Thanksgiving Interrupted -- Gaza Edition
The fighting in Gaza reveals that many elites in the West believe not in E Pluribus Unum ("Out of Many, One") but in "Out of Two, Two," ever locked in struggle.
The fighting in Gaza illuminates the disheartening fact that many observers maintain views contrary to E Pluribus Unum (“Out of Many, One”). Understatement. Rather, many observers in the West appeal to the trendy view that there are two parties, “the oppressor and the oppressed,” and that such antagonists can never be reconciled. We thus end up with, “Out of Two, Two,” ever locked in struggle. But it gets worse in that this view is Manichaean. It identifies one party (the Israelis) as bad guys and the other party as good guys. The good guys must prevail by any means necessary.
Imagine, as a John Lennon might, that everyone did appeal to Out of Many, One. Then the Israelis and Palestinians could commit to implementing the End of History in their corner of the Levant. Specifically, they could implement a liberal democratic formulation of a “one-state solution.” They could draw a circle encompassing Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, commit to liberal democratic norms (such as equality before the law) and processes (free elections and such), and that would be that.
Alas, instituting a liberal democratic order can make for a fraught, protracted and uncertain affair. But, the experience of 17th century settlers in America, refugees from the religious wars of Europe, is illuminating. The experience illuminates the fact that various religious factions, each committed to organizing a society that would support its parochial interests to the exclusion of other factions’ interests, found themselves under pressure to get along with other factions. It took several decades, but the British colonies eventually committed to norms supporting religious freedom.
“Religious freedom” might seem like a fringe concern to someone who maintains modern, secular sensibilities, but I will suggest that the important part about religious freedom is the bit about freedom. The kernel of it is the negative right of the individual to tell the State to leave one alone to organize one’s life as one pleases. It indicates the right to be free from the predations of the State. The flight from religious wars then, amounted to an unwitting step toward launching a successful revolution for individual rights. It constituted a step toward making America America.
Whether they knew it or not, those Pilgrims were on to something, and we should be thankful.
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I elaborate on this point in my actual Thanksgiving essay (linked below). It is titled,
A Tale of Three Thanksgivings in Two Acts
The 17th century experience with Puritanical excess helped America make the jump from a tribalistic identity politics to an actually "inclusive" live-and-let-live liberalism.
Like reconciliation after the “countermeasure“, it’s too late for Palestine & zionists.
But here in blue New England, we had better not forget we are “American“ pilgrims.