On Fri, 19 Nov 1999, Doug Henwood wrote:
> So why is there anti-Semitism in Japan and Malaysia?
>
And India, and Africa . . . sometimes it seems like the only thing the whole world agrees on.
I think the answer is that people everywhere intuit that they are being terribly exploited by people that aren't from around here (whereever "here" is) and seem to control everything subtly -- it's the first stage of seeing through ideology. Conspiracy theories have two advantages over sophisticated explanations for exploitation and its ideological mask. They are simpler to learn, and because simple, they are emotionally more satisfying. They present a clear object to fury. And the Jewish conspiracy theory is the oldest one in the books. So it's not odd that lots of people that want an answer -- not a question, but an answer -- reach for stock solutions and blame it on the Jews.
Michael
__________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com