For many it began with the orchestrated and coordinated political campaigns supplemented with the blind support of the progressive leftist media to create the illusion of democratically elected governments of chaos, mismanagement, and corruption in response to the Corona virus pandemic. For others it began even earlier with the election of conservative political leaders in the United States and in Israel in recent years. Common sense has ceased to prevail, objective narratives are a relic of the past, and the general public has been left bewildered not knowing whom to believe, losing trust in basic societal institutions such as the judicial and court system, attorney generals, police enforcement, the education system, and even health providers. Judicial double standards and selective enforcement are the new norm, Our generation’s intellectuals, opinion makers, and influencers have chosen to ignore reality to willingly push agenda’s that are detached from the public will and the public’s basic values. In response to this confusion and loss of basic trust, the public in Israel and from what I have observed also in the United States have unwillingly begun to accept dissonance as a way of life.
Dissonance is a theory in social psychology that refers to a mental conflict that occurs when a person’s behaviors and beliefs do not align. On a societal level, dissonance occurs when common sense and long held beliefs are inundated and questioned relentlessly by the major providers and sources of information that we consume; the printed and broadcasted media, social media, internet and so forth. What a person believes and what providers of information tell us to believe contradict one another. It seems as if the media’s interpretation of reality always gives credence and credibility to the progressive agenda and ignores basic facts that we have always accepted as givens. Many among the general public experience a sense of discomfort, uneasiness, and tension. “Explaining things away” and injecting information that conflicts with existing beliefs have only made the dissonance felt by so many that much more intense and real.
The most blatant example of this type of dissonance has to do with the education system and integrating progressive indoctrination into the educational curriculum while circumventing parental involvement in decisions that directly affect their children as young as first grade. School boards are taking on the mindset that parents are nothing but a nuisance as they demand the right to mold children’s minds while completely ignoring the wishes of the parents. Basing whole curriculums on Critical Race Theory (based on teachings of the late Jewish historian Howard Zinn), and gender education are the most blaring examples of ignoring the will of the public and giving rise to dissonance on a wide scale. Had the public school systems excelled in educating our children they would parade their successes for all to hear and see, but the truth is as the progressive indoctrination has permeated the school systems everywhere, the level of schooling and educational achievements have been regressing and showing a consistent decline in scores and abilities. School parents are in a constant state of dissonance having no outlet for turning the clock back and are simply being scared into silence.
Black American bigotry and anti-Semitism appears to be rising in recent years with Jews being physically attacked almost daily on the streets of Brooklyn or while commuting on the subway, almost always by young Black Americans usually randomly and sometimes in planned attacks. The dissonance felt by many American Jews has reached new heights yet little has been provided in terms of real information as to what are the drivers of this violent anti-Semitism on the part of young Black Americans. Despite Jews serving as influential advisers to civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., and despite the list of Jews who devoted themselves to black causes is literally all but inexhaustible, the Black American- Jewish alliance has never been a two-way street. Malcom X was a known anti-Semite: “The exploiters of blacks are the Jews,” and “the Jew is behind the integration movement.” Stockey Carmichael, a black and influential leader: “The only good Zionist is a dead Zionist,” and “We must take a lesson from Hitler.” These examples are pale in comparison to the record of Louis Farrakhan, whom the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has called “the leading anti-Semite in America.” His assaults on Jews as “termites,” his description of Judaism as a “gutter religion,” his declaration that Hitler was a “great man” (later modified to “wickedly great”) have been widely reported. His Nation of Islam has distributed the notorious fabrication The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as well as a tract of its own, The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews, which Henry Louis Gates Jr. condemned as “the bible of the new anti-Semitism.”
All of this basic information about how the Black American community have been historically lead by Black American anti-Semites has been withheld from the public. With the Judicial system releasing black criminals and felons, allowing them immunity from prosecution have all contributed to the runaway violent anti-Semitism perpetuated by Black Americans. The American public and American Jews are not blind to this development and the ensuing dissonance has never been greater. Yet, the progressive agenda and providers of information prefer to ignore reality and place all of the responsibility on conservative politicians or white supremacists. The discrepancy and large gap between the reality and what’s explained have all contributed to the dissonance felt by so many.
I could easily provide many more examples of what’s creating widespread dissonance among so many and conduct a meticulous analysis that befits the inheritors of the Talmudic tradition. However a decent and honest debate about what’s best for the public has been effectively ruled out. A general sense of fear and intimidation has overtaken the public discourse destroying honesty and the ability to question the progressive and radical narrative portrayed by the media to the detriment of the general public. This immense gap between the objective reality and the broadcasted and false interpretation of reality has created a sense of dissonance against the false prophets that promote the progressive political agenda forcing so many to accept dissonance as a way of life.