when the rest of my paperwork goes through the system, and I have reciprocity elsewhere-as the only Jewish Nurse in his little system, I am still scheduled to work Shabbat, and as he drives up in his 80K car, while paying his Nursing Staff small shekels, he makes me ashamed to share anything in common with him.
(name withheld)”
I responded to (name withheld) as follows:
You proved my point exactly. Now Jews can either BE the person driving the 80k car and making the rules, or we can be the plebeians following someone else’s orders. If enough Jews stopped going into these low paying industries, and went into business and made tons of money, they could build hospitals, schools, etc, and run them more ethically than your boss.
It is disgusting that you have to work on the sabbath against your desires, but in this world there are Chiefs and Indians, and Jews need to become Chiefs.
Lastly, there is nothing…and I repeat nothing…in the Torah that forces Jews to obey this concept of social justice, which is code for being politically liberal. Orthodox Jews overwhelmingly vote republican, and I trust their view of the Torah the most because they spend their lives reading and analyzing it.
Maybe if Jews stopped obsessing about Darfur, chloroflorocarbons, the wetlands, the rights of bunny rabbits, etc, and started worrying about a 52% intermarriage rate, a sky high divorce rate, and a political ideology that places liberalism over Judaism, we would be a stronger people.
Jews need to stop being bleeding hearts. The world hates us…and we thank them and say “may I please have another sir.”
The answer for Jews is to get high paying jobs, make money, and get power. Power can be used for good. By voting for candidates that are pro-business and anti-tax, we can keep more money. Then we can speak to the boss by looking in the mirror and saying “I am going to drive my 80k car with a big smile on my face, and I will refuse to work on the sabbath…because I can.”
eric