Customer Reviews

Separation and Its Discontents: Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Anti-Semitism

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1 star:		(9)

 

 

Judaism, like any culture, has at times been insular and ethnocentric in its pursuits. There is nothing surprising about this fact. MacDonald, in my opinion, does an excellent job in presenting unbiased facts. Since facts, viewed in their entirety, are not always flattering (again, as would be the case with any culture) some would like to dismiss them as anti-Semitic. This is preposterous.

MacDonald meticulously takes you through the history of the Jews and provides quotes from notables and facts of that time, both pro and con. At various times Jews have been treated harshly. Why would anyone NOT want to try to understand how and why this happened, in hopes that it would never happen again?

To simply say he is at times quoting some people who said less than flattering things about certain Jews at certain times, is to bury your head in the sand.

I can only say, read the book and draw your own conclusions. Don't let someone else tell you how you should think.

In the red corner is Daniel Goldhagen, on a winning streak with his book, Hitler1s Willing Executioners, which rules out several conceivable 3causes2 of the European massacre of Jews, before finally deciding that the real culprit was a totally, 100% fantasized delusion, shared by most Germans, that a relatively minuscule group of Jews constituted a danger. In the blue corner, is Kevin MacDonald1s Separation and Its Discontents (SAID), his second volume on Judaism as an 3evolutionary group strategy2, this one documenting the idea that while humans everywhere are prone to ethnocentric, exaggerated fantasy, along with that exaggeration there is often, nevertheless, a much more prosaic 3cause2 of massacres, namely an intense competition for resources. SAID examines historical evidence, often from Jewish historians, from the standpoint of the (Darwinian) biological and social evolution of ethnic group strategies and of 3social identity theory2, the currently influential articulation of the linkages between cognitive processes such as group categorization and social motivational processes. It will be a valuable companion to other books on numerically small ethnies who have survived in the diaspora (e.g., Hutterites). (Do some attract less hostility than others?) This is an academic book, but accessible enough for readers of, say, the Economist or the Atlantic. MacDonald1s work is an 3emperor-has-no-clothes2 , challenge to much conventional wisdom about anti-Semitism. Competition for resources is easily not thought of as a 3cause2 of anti-Semitism given that Jewish economic activities are considered by so many (especially Jews) as perfectly normal, productive, and non-violent , so what1s the big deal? Even if Jews have been especially competent at these activities, they are surely not unique in undertaking them. This overlooks : (1) the distinction drawn by Frank Forman between "legitimate" vs. "illegitimate" competition as well as the frequent ruthlessness and emotionality of ordinary economic competition illustrated by biker gangs killing each other off over the drug trade; (2) monopolies: when a "company" becomes monopolistic (e.g., Microsoft), no one is surprised by anti-monopoly laws, but for monopolistic ethnies, there are no analogous regulatory bodies; (3) the existence of non-exploitive, non-zero-sum commerce as when, say, a traditional Chinese merchant willingly renegotiates a contract if the trading partner does not derive "equal" benefit. The evidence in SAID is that from Roman Empire times through post-Emancipation Europe, Jewish economic activities, often perceived as exploitive, typically were introduced into contexts of otherwise relatively non-exploitive commerce within gentile groups, and were then followed by 3reactive2 anti-Semitism (not the reverse).

MacDonald concludes that the National Socialism of (Nazi) Germany was not only a reaction to but a 3mirror image2 of what Jews were doing. The similarities, he says, lie in the common focus on genetic purity (and endogamy), eugenic practices, cooperation within the cohesive ingroup, and hostility to and denigration of outgroups (seen in the original Hebrew versions of Jewish religious texts [ see Israel Shahak1s (1994) Jewish History, Jewish Religion; John Hartung1s (1995) 3Love thy neighbor2 , The Skeptic]. But where in the mirrored images of Jewish activities does one find the massacre of six million gentiles? Nowhere, of course, circa Weimar Germany. But think of the Biblical Joshua1s still celebrated genocide of the Canaanites, and the ongoing and frequently murderous actions taken by Jews in Israel against Palestinian Arabs (e.g., Deir Yassin; Baruch Goldstein), approved of by surprising percentages of Israeli Jews. And does not the Israeli theft of Arab land 3mirror2 the Nazi theft of Jewish wealth, placed in Swiss banks? MacDonald doesn1t remotely suggest that European Jews DESERVED to die for their group strategy but rather tries to UNDERSTAND what happened. The relentlessness of the documentation of what anti-Semites were angry about for many centuries may suggest to Jewish readers that he is trying to stir up anger at Jews all over again. But consider recent newspaper reports of a few Chinese controlling over 4/5ths of the Indonesian economy: our greater understanding surely doesn't make us feel that those Chinese merit death. Furthermore, MacDonald is interested in all "group strategies" and their consequences, whether Gypsy, English, or whatever. Darwinists have a capacity for facing unpleasant truths which is sometimes misinterpreted as personal approval for whatever disaster some group has suffered. Darwinists are also determined truth seekers, and deception and self-deception are common themes in evolutionary psychology; hence the descriptions in SAID of efforts to portray one's group as altruistic rather than competitive. Nevertheless, a book about tornados invites queries on storm shelters. However objective they strive to be, social scientists often have a personal interest in reducing ethnic conflict if not threats to their own group. How then can groups respond to cohesive groups of Jews, Gypsies, Hutterites, or Chinese many of which from now on will have a global reach? Should they mimic their strategies (3mirror image2) or try to get them to back off their ultra-group-mindedness and assimilate into surrounding societies? SAID does contrast the apparently non-genocidal strategies (basically boycotts) of some Muslim ethnies with that of the Nazis. But the latter had been petrified by the Bolshevik massacres of millions in Russia (which Germans perceived, controversially, as an ethnic conflict between communist Jews and Russian peasants!) Of interest here is the evolutionary psychology literature on reciprocity with its variations on the theme of "tit-for-tat" by which initial cooperation with another group would be replaced by "non-cooperation" if rebuffed. But SAID is not really an advice book; it is simply a scientific examination of a particular ethnic group's strategies and their sequellae. Some readers, their view of history possibly turned upside down, may be pinching themselves. Historical evidence, even the 3reluctant testimony2 of Jewish historians, is notoriously difficult to assess, especially for non-historians. But if there are historical errors in SAID, critics can be expected to home in on them soon. Meanwhile for anyone genuinely concerned about (any) inter-ethnic hostility, SAID is a must-read. Thanks to Praeger for its courage in publishing it!

Kevin MacDonald explores the Jew/Gentile conflict from the late Roman era to the present in this volume. He thinks that gentiles turn to collectivism in response to Jewish collectivism in order to protect themselves from exploitation. In the Late Roman empire, Christianity established itself as a strongly anti-Semitic religion in its theology. As Christians gained power in civic government, they passed laws to limit Jewish exploitation of gentile Christians such as laws forbidding Jews to own Christian slaves or Christian female servants. This is not to say that the formerly Pagan Rome was not anti-Semitic, but that Christian Rome may have been more systematic in its anti-Semitism, from what I gathered from reading this section. Pagan Rome's main complaint against Jews was their resistance to assimilating into the universalist culture of Rome.

MacDonald covers the complaints of anti-Semites against Jews in various ages such as the Middle Ages which he views as another age in which Christianity and the church turned towards collectivism to combat the political and economic power of the Jews, especially the Marranos, those Jews in Spain especially, who were pressured into converting to Christianity as a way of forcing them to assimilate. It didn't work. The Marranos were mostly crypto-Jews that professed Christianity outwardly, but still married other Marrano Jews and practiced Jewish rituals secretly and generally shunned Christian rituals when they could. This generally confirmed Judaism as a religion based on keeping the purity of the Jewish race. Jews became upwardly mobile in this period within the church and civil society, but still were not truly Christian. This resistance provoked the Inquisition against them in which the Church was trying to test out the sincerity of the Marranos' belief in Christianity.

MacDonald explores German National Socialism as a mirror image strategy against Judaism as an evolutionary stategy. Both were concerned with eugenics and collectivism to achieve group goals. Both belief systems practically made a religion out of race. He views the Nazis as anti-Western in its beliefs because they go against traditional Western ways of universalism and assimilation. Jewish intellectuals such as Benjamin Disraeli are quoted showing the prevalence of the belief in Jewish racial superiority at the time leading up to Nazi Germany. Gentile philosophers such Houston Stewart Chamberlain mirrored such beliefs in the racial superiority of Gentiles. He heavily influenced Hitler. National Socialism is seen as a reaction against Enlightenment policies in which Jews were to be given full rights as citizens if they assimulated totally into German society. The hoped-for assimulation did not occur as the Jews gained more power in German society and hence there was a National Socialist reaction against the Jews.

MacDonald explores the ways in which Jews combat anti-Semitism by breaking down the dominant culture of American society by marginalizing Christianity in the public realm, such as the Jewish-dominated ACLU trying to limit Christianity in the public realm under the guise of separation of church and state. They also use crypsis, not revealing themselves as Jews by changing their names or not revealing the Jewish character of their movements. MacDonald mentions the Jews as the only ethnic group that pushed hard to changed pre-1965 immigration laws to open up immigration to America to non-European races and cultures. This process has a way of breaking down the cultural dominance of white gentiles for the benefit of Jewish aims.

MacDonald thinks the idea that Jews are actually Khazarites is most likely a myth. He says that Jews used the "history of the Khazarites as Jews" for ideological purposes in a previous age. I have observed some people are using this "history" to claim that the Jews have no claim or connection to Israel.

MacDonald covers Jewish deception and self-deception as a means for them to manipulate a host society to their own ends while rationalizing that are not actually doing that. Many Jews see themselves as a chosen people who are morally superior to others; they provide a shining moral example for other ethnic groups to follow. To Jews, Jewish aims are not for them, but for the benefit of rest of society.

MacDonald explores the idea that the Jews may be assimulating so much that they may cease to be a distinct ethnic group. He mentions that Jews throughout history have been considered "an ever-dying race" but his general conclusion could be summed up as "reports of their death are largely exaggerated." There is always a hard core of Jews that remain racially pure and don't assimilate even though the outer core may do so.

This is another excellent book by MacDonald for those who have wondered why Jews and Gentiles don't get along very well and why the relationship between the groups is so strange.

Eugenics is a rather easy endeavor, one that has been used by farmers and breeders for thousands of years, without understanding the genetic principles involved. And nations likewise have been concerned about the quality of the gene pool, without understanding what mechanisms were responsible. Only in the last fifty years, because of propaganda and the Holocaust, have we turned our backs on what has been evident to most people for thousands of years--if one group reproduces faster than another, then the genetic capital or quality of the average citizen will change. And typically, wealth has improved only to set up the mechanisms for dysgenic family practices to occur, the elite stop having as many children as the underclass. In Kevin MacDonald's first book in 1994, A People That Shall Dwell Alone: Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy--as part of the Seymour W. Itzkoff series on Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence--he discusses how Jewish eugenic practices led to the increase in intelligence of Western Jews to a level far above the average of the people they lived among. Jews average IQ is now 117 versus an average of 103 for Caucasians. His book details how this came about, using a selection process for intelligence that included not allowing outsiders to become Jews, while encouraging the less intelligent Jews to defect. So we know from this model that eugenics works and it is very beneficial for those who practice it. The problem is, the structure of Western culture is highly dysgenic for non-Jews and will remain that way until we can change the way we behave in the context of structuring participating population groups in a program to raise the average intelligence. This article will deal with the realities of doing that, and I will use Kevin MacDonald's second book, recently released in the series, to frame my arguments. The book, Separation and its Discontents: Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Anti-Semitism, deals with the Jewish collectivist culture and how it forced other groups to take up racialist programs to compete for reproductive success and/or to counter the economic success of Judaism. MacDonald states, "The basic thesis of this book can be summarized by the proposition that Judaism must be conceptualized as a group strategy characterized by cultural and genetic segregation from gentile societies combined with resource competition and conflicts of interest with segments of gentile societies. This cultural and genetic separatism combined with resource competition and other conflicts of interest tend to result in division and hatred within the society." If we are to improve our genetic capital, we must understand human nature and the varying forms of cultural and political constructs that will lead us in the right direction, by learning what has been tried in the past. Armed with evolutionary theory, we can go beyond transcendental utopias and rely on reasonable expectations of human behavior to put in place a practical eugenics policy based on empirical evidence, and not on religious or socialist dogma or one leading to violent clashes between competing groups. At the very foundation of Jewish culture is the social cohesiveness achieved by a high level ethnocentrism. And there are two parts to this phenomena--one is a naturally inherent trait and the other is a reaction to external threats, whether perceived or real. That is, social identity theory dictates that ethnocentrism will not kick-in as a flexible strategizer if the state is homogeneous, such as Japan, and earlier England and France during the Enlightenment. Then there is the innateness of ethnocentrism, the tendency for one population group to be orientated towards ingroup/outgroup conflicts. In a study conducted to measure ingroup bias, the Jews had the highest bias towards their own ethnic group, while white Anglo-Saxon Protestants had the least, with Asians, Italians, Other Europeans, and blacks somewhere in-between. This ethnocentric bias is more prevalent in the more Eastern Muslim and Jewish cultures where authoritarianism/collectivist cultures with pronounced social status differences, practices of concubinage, etc. evolved due to the large number of people competing for the same land. At the same time, the more northern cultures evolved with people spaced much farther apart, with selection for innate tendencies towards individualism, assimilationist, and universalist traits. Ingroup/outgroup conflicts were less advantageous and cooperation between widely separated pockets of people inhabiting a hostile environment in the northern climates selected against xenophobia and collectivism.

This is the second part of MacDonald's magnificent trilogy, dealing with the history of disputes between Jews and the rest of the world. Most gentile writers would approach this from the viewpoint that any antipathy was the result of totally unwarranted hate-crime from the majority population, cowardly damning their own ancestors as racist and bigoted. Our hero is made of sterner stuff, clearly detailing what aspects of Jewish behaviour cause anti-semitism.
The bravest chapter is when he demonstrates that Nazism is an almost exact mirror of Judaism! The book is worth buying for this insight alone. Read this book and your view of the world will never be the same again.

MacDonald does his best to accurately display the causes and effects of anti-Semitism throughout the history of the world. MacDonald does not pain the anti-Semitics of history with rosy colors; nor does he allow a personal and subjective 'anti-anti-Semitic' opinion to interfere with his work (an anomaly in this day and age).

Ignore those who label this work 'anti-Semitic.' You can't so much as say the word 'Jew' without these defaming vultures sweeping down upon you. It is in the best interests of free thought that you ignore these defamations. All of these labels--be they 'anti-Semitic,' or 'sexist,' or 'racist,' or 'homophobic,'--are just pre-packaged smear words used to silence opinions that are too stalwart to be debated.

All in all, it is not surprising that there has existed anti-Semitism throughout the history of Europe, and that such anti-Semitism still exists in Europe and America. The Jews have, for centuries, maintained an astounding amount of wealth and power in proportion to their population. Why this particular group has continued to attain such an unbelievable concentration of power is an enigma to me. However, it is not an enigma that anti-Semitism will result because of this Jewish dominance. Anytime a particular ethnic or religious group (especially when they are a small minority) attains lordship over another ethnic or religious group, conflict will ensue. History has taught us that much.

and that alone is evidence of it's merit.

This is the first successful attempt to understand human behavior from an evolutionary perspective. It will set the pace for all subsequent evolutionary and cultural analysis of human behavior. It's truths will be rejected initially and debated vigorously but the only hope for minimizing the disastrous effects of holocaust lie with MacDonald.

What can I say...this psychologist has 'GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!' I wish he was my shrink!

First published 1998, as some of these old reviews indicate. This paperback is 2004 with a new preface, largely about an essay by P Rubin's (2000), Does Ethnic Conflict Pay?

This book is specifically supposed to be 'Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Anti-Semitism'. I give it four stars for what appears to be its boldness, though in fact it has considerable limitations, which I'll indicate--

[1] The index is bare - the word 'Zionism' for example is followed by about fifty page references, without any detail whatever. The readers is expected presumably to comb through all these in search of his/her interest.

There is much interesting material inside: each chapter is followed by its own endnotes, and there's a bibliography. As an example of navigational difficulty, consider the Russo-Japanese War: this is not indexed (nor is Japan), but the bibliography refers to a piece in a yearbook dated 1983 by A J Sherman. Looking up this name in the index points to page 106, an endnote on Jacob Schiff financing the Japanese against Russia. (This is sometimes regarded as the Orient starting to become powerful). Annoying. Thus for instance I couldn't find if the Armenian genocide allegedly by crypto-Jewish 'Turks' is in the book.

[2] Internal evidence suggests the book was written as standalone chapters; so when MacDonald found an interesting point, it would be added as a note. Topics include the Construction of Judaism, Self-Deception as an aspect of Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy. 'The Culture of Critique' is similar, with its chapters on Freud, anthropology, the Frankfurt School and Jewish secret roles in forcing immigration on Europe, Canada and Australia. The endnotes to the chapters are full of interest: this volume for example has many on eugenics as a continuous Jewish policy. 'Critique' had one on fondness for pets as being maladaptive.

[3] His books seem cautious (to be fair, they were written, in Internet terms, a long while ago). In effect, MacDonald is following an evolutionary strategy in his publishing. Bacque (1998, 1997) is not included. Nor is R Conquest on Stalin (1968). Nor Butz (1975) - MacDonald seem to entertain no doubts about 'the Holocaust'. He uses the conventional 19th century phrases - 'anti-semitism' (newspaper coinage, designed to not mention Jews), 'revolution' rather than coup in Russia. He is cautious about the Khazars (they get about half a page). Tony Martin on Jewish involvement in slavery (c. 1993) is I think not mentioned.

[4] This book is (arguably) too American. There's not much on the German sozialdemokrat movement, the USSR, Jews in Hungary. He barely mentions Belloc's 1920ish book, with its account of English aristocrats intermarrying, Jews' opposition to everyone else's nationalism, the manufactured surnames, and so on. There is however hidden-away material on Churchill's deliberate sabotage of controls on immigration - they were pouring into the East End of London.

His world history looks 1900-ish: Biblical tribes/ Greece and Rome/ Christianity and the Middle Ages/ modern times. He doesn't seem to mention the wave of expulsion of Jews from most European countries. His accounts of 'reactive anti-Semitism' include the Roman Empire, Spain, and Germany. He seems to claim, reasonably enough, that 'anti-Semitism' (meaning people who are anti-Jews) is 'reactive' - it only develops after Jews appear. Usually they seemed an intermediate caste between rulers and people who were sources of tax. The NSDAP as resembling Jews is not a new idea - Oscar Levy in the 1930s in The Idiocy of Idealism said the same.

I can't help wondering how much of this is continuism, and Jewish projection and story-telling: did the continuity really exist? After all there were many rich Asian towns, but also waves of tribal conquest in the Poland/ Russia area, some destructive, some empire building (the Rus), and rich types might well have been a target.

[5] MacDonald is in my opinion a bit naive about Jews and science and invention. The whole mind-set as described by MacDonald isn't compatible with disinterested, slow, uncertain processes. Thus Einstein is widely accepted by now to have been a phony. The same pattern is seen in biology, and nuclear physics which Sachs and the Oppenheimers took over in the 1930s. (I don't have the space to outline this!) The alternative hypothesis, that corruption by money explains their success, is unexplored by MacDonald. For example, any honest economics department could produce in a few days evidence that Jews dominate in fraud. This naivety extends to intimidation and violence by Jews - per head it's possible they were/are the most lethal group that ever lived.

All this sounds a bit negative - it's true that a decent index would enhance this book enormously, and MacDonald could have compiled it himself - it's not only Jews who dislike certain types of work! However this book is probably the best available, and repays careful reading. The evolutionary part - 'cultural and genetic separation with resource and population competition' - looks technical and no doubt has a disguising effect. The general ideas aren't new - the Bible, Talmud, Julius Caesar etc contain them - and, if you find them off-putting, just ignore them, as MacDonald explains the implications anyway.

Recommended.