It’s not often on this Blog that I find reasons to compliment decisions, actions and positions taken by political, media or educational “leaders” in today’s oppressively politically correct society.
Especially when the matter/discussion/decision-making process involves or emanates from what I believe history will eventually describe as the two dumbest, most easily propagandized generations in modern history: Millennials (28-43) and Generation Z (12-27).
So many of them love to put down the Boomers, whose “activists” brought the Western world such tremendous progress (yes, more still needed) in black civil rights, women’s equality, LGBTQ acceptance, welcoming of increased diversity in Chinese, East Indian, Filipino, Islamic immigration and opening our doors to all kinds of refugees, and, as well making huge advancements in reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations.
What have Millennial and Generation Z “activists” brought us?
Radical left-generated disrespect for Canada’s tremendous historical achievements over the past 150 years in both peace and war; dismissal or even condemnation of remarkable figures in our past, who … despite human and societal flaws that prevailed at the time … still built a Parliamentary democracy that is envied by so much of the world; almost total lack of critical thinking anymore, our Millennial/Z 2024 “red guards” just regurgitating instead the cliches and politically correct rhetoric dished out by their radical left educational/political/labour gurus; resulting in intolerance of opposing views and other opinions to the point of trying to silence/ban them; and, worst of all, the abandonment of critical thinking.
The result?
That’s how we have arrived at a situation where support is now expressed for terrorist groups who treat women like chattel, order them to cover themselves up in hijabs, torture and execute gays they discover in their society, kill their own political opponents and divert critically-needed steel, concrete and other building materials from housing and economic development projects to build 150 miles of reinforced underground tunnels, complete with extensive rocket storage areas right underneath schools, hospitals, mosques!
The disgraceful Millennial/Generation Z value system, disrespecting Canadian tolerance and democratic rights, has gone so far amok and descended into such religious hate and intolerance that, just recently, massed mobs: spewed anti-Semitic invective outside Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, built by the Jewish community in the 1920s, and that saved/treated hundreds of thousands of patients of all faiths and races since then; blocked the entrance and accosted anyone trying to gain access to McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management because it is housed in a building gifted to the Montreal university by the Jewish Bronfman family; and several other Jewish schools, synagogues and community centers have been targeted, smeared and attacked.
Their twisted Millennial/Z rationale: these places/people are all legitimate targets for protests against any actions .. or even the very existence … of the State of Israel.
Huh???
I wonder whether these “mini-Mao” Red Guards of today would have found it acceptable, when radical Islamists were planting bombs in so many places around the world, shooting up shopping malls, beheading civilians etc. if Boomers … by the thousands, instead of just the odd idiot … had targeted/attacked Muslim schools, institutions, students, visible members of the Islamic faith in the same way?
Which is what made last week’s stand by the UBC’s Alma Mater Student Society so important … and reassuring,
For months, the Student Union had been under pressure to evict from its rented premises on the campus a Jewish social organization called Hillel, that has been a gathering place for students for many decades.
“Known as Referendum 2, the measure would have pushed the university’s Alma Mater Society to “demand where feasible, that the University end Hillel BC’s lease,” in addition to demands that the school end partnerships with Israeli universities; divest from a list of companies that do business in Israel; endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel; and compel the university to state that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza,” the Jewish Telegraph Agency reported.
Jewish groups, religious leaders and several BC community leaders, including Premier David Eby and the BC United Opposition opposed holding the referendum as divisive and inflammatory.
(By the way, a simple Google search shows there are DOZENS of other religions/facilities/prayer rooms etc. at UBC.)
Happy to say the UBC Student Society rejected the referendum proposal to evict the Jewish one.
Of course, it won’t end there.
The extremist radicals who have no respect for Canadian values of tolerance, acceptance and democracy will continue to organize and push, not just their anti-Israel and anti-Semitic agenda, but their full goal of controlling and propagandizing university campuses across the country, destroying the very essence of our diverse and respectful society.
It’s time for the vast majority of Canadians, who I hope still support tolerance, respect, democratic principles and intellectual integrity, take back principled control of our dialogues and send packing the radical extremists, anti-democratic thugs, anti-Semites and other religious/racist bigots who are trying very hard to stage manage the results and encourage hate and division.
Harv Oberfeld
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Great piece Harv.
Enough is enough … us “older” generation has to stand up to these idiots …. by the way ,,, who leads them?
(Response: That’s a great idea for the “working” media to pursue … if only management hadn’t stripped their “reporting” resources so bare! I suspect a lot of those who show such disrespect for others and democratic freedom/tolerance are Muslim immigrant/refugees who brought their old world hatreds and tribal mentalities with them, aided and abetted by our own homegrown extremist left radicals … egged on by university activists/professors who back “revolutionary” ideologies and, yes, anti-Semitic biases. ALL tolerated by weak politicians and university administrators, too afraid to stand up against them! h.o)
Fast approaching 69, I find that today’s so called activists are merely “useful idiots”, by those who wish to destroy this country.
Our politcans are next to useless these days as they bend to the bellicose winds from the “useful idiots”. Commonsense has left these lands as who screams the loudest or beats their drums the loudest are listened too, while the rest are ignored and expected to pay the freight.
As antisemitism is now front and centere in Canada, stoked by overseas puppeteers at least UBC stood against this ill wind of hate.
What saddens me the most is how far Hamas and their agents has infiltrated our media, politics and universities.
It seems our fathers and grand fathers who fought in wars long ago, fought for nothing.
(Response: This column recently by Tristin Hopper in The National Post summed the current situation up perfectly: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/pro-terror-hate-groups-organizing-almost-all-of-canadas-ceasefire-now-rallies. Where are the local police? The RCMP? CSIS? The Crown prosecutors? The politicians? I have no doubt that if ANY hate group was targeting Muslims, blacks, Asians, First Nations one-tenth of the way/degree to which they are harassing/scaring/inflicting damage/harm on Jewish institutions or individuals … headlines would be filled with charges being laid and, in the case of immigrant agitators, deportation orders would be issued. h.o)
Another positive note is that covert moves are being made to let some Gaza refugees into Sinai. I have been waiting years for this development. Western nations should encourage this as the Middle Eastern diaspora to the west is more than a tad disruptive (Think Charlie Hebdo).
(Response: Gazans should be allowed to live and prosper in Gaza: once the terrorists … the real obstacle to peace … are obliterated. Canada needs immigrants, especially those who accept/support our values, culture, and tolerance, but it’s clear too many Islamist immigrants and refugees have packed old hatreds, intimidation and violence in their bags. We don’t need/want those here: arrest them and, if guilty of hate crimes, throw them out! h.o.)
I don’t know why you decided to point fingers at the Millennial and Gen Z generations as if the world would be an entirely better place without them. I have three kids, all Millennials, and all with the same basic value system as their boomer dad which is none too different from yours or any other Canadian’s value system. My guess is that my family is part of the great majority of Canadian families and not some outlier. Let’s not add division where none exists.
Anyway.
1. I believe that Israel has the right to exist.
2. I believe that Israel has a right to defend itself.
3. I believe that Hamas is an evil, terrorist organization.
4. I believe the attack on Oct 7 was completely unjustified and the cause of the current crisis.
But let’s step back.
I also believe that Palestinians have a right to exist. (Is the two state solution even a possibility anymore?)
We are not dealing with normal warfare. This is not Japan attacking Pearl Harbor and then the US fighting back and bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki so the Japanese surrender and the war ends. This is different. Israel is not fighting another country. Hamas is created around an idea and ideas are hard to kill except with better ideas.
And that is where I am conflicted. It doesn’t matter what Israel does. The worse the better as far as Hamas is concerned. They probably figure every baby killed will radicalize an adult to join their cause.
So how far should Israel go in their goal to eradicate Hamas. I don’t suppose nuclear weapons would be approved but to what extent can Israel go before it says Hamas is defeated? And while they are doing that, should the rest of the world remain silent while innocent civilians are dying and now facing starvation levels.
Like I said. Conflicted. I can understand the Israeli actions, but I worry for them. The US went into Afghanistan looking for Bin Laden and it was 10 years later before he was killed and another 10 before the war ended, pretty much unsuccessfully. Is that what faces Israel? I hope not.
I have no problem with people demonstrating in support of a Palestinian state and a ceasefire but I agree with you that there is no place for some of the hateful rhetoric that has been spewed at those demonstrations. And the more groups like the UBC AMS stand up to that, the better.
And maybe a Millennial or a Gen Z will find the solution to the Mid East conflict that has so far eluded Boomers and Gen X.
(Response: My conclusions and comments about Millennials and Generation Z are based on much more than just the Israel/Hamas conflict.
I have been watching and listening to them on a number of topics and issues facing our society over several years now… And I truly believe history will regard them as the two dumbest most ineffective generations since the beginning of last century.
The vast majority of them (not all, of course) just team seem to accept and promulgate any kind of claptrap extremist activists and radical groups put forward … not just supporting terrorists in the Middle East, but also opening Western countries’ borders wide open to immigrants and refugees from anywhere without any consideration of their disruptive impacts on Canadian society (ask Jewish Canadians); acceptance or even promotion of more and more open hard drug use, despite clear evidence of rising death tolls and widely spreading crime, crazed violence and societal disruption; turning Western world university campuses from centers of open education, where tolerance and critical thinking were once sacrosanct, into radical far left centers of intolerance, where not only many students, but even increasing numbers of independent professors feel unwelcome, oppressed and even pushed out. (I could go on and on.)
If Millennials and Generation Z ever studied real history, not just listened to propagandizing activist professors, I believe they would be embarrassed by the accomplishments of the Greatest Generation, from 1901 to 1924 (including winning World War 1 to defend democracy) and the Silent Generation, between 1925 and 1945 (who saved the Free World) , followed by the Boomers, who built the richest economy the world has ever seen and brought us an unprecedented standard of living, Health Care, huge human rights advances etc.
Basically, Millennial and Generation Z activism has largely produced only negativity that has accomplished nothing, except increased societal division, conflict, hatred and even violence.
The only area I can think of where I have to complement them would be in awakening the world attention to environmental and climate change issues: they have done a pretty good job there, but that’s about it.
The baby boomers marched and fought for black civil rights, for women’s rights, for LGBTQ rights, for greater diversity in our schools, our businesses, our media, and our society in general… And I think comparatively overall, we did pretty well! While the Millennials and Generation Z have fallen well short.)
Ok, I think this is pertinent , Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA Selina Robinson has quit the BC NDP, citing antisemitism in the ruling party’s caucus.
She said a damned stupid thing, but the media turned it into man insult against the Muslim population, where I thought it was insulting to both Jewish and Muslim people in Israel.
According to the Globe, people with ties to Hamas bullied Eby to fire her.
But the NDP have been I know several people who are Jewish and former members of the NDP and they have told me that the party is not welcoming to people of the Jewish faith.
As I am not religious, I find any religious outfit threatening government is offensive. I find the blatant antisemitism offensive. I find Eby’s response to this offensive.
All I can say, is a pox on the NDP’s house!
(Response: I don’t understand what has happened to those on the left …not just in Canada, but in the UK, Ireland and Europe too. And not just political parties, but unions and supposedly intellectual and educational leaders as well They pay lots of lip service to womens’ rights, LGBTQ equality, fighting racism and anti-Semitism etc. etc., but yet, they throw ALL those people overboard when they defend, support and cave in to pressures from supporters of
Palestinian hate groups, even terrorists … whose ideological mantras call for not just the extinction of Israel but also advocates the killing of all Jews and also “infidels” (Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs etc.) who wont convert/submit to Islam. Perhaps they should research how their heros in Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the Houthis treat women and homosexuals and even how the “moderate” Palestinian Authority etc. treats gays. (In fact, almost 100 gay Palestinians, fleeing threats and oppression have been granted “asylum” in Israel in recent years: https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/israeli-court-rules-in-favour-of-lgbtq-palestinian-asylum-seekers-um60rlks. h.o.)
Someone “clue” me why all the hate for the Jews!
The only bias I have are the current governments and weak kneed individuals who run them!
(Response: Thankfully, not all! As with ANY group (Jews, Muslims, Christians, blacks, whites, Asians) there are always idiots who blame entire other groups for their own problems/failings. But I agree: weak kneed governments (police, prosecutors, judges, politicians, educators and even the media) have become too afraid to take on the bigots and ACT to stop their rampaging damage to our society. h.o.)
I see that Eby has absolutely no moral fortitude with his party. The following statement tell the story; “Eby danced around questions from reporters about whether he feels there is antisemitism in his caucus.” Why the dance, either the answer is yes or no; obviously there is and he is scared that it might be in the majority.
Blame the Jews, is the tired clarion call of sad and ignorant little people who do not; will not; cannot deal with the real issues.
Where does it start?
The BCTF/Government (who do not stop it) and the private/religious schools who tend to condone it and one of the reasons there should be no religious schools.
UBC got it right (well almost) but the Eby’s NDP are flailing and failing, but they are not alone as I would wager BC United and even more with the BC Conservative (who allow anti-vaxers their tirades) harbour their own members of hate.
Eby and the NDP are now radio-active in my book but from what I see, they fit in quite well with their base.
I could say a lot more, including the tepid response from Ottawa. Deface a multi coloured flag or sidewalk has the media running in circles screaming “shock and disbelief, shock and disbelief; bait someone of the Jewish faith – nothing to see here, move along.
Mu gorge rises with this.
(Response: Sad to see how politics and power taints politicians. I believe David Eby’s waffling and handling of this situation … and the apparent bias and anti-Semitic double standard with the NDP (No First Nations, Asian, black or Muslim MLA would ever be treated, insulted and isolated as was Ms Robinson!!) , puts to shame Eby’s record and background as a Civil Rights advocate. h.o)
I read this a while back in the National Post, I believe.
“Me Too unless you’re a Jew”.
Alleged silence of international and feminist organizations on rapes committed during the October 7th Hamas attacks in Israel.
Eby looked quite foolish/sheepish trying to explain his stance on this evening’s news.
(Response: I too, have noticed the silence of so many supposedly “human rights” organizations when it comes to anti-Semitic attacks, diatribes against people wearing Jewish religious gear or even protests and blockades by unruly mobs against hospitals and other public facilities funded by the generosity of Jewish philanthropists. Very frustrating for those of us who used to think these organizations stood for fairness and equality for all. h.o.)
Been wondering as well what has happened to the left after it was capture by the so called Progressives. Why doing a search came across a long synopsis of a book called “The Myth of Left and Right: How the Political Spectrum Misleads and Harms America. Written by Verlan Lewis and Hyrum Lewis. They basically argue there is no enduring thought in either Progressive or Conservative camp – the US has become tribal and now one adheres to the tribal banner rather than any deep philosophy. The current lack of support for Israel by progressives is an example. If you want to be a progressive then your position on Israel has been articulated for you.
As a reviewer observed “Many people are not picking their left-right affiliations because of their values, but are picking their values because of their left-right affiliations.”
Here is a brief synopsis of the book. Looking for a copy now.
“As American politics descends into a battle of anger and hostility between two groups called “left” and “right,” people increasingly ask: What is the essential difference between these two ideological groups? In The Myth of Left and Right, Hyrum Lewis and Verlan Lewis provide the surprising answer: nothing. As the authors argue, there is no enduring philosophy, disposition, or essence uniting the various positions associated with the liberal and conservative ideologies of today. Far from being an eternal dividing line of American politics, the political spectrum came to the United States in the 1920s and, since then, left and right have evolved in so many unpredictable and even contradictory ways that there is currently nothing other than tribal loyalty holding together the many disparate positions that fly under the banners of “liberal” and “conservative.” Powerfully argued and cutting against the grain of most scholarship on polarization in America, this book shows why the idea that the political spectrum measures deeply held worldviews is the central political myth of our time and a major cause of the confusion and vitriol that characterize public discourse.”
(Response: There used to be a time when progressives… Or those on the left… supported human rights, civil rights, equality, and rational discussion, debate and consensus. These days they just seem to support revolutionary groups, even terrorist organizations, and as long as they are brown and poor and fighting against others who are white and successful.
And none of them seem to even analyze the ideologies behind some of the groups they support … that stand in total contrast to religious toleration, women’s rights, gay liberation or even basic democratic principles … like freedom of speech or even the right to hold elections. Sad what so many on the left have become. h.o)
Harvey for the record, The Greatest Generation did not win World War One. Born in 1901, the oldest was 17 when the war ended. A large number of them weren’t even born. Now they did come of age during the Depression, they did fight and win World War Two and they did rebuild the country during the idyllic 50s. Great stuff.
As for the Boomers, they did not start the civil movement – icons like Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks and Dr. King were from previous generations. The white freedom riders who were beaten for riding buses into southern states to fight against segregation did so when the oldest boomers were still in their teens.
And regardless of who you want to give credit to for advances in civil rights, women’s rights LGBTQ rights etc, the generation that was fighting those changes was the Greatest Generation so they too were flawed.
As for Gen Z, the oldest are in their early 20s and the youngest are still in middle school, so to suggest that they even have a value system let alone one that disrespects Canadian values is absurd. Millennials? You say they have opened the borders, and responsible other policies you don’t like. Question: who are the recent leaders in government? Trudeau, Poilievre, Singh, Harper, Layton, Eby, Horgan, Clark. None of them Millennials. Eby’s chief of staff who rejected Ms Robinson’s suggestion to form a working group of Jews and Muslims as too political is not a Millennial How many Millennials are MLAs or MPs. And even if we concede that Millennials are dumb with anti-Canadian values, who raised them and taught them. If there are problems out there, there is lots of blame to spread around.
OK, why does this bother me. Because generalizations and stereotypes are the first step towards prejudice and discrimination. Knocking younger generations has always been a favourite pastime of old people and it is pretty benign compared to anti-semitism, white supremacy, homophobia and other bigoted ideas but it isn’t at all helpful when discussing something serious like the Hamas-Israeli conflict.
Passing blame onto another group makes us forget our own role. Look at Eby. Back when the Robinson story first broke, I was stunned that Eby would suggest that Robinson had a lot of reflecting to do when she said what she said. Yeh it wasn’t something that she should have said, but it wasn’t as egregious as what others have said without consequences. And now Eby is being asked to self reflect. Hubris?
But I wouldn’t be too quick to criticize Eby either. People say things without realizing the effect. Ignorance doesn’t necessarily mean we are anti-Semites or Islamophobes.
Examples. Pro-Palestinian rallies started immediately after Oct.7. Now that doesn’t mean people at those rallies are pro-Hamas or in favour of the destruction of Israel, but at the very least it does show a lack of empathy for people grieving innocent lives lost. Add to that some of the rhetoric from some speakers and you are losing someone like me, someone who wants to to see some kind of two state solution.
At the same time, people who support Israel cannot be dismissive of what is happening in Gaza and write it off as “oh well, just the consequences of war.” Doesn’t necessarily make them anti-Muslim but it isn’t a particularly good look either.
(Response: Well, I’m not really far off… anyone who has been to veterans graves in Europe have witnessed that far too many of them were only 19 or 20 years old. But they weren’t called the Greatest Generation just because they were born 1901-25. They also lived, worked, survived through the Great Depression AND World War II AND the almost complete rebuilding of our post-war economy. Pretty special, in my books!
And the Boomers made huge advances/progress in the worlds of technology, civil rights, middle class living standards and political advancements for minorities.
And, thus, my point remains… Today’s millennials and generation Z. are so soft, so spoiled and so embarrassingly intellectually sidelined by bigotry, revolutionary cliches and favoring of anti-democratic movements, I really do believe history will put them down as the dumbest generations since the beginning of the 1900s.
I agree with your remarks about generalizations and stereotypes… However, I find it absolutely disgraceful that, although today you cannot generalize about blacks, Asians, Muslims, first nations, or any other group… Other than Jewish people! There is absolutely no reason at all that any Jewish individual or Institution or synagogue should be singled out for any kind of discriminatory protest or action, based on the actions of the State of Israel, for example. We did not do that against Muslims when radical Islamists were running amok throughout the world, blowing up airplanes, buildings, murdering thousands of people (still going on in so many lands!).
What really bothers me is that when it has happened against any of those other groups, I mentioned, politicians, public figures, media personalities, and all kinds of intellectuals are front and center attending rallies and demonstrations to support these poor minorities… But in the case of violence against Jewish people, so many of them … including in the B.C. NDP … have stayed silent or stayed away. That is a disgrace. h.o)
I am solidly in the Not Sure camp. In fact one of the reasons I come here is to read Not Sure’s researched and reasoned responses.
I agree, lobbing bricks at a particular demographic or cohort is divisive and history is constantly evolving to the point, one day the Boomers may be thought of as “the dumbest, most easily propagandized generation in modern history,” by some blogger who reads Oberfeld, Trump and Carlson. I know, Carlson isn’t a boomer but he fits.
I also think there is manipulation of “all the hate for the Jews” simply because it happens to be the hot topic of the season. The media has managed to stoke the fires of anti women, LGBTQ, Fist Nations, blacks, browns, teens, and seniors. What’s next? I suspect it just might be Sri Lankan left handed bowlers.
(Response: I too really enjoy and look forward to Not Sure’s and others’ comments and analysis as well. That actually is one of the greatest functions of blogging: creating opportunities for people to lay out their views (right or wrong), and then have others discuss, refute, and even, sometimes, agree with them!
What we do on here could never be replicated in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and ANY country in the Middle East, except the oft-maligned Israel, where, ironically, parliamentary rights reign supreme … with all kinds of factions and ideologies present, where unions are very strong, where protests are almost daily or weekly on various topics, where gay unions are legal, and where even Arab citizens have more democratic rights than in any of the surrounding Muslim countries, including representatives in the Knesset.
That’s what makes the NDP’s shunning of Robinson and their failure to stand with her or support her when she complained about feeling discriminated against with the party: bet if she was Asian or First Nations they would have ALL been lining up with her!
I disagree with you that the current anti-Semitic disgraces we see in so many places across the country are simply because it is “the hot topic of the season“. No! The truth is, it’s because Canada welcomed so many thousands of Islamic refugees from terrible Islamic countries.
Most of those we allowed have tried very hard to fit into their new home and will be good Canadians. Unfortunately, too many of them however have clearly brought with them old world hatreds, Islamic tribal cultures that allow disrespect for others (Sunnis still hate Shiites and vice versa .. and too many hate Jews and Christians too) ), have no understanding or appreciation of real democracy and Canada’s traditions of respect, tolerance for others, or even understand what living in a free country really entails.
And if we don’t curb the radical Islamists/terrorist supporters/anti-Smites now, the damage to our province and our country will be long term.
So Eby and the BC NDP have to better … a lot better! h.o)
The fight against extreme political correctness that divides us is a worthy cause.
(Response: We lack leaders (politicians and media) willing to pay attention to principles instead of political voting power … and activist extremists! The tail (activist minorities is now wagging the dog (the vast majority) and it is destroying our long held traditions of tolerance, dialogue and civility. Hopefully the next federal and provincial elections, Canadians will find politicians who will stand up to the loudmouth or even violent extremists. h.o)