The Mind of the Political Terrorist by Richard Pearlstein

This book is a fascinating study of the psychological factors that create a political terrorist.  The author sees a pattern in the psycho-histories of a few well known terrorists from the 1970's and concludes that the political terrorist is created out of a narcissistic rage.

Pearlstein explains that the potential political terrorist experiences first a series of what he calls narcissistic injuries and narcissistic disappointments that results in narcissistic rage.  This means that some significant other (a parent or friend) rejects and injures one's ego or circumstances don't go the way one expected and as a result one's ego is sorely disappointed.  These missteps translate into a rage. This rage emboldens the person to enter the political theater of terrorism because there is some sort of psycho-dynamic reward in holding someone hostage or bombing some building which compensates for the narcissistic injuries.

One can not escape the thought that everyone has experienced some sort of injured ego or disappointment, however, the mind adjusts and compensates and one regains one's equilibrium.  The examples of the book profile, however, profound injuries sometimes repeatedly and one feels the pain and anguish that these people suffer, hoping that they would regain their equilibrium.

[One of the cases in the book profiles the Symbianese Liberation Army kidnapping of Hearst Corporation heiress, Patty Hearst.  I relived the moments of gunfire in the streets of Berkeley, CA since I was a student on the same block where she was taken. My roommates and I heard the shots fired thinking that someone was having fun with firecrackers.]

I find the idea of narcissistic rage difficult to fathom: at what point does one become so damaged that one contemplates an act of evil against a stranger?  The relationship between the rage and the terror is odd.  Why should there be a victim of someone else's rage that has nothing to do with one's disappointment or injury?

If Pearlstein is correct in his assessments of political terrorists, then we should appreciate the complexity and fragility of the mind and take a moment to be thankful for one's own equilibrium.

Jewish Emancipation and Self-Emancipation by Jacob Katz

This volume is really a collection of essays that convey a theme and flow in modern Jewish history.  Jewish emancipation does not accomplish the serious integration of the Jewish people into the mainstream of Europe but rather changes the Jewish community by fracturing it internally.  Instead of integrating in Christian Europe, Professor Katz sees Zionism and the State of Israel as a natural historical outgrowth of the failure to integrate.  Creating a Jewish state is really self emancipation.

Moses Mendelssohn and his students that follow had grand hopes of Jewish equality. Even his students recommended changes to blend into the landscape.  Christian Europe, however, expected nothing less than conversion and not integration.  When the Jewish people were steadfast in their religion, acceptance waned, and anti-semitism rose to severe levels.  

Precursors to Zionism present the case of leaving Christian Europe, and settling the ancient homeland with messianic visions.  Rabbis Kalisher and Alkalay at one end of the ideological spectrum and socialistic Moses Hess at the other end share similar visions. In a fractured Jewish community with different ideologies, however, the messianic idea of return resonates with a significant minority.  This idea seems to unify a wide range of people. 

Professor Katz is convinced that the natural result of the failure of Christian Europe amalgamating the  Jewish people is the nurturing and growing Jewish independence into a third commonwealth that now manifests itself as the modern State of Israel. Although the Diaspora remains intact, and Jews around to world continue to accept host culture prejudice, the professor believes that the State of Israel contributes to the self esteem of world Jewry and the distinction in identities between the Jew and the Israeli is not as disparate as it used to be.

The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek

This book was recommended by Milton Friedman so I read it as part of my education in economics which has been woefully lacking!

This book is significant historically because it was written during WWII and published after with the  formidable understanding of two planned economies: Germany and Soviet Russia: both totalitarian regimes.  Hayek's warning is that the curtailing of civil liberties and the creation of a totalitarian regime can easily come from either the political left or right!  He writes passionately against 'planned' economies that control labor and prices.  He believes in liberty and recommends government oversight against monopolies.

Fundamentally, Hayek teaches that the quest for equality at the expense of liberty will ultimately create a totalitarian state where the individual is meaningless.  He passionately argues that equality is such a powerful concept that putting an influential propaganda program in place will convince the masses of the correctness of a planned economy to redistribute wealth.  Unfortunately, he argues that such a plan is doomed to failure.

The lure of equality is seductive.  The desire to create the ideal society is lofty and praiseworthy.  Hayek shows. however, the difficulty in putting into practice an ideal society.  He shows that government is inefficient and too arbitrary in prescribing equality, that ultimately, an elite few make decisions exhibiting the impossibility of 'equality'.

What I found fascinating about the book was that it was directed originally to an English audience. England was struggling with its future, trending toward a socialistic society.  Hayek warned that liberty must be kept in the forefront of socialism, that markets must be kept open and free to keep the tyranny of Nazism or Communism from creeping into England.

[I was reminded of my stay in Israel as a student years ago, having discussions with socialists from kibbutzim never understanding nor identifying with such a lifestyle that lumped everyone together.  Today, there are very few kibbutzim in the traditional socialistic form.  Many have changed to more capitalistic endeavors.  I can think of another example: Israel's national airline became more efficient and better run when it privatized!]

Hayek argues that planned economies don't work and his hope is that the leaders of the free world will keep the concept of liberty in the forefront.  This book has given me a better perspective and understanding to observe the different political issues that are being discussed today in the USA.  It is interesting to observe where the argument of equality has its lure and is voiced over liberty and vice versa. For example, in the present discussion about raising taxes, one hears comments like 'fair share' implying equality over liberty or in the discussion of gun control, the recitation of the Constitution's second amendment voicing liberty over equality.

Freedom the Choose: a personal statement by Milton and Rose Friedman

After reading Friedman's argument in favor of free market capitalism and his call for the curtailing of government interference of imposing price limits and other market oversights, I realized that my education is lacking.  After reading this book, I realized that my liberal arts education left out important tools to navigate through our economy.  The book gave context to how one fits into the economic world, how one makes a living.  Perhaps, had I been educated differently I would not necessarily be in a liberal arts profession today, that I would be able to navigate in the world of business!  One's education should include at least a discussion of economic models of collectivism and individualism, of socialism and of capitalism.  One would be in a better position to make decisions about one's economic life.

This book makes a cogent argument against collectivism.  Historically, Friedman shows that freedom is greatest in free markets and he is a believer in market corrections.  He argues that our republic rarely allows for market corrections and instead relies on government to make corrections that ultimately fail miserably.  Government controls increase government power and restricts one's personal freedom.

He argues that government gets involved when the market experiences a tragedy  and instead of allowing for obvious market correction, emotions run high and form public opinion demanding an emotional response.  For example, he cites the best seller by Ralph Nader, Unsafe at any speed as an example of exploiting a tragedy and driving public opinion to bring on government controls in the auto industry.  Friedman cites studies showing that the GM Corvair was actually not an unsafe car!  Instead of allowing one to choose to drive or not to drive a Corvair, allowing for one's personal choice and freedom, the car was banned.

Despite the fact that it was written over thirty years ago, the book helps to clarify much of the discussions today: to grow the government through spending or curtail the growth of government through program cutting etc.  Friedman is a firm believer that the former approach will ultimately restrict one's personal freedoms.

The Miracles of Exodus: a scientist's discovery of the extraordinary natural causes of the Biblical stories

Cambridge professor, Colin J. Humphreys has written a lively discussion about the Israelite Exodus from Egypt.  His enthusiasm for the Biblical narrative exudes throughout the pages and he is convinced of the historicity of the Bible and attempts to prove its narrative by identifying the miracles of the Exodus with scientific natural phenomena.  He puts forth an entertaining prose in reinterpreting the 'Burning Bush' as a volcanic vent, the crossing of the Jordan river on dry land due to an up-river mudslide that damns up the river momentarily, the crossing of the Red Sea as 'wind set-up' at the Gulf of Aqaba (because the conditions are perfect there), Mount Sinai is an active volcano thus forcing one to place it in South Western Arabia where there are volcanoes (there are no volcanoes in the Sinai desert).  The 'pillar of fire by night' and the 'cloud of glory by day'  that guide the Israelite nation are emissions from the volcano that are always seen even at great distances.  He interprets the Hebrew word that is usually translated as 'one thousand' as a 'troop', thus downgrading the size of the Children of Israel from over 2 million to 20,000.  Downgrading the size of the Exodus eases the burden of finding provisions and water in the wilderness.

Clearly Professor Humphrey is targeting the skeptic, or one not convinced of the veracity of the Bible.  He argues that the scientist can easily accept the natural explanations as described.  He passionately and enthusiastically sees obvious miracles in what happened in the Hebrew Bible not as beyond nature but rather as unusually timed occurrences.  He sees the Ten Plagues as a natural sequence of related events causing devastating damage to Egypt.  He admits that the slaying of the First Born is difficult. The professor, nevertheless, interprets their death as caused by toxins in the remaining food supply and their privilege and status gave them priority in eating first and thus dying immediately.

When I was studying at Yeshiva University, I once heard a teacher say something that would surely resonate with Professor Humphreys: 'one should rely on faith only when one has to!'  This means one should always attempt to exhaust all scientific explanations before one relies on one's faith.

For a believer in creation ex nihilo, however, Professor Humphreys unnecessarily reduces the meaning of 'signs and wonders'.  He makes an assumption that one need not agree: that the miracles are scientific phenomena and not beyond nature!  The Gd of the Bible is the author of nature, thus, He can easily manipulate it and go beyond it.

Furthermore, there also seems to be somewhat of a Hegelian approach to the ancient world that one need not agree: that people were primitive, not knowing what they were seeing!  Maybe they actually describe what they saw accurately!  In other words, perhaps, Mount Sinai is not a volcano and the description that Professor Humphreys labels as a volcano is indeed a Divine Manifestation, Gd revealing Himself in all His Glory!  And if indeed, Mount Sinai was not a volcano there is no compelling reason to place it in Arabia.

I am not sure that this book will convince the skeptic and it seems unnecessary for a believer in miracles that go beyond nature.  This contribution was, nevertheless, a refreshing read for its enthusiasm alone.

God & Man at Yale by William F. Buckley Jr.

I noticed a contemporary report about what is going on at Yale and on the back cover of the book was a statement claiming that there was a 1951 precursor  to that contemporary volume.  Instead of reading the more modern book I found the original to be a controversial statement that propelled Mr. Buckley to his fame as a proponent of the political right.  God & Man at Yale is a cogent argument that education should be influenced by the values that the private institution wants to promote.  That there is no infringement on personal freedom since the individual is not forced to go to that private institution.

Buckley's undergraduate experience at Yale introduced him to surprising attitudes that he did not expect to find at a Christian private university.  He found the famed Religion department to be composed of mostly secular, agnostic or even atheistic scholars.  He found the Economics department to promote 'collectivist' approaches as opposed to 'capitalistic' ones in explaining the national economy; the department of Sociology was outwardly hostile toward religion and belief in God.

He uncovers in Yale's defense of 'Academic Freedom' bias in favor of the political left. He puts forth the argument that a Christian college should a least be influenced by the Christian auspices as they manifest themselves in the administration and Alumni associations and other ruling bodies. Mr. Buckley also reveals the somewhat duplicitous nature of the school administration when it espouses the advantages of capitalism and free markets over Socialism and Communism but refrains from exercising its power to control the teaching faculty that espouses those collective social experiments.

I think Mr. Buckley could not fathom why Yale was not similar to a college like Pepperdine.  Pepperdine was founded with private money from a religious Christian and strives to teach in an environment promoting Christian spiritual values. I fully relate to Mr. Buckley's arguments.  His arguments support the concepts behind a Touro College, a Yeshiva University and a Hebrew Theological College where the education is influenced by the values of traditional Judaism. Their staff is picked based on scholarship and religious attitudes that the schools want to promote.

Academic freedom would mean that one is free to chose from a plethora of educational opportunities that offer differing approaches.  One is free to choose between a public secular college like the University of California and a private religious institution like Yeshiva University.  When one chooses a particular college, however, one should not be confused or surprised about the kind of education one will receive.

Spies Against Armageddon by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman

A basic history of Israel's intelligence community is presented in Dan Raviv's and Yossi Melman's Spies Against Armageddon.  The book touches on every major tumultuous event in Israel's brief existence and tells a hidden story of espionage, betrayal and assassinations.  There are some salient features worth mentioning.  The book discusses the essence of good intelligence gathering, how a democratic country justifies targeted killings and explains why Jonathan Pollard received such a disproportionate sentence in comparison to other spies who sold American secrets.

Good espionage is founded on the principle of finding reliable opposition to existing adversaries and paying for information.  Israel has been incredibly successful in ferreting out people willing to offer information about people (governments) they despise.  Nurturing the opposition bears much fruit in intelligence gathering.  The ability to place Israeli spies like Eli Cohen in enemy high places is highly unusual and rarely effective.  As a matter of fact, countries that find out that Israel has forged their passports to enable spying in other countries retaliate diplomatically.  The most effective way is to find an asset in the targeted country and nurture the asset.

Because Israel has many hostile adversaries that declare its illegitimacy determined to 'liberate' it and use tactics of terror to wage battles, conventional warfare has proven ineffective as a response.  Israel has met this unconventional war on its own terms and has deemed those who plan and perpetrate suicide bombings, and terrorist attacks against civilian populations as combatants of war. A proactive strike against a combatant or targeting them for execution has been adjudicated with approval.  The authors point out that targeted killings is not very common in the grand scheme of the Mossad and is only approved in extreme cases.

The case of Jonathan Pollard has baffled many on different levels.  How could someone so unstable be given high security clearance?  How could someone go rogue in the Israeli intelligence community to 'handle' him without approval?  Why such a harsh life sentence for espionage against an ally.  (The infamous Walker spy ring got less than 30 years for selling material to the US adversary, the Russians!?)  The book makes a claim that the US needed to send a message that it would not tolerate such abuse of Jewish Americans on the part of  Israel.  I did not find this reason so convincing in contrast to 6 former Attorney Generals advocating Pollard's release for time served.  I have always felt that somehow Casper Weinberger overreacted in writing a damning brief that over-ruled the original plea bargain.  In his memoir, Weinberger hardly mentions the Pollard affair.  One would think there would be more to say about something supposedly  called 'the worst breach of national security ever!'

This book was a very interesting read because it uncovered a hidden world of espionage smoothly connecting to conventional politics.