Get Real!
In response to Nadia Matar’s article”, Psychiatrist Needed Urgently!” which contains much wisdom, allow me to say the following:
As that gallant lady well knows, far more than a psychiatrist is needed to overcome Israel’s malaise. Needed is nothing less than a revolution. But inasmuch as the government controls all the levers of power, what can be done to facilitate a revolution?
Words will accomplish nothing if not geared toward action—by which I do not mean protest demonstrations. Episodic action will not change the suicidal course of this country.
The people of this country are jaded. They are sick of words and unaffected by conventional demonstrations. They have been inundated by so many lies, and have either witnessed or suffered so much abuse, that questions of truth and falsity, of right and wrong, do not seriously impact their lives any more. So long as they can repair to the malls on Saturday night, they cannot take words about existential threats seriously.
Only “right-minded” people worry about existential threats—yet they too have serious shortcomings. They indulge in excessive analysis which only leads to paralysis.
Mere analysis is futile because the Left, having corrupted the language of public discourse, has corrupted the mentality of countless Israelis. And there’s nothing “right-minded” people can do about this decrepit state of affairs merely by calling “Disengagement” or “Realignment” a crime, or by saturating the Internet with critical analysis.
Words are not going to cure Israelis of their moral malady. Nor will words deter the Olmert government from repeating the crime of its predecessor. The system is a cesspool of corruption, of self-aggrandizing and heartless politicians—religious as well as secular.
So allow me to suggest this to our “right-minded” people—those who fear that Israel faces a threat to its existence. If this is what you fear, get real!. If you are going to talk about an “existential threat,” get real and form a Congress of National Salvation!
If you think Israeli governments¸ regardless of which parties are at the helm, are perfidious, don’t wait for another (futile) election, but form an “Alternative Government.” Get real!
