The Elephant in the Room
I’m a huge fan of Breaking Points for its objectivity, courage, and devotion to both free speech and antimilitarism. Viewpoint diversity among the four of you makes it happen. But since 10/7, something has been bothering me. You always point out free speech hypocrisy by the left. Since 10/7, you’ve done the same for free speech hypocrisy by the right. Excellent. You always maintain a principled antiwar perspective towards both wars, and also against the military-industrial complex which supports them. Likewise, excellent. But I think you err when you slip into a particular way of thinking common among the intelligentsia. Yes, you have absorbed Enlightenment values deeply enough to stick to them despite pressure from surface agendas that sway the masses. But, having grown up in a place where those values are taken for granted, you have absorbed them subliminally. Therefore, you don’t recognize that those values are an unlikely miracle, not a natural way of being. Not recognizing opens you to naivety about human nature. Let me offer some examples of where naivety sends you off track. You apply the word ‘genocide’ to Israelis but rarely to Palestinians, even though genocidal intention among Palestinians is clear. You accept an ideologically convenient but ahistorical understanding of ‘intifada’ that ignores the terror it sows among Israelis and the tragic consequences it inflicts on Palestinian children conscripted into a death cult. And, yes, you do feature voices antithetical to the dominant Israeli point of view. As you should. But then you have few voices antithetical to the dominant Palestinian point of view. Granted, the debate Saagar moderated moved in that direction. But have you tried to interview people like Gad Saad? Ayaan Hirsi Ali? Mosab Hassan Yousef? Or expressed their understanding as often as you express the “Israel-committing-genocide” understanding? Those three offer a core perspective which you are not presenting, suffering as you do from Enlightenment-induced naivety. The Gaza War is more than a dispute over land, occupation, and relocation. If that’s all it were, and if both sides accepted a degree of Enlightenment thinking of the kind which espouses the humanity of all people, a two-state solution would have long since been a reality. But there’s an elephant in the room which makes this war more than a dispute over land, and the reason a two-state solution never came to pass. It’s due to an all encompassing antisemitism taught to Palestinian children, and in fact taught to many Muslims throughout the world. Saad, Ali, and Yousef are important because they personally know the elephant. Israelis have faced down the elephant for over 75 years. That’s long enough to move any group of humans towards a less virulent but similar way of thinking. You get, as a result, Israel now joining Palestinians in choosing “from the river to the sea.” When you ignore the elephant in the room, you facilitate a kind of covid of the soul which attacks Enlightenment values through receptors I’m naming naivety. This modern iteration of the age old disease of antisemitism is lethal to the Enlightenment project. Gad Saad finds three sources for growing antisemitism in the West: the far right, Muslim immigration, and leftist indoctrination on college campuses. He points out that, as of now, far right antisemitism in America is a fringe thing. The real problems at this time and place are large scale Muslim immigration and leftist indoctrination on campus. Muslim immigration suppresses, in proportion to its size, interest in assimilation of Enlightenment values. That is, the larger the immigration, the more firmly the circle of Islam closes around its believers. Leftist indoctrination on campuses first teaches the Enlightenment value of universal humanity. So far, so good. But then it marries that to an oppressor-oppressed ideology which is simultaneously antithetical to universal humanity and exclusionary of competing ideologies. Good kids at elite universities, often the best we have, when deprived of competing ideologies, easily fall for a marriage seemingly made in heaven which opens wide the gates of hell.
Please don’t become just another podcast
Hey Krystal and Saager, I have been a fan and supporter since your Rising days. I’ve never felt the need to write something in til now. I am concerned with you guys giving “Destiny” a platform and hope you guys don’t become another show that has people on simply because they are popular podcasters. There are a lot of podcasts out there that are just podcasters talking to other podcasters. I am especially bothered by the “Destiny” coverage because he is one of the biggest grifters on the internet and has been able to push himself into several different online spaces, he has somehow made himself a relevant person in Middle East discussions now??? Insanity. Also any man who would listen to anything the VERIFIED biggest cuck on the internet says should examine their lives. Saager if you know much about “Destiny” I think you would have a problem giving him so much coverage. Thanks guys keep up the good work.
What’s the point of a debate like the one with destiny?
I’d love to hear yalls thoughts on the value of hosting debate with someone like destiny. I agree that Ryan and Emily did as good a job as possible moderating, and Omar handled himself with a lot of grace. But destiny made this almost unlistenable. I tried to watch a recent debate he did with Glenn greenwald as well and just found it insufferable. He’s not debating in good faith or with an iota of respect for his opponent and even the moderators. What’s the point? It feels like rage bate
Please Define Asylum & Genocide
Krystal and Saagar, Can you please tell us how you both define “Asylum Seeker” and “Genocide”, then provide an example of how a person/population would fall under these terms. The asylum label is being used to justify letting millions of people over our border without due process. While calling Israel’s actions genocide, has led to college protesters to shout “we are hamas” at Jewish students. Definitions are important, Thanks!