Wrong Lessons from World War II

Different places learned different things from the Second World War. Europe learned that war and nationalism is evil. America learned that it is the best and should impose itself upon everyone. Russia learned that, because they were able to defeat a major Western power, they would be able to defeat the West proper. And Jews learned that Jews are not safe in the world and should create their own super-militaristic state.

All of these lessons learned were either wrong lessons learned or lessons learned too well. The problem with Europe's lesson is that, just because you have decided that war and nationalism is evil, does not mean that the rest of the world has decided to disarm. The problem with America's lesson is that there are many good places in the world, and America imposing itself upon everyone destroys all sorts of viable and beautiful lifestyles. Russia's lesson has been proven historically wrong. And the Jews have learned their lesson too well.

Why have they learned their lesson too well? Because creating a super-militaristic state that uses the military for everything, including things that can be better negotiated, brings on hatred; and this undermines the reputation and endangers the security of the Jews. The over-reliance on the military by Israel has played into the hands of the anti-semites everywhere, who use this behavior to claim that they have been right about Jews all along. Meanwhile Israel has not spent nearly enough resources on things that Jews are good at - things such as science. If it spent more resources on such things, Israel would contribute vastly to the world and would have the world's gratitude, and that would assist in improving the reputation of the Jewish people and protecting the Jewish people's security.

Another problem is that the Israeli Jews moved away from the noble ideals that had driven the Jews previously. They went from liberal to fascist. For this a line from New Testament is useful: "What profits you that you get the world if you have lost your soul?" In moving from their liberal ideal of serving the world to their present super-nationalistic stance, the Israeli Jews lost what was good about them and became inferior to what their ancestors had been.

In some ways the Europeans and the Jews traded places, with the first going from fascist to liberal and the second going from liberal to fascist. In both cases the shift came as a result of the same event - the Second World War. Two opposite lessons were learned by two different populations. And in both cases the lesson was learned too well.

It is good to see war and nationalism as evil; but the realities of the world are such that not everyone is as nice as you are, and sometimes there is a need to go to war. This is the shortcoming of the European lesson. It is important to protect the security of one's people; but using the military for everything makes one's people hated, and that endangers one's people. This is the shortcoming of the lesson learned by the Jews.

In both cases it is possible to make needed corrections. Europe needs to understand that there are many people out there who are brutes, and who can only be dealt with forcibly. Israel needs to understand that there are many situations in which negotiation works better than military force, and that security of one's people is also enhanced by doing work that benefits the world. The more Israel spends on pursuits such as science, the more it will have the world's gratitude, and the more people will be willing to protect it. And the less it uses its military, the less credible will be antisemites and the more the security of the Jewish people will be assured.