Boycotts and double standards, addiction, green parenting and Tibetan chess
Hello friends,
This week I have some things I’ve been reading and watching to share, as well as a couple of oldies but goodies from my writing files.
This is a really interesting discussion of addiction from a substance abuser turned neuroscientist, exploring the shortcomings of oversimplistic explanations of how it comes to be: The Addiction Trap.
Ben and Jerry’s recent decision to boycott the occupied territories provoked quite a spectacle, with Israeli politicians calling it “terrorism” (apparently deprivation of ice cream is now akin to suicide bombing) while others falsely equated this to a boycott of “Israel” (the occupied territories do not belong to Israel; that’s the whole problem).
All of this is secondary, though, to the fact that it got more attention in the Israeli press than the revelation that an Israeli firm was selling —with government awareness and permission— tech to fascist governments around the world to help them spy on activists, journalists, environmentalists, and other dissenters of civili society.
We seem to have a disease that causes us to disregard a concern with Israel is doing and to focus obsessively on how it appear to others instead. Comparatively speaking, how many FB posts did you see from Jewish friends and Rabbis about the Pegasus spyware reveal compared to posts defending Israel before the world during the Gaza war two months ago?
But back to boycotts. I care about this issue because it is a very divisive one in the Jewish community, and I think that’s a mistake. There are good arguments both in favour of boycotting and against it. Among those who oppose boycotts aimed in any way at Israel, a common argument is that this constitutes a “double standard” (why not boycott China?) This is one of those argument which is seductive on its surface and falls apart upon analysis, like so much of the rhetoric flying around at the speed of information these days.
Peter Beinart, an observant Jewish critic of Zionism and personal hero of mine, wrote a clear headed explanation of why last week: The Double Standards Fallacy.
AOBAG
Two of mine from the vault:
Why Parents Should Live Green Even Though It Won’t Save The World (Aug 2017)
Recycling, giving up meat, buying an electric vehicle. None of these things are going to save the world. We should do them anyway.
How Tibetan Chess Helped Me To Deal With Disturbing Emotions (July 2017)
Needing some hacks for your brain? Who doesn’t these days?