Why Such Smart Jews Are Nevertheless Disproportionately Socialist

From: M
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2017 8:21 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: An enigna
Dr Block,
Your post on libertarian Jews really brings up some interesting points. The Jewish folk I have known here in southside Virginia are mostly of the progressive bent, politically speaking. My son has several Jewish friends and he says the same thing. The point is not their progressivism but how conservatively they live their own lives. They are wonderful folk who have a reverence for tradition, strong families, not given to excessive drinking, in synagogue weekly, tend to marry within their own group, are thrifty, modest, practice deferred gratification and self reliance. All of these tend to point to a conservative person. Not that conservatives are libertarian but conservatives certainly are not progressive. Anyway just and interesting thought. Kind of an enigma. Thanks for your work. Every time I read one of your posts or articles I tend to spend a lot of time thinking!!
Sincerely, M

Dear M:

Thanks for your kind words.

Ashkenazi Jews have the highest IQs of any such group. Yet, they are disproportionately socialist. Why? Here are some readings that attempt to wrestle with this conundrum:

Best regards,
Walter

Billingsley, 1998; Block, 2004; Frankel, 1983; Friedman, Manny. 2012; Friedman, Milton. 1985a, 1985b,1985c; Gabler, 1989; Hayek, 1988, 1990; Lefkowitz, 1993; Liggio, 1997; Lilla, 2001; MacDonald, 1998; Mises, 1972; Nozick, 1997; Podhoretz, 2009; Rothbard, 1990; Sombart, 1913 ; Stein and Stein. 1979; Twain, 1898; Van den Haag, 2000/2001

Billingsley, Kenneth Lloyd. 1998. Hollywood Party: How Communism Seduced The American Film Industry In The 1930s And 1940s; Prima Publishing

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Friedman, Manny. 2012. “Jews DO control the media.” The Times of Israel, July 1; http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/jews-do-control-the-media/

Friedman, Milton. 1985a. “Capitalism and the Jews,” in Morality of the Market: Religious and Economic Perspectives, Walter E. Block , Geoffrey Brennan and Kenneth Elzinga, eds., Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, pp. 401-418.

Friedman, Milton. 1985b. “Reply to Frankel,” in Morality of the Market: Religious and Economic Perspectives, Walter E. Block , Geoffrey Brennan and Kenneth Elzinga, eds., Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, pp. 443-446.

Friedman, Milton. 1985c.”Discussion,” in Morality of the Market: Religious and Economic Perspectives, Walter E. Block , Geoffrey Brennan and Kenneth Elzinga, eds., Vancouver: The Fraser Institute

Gabler, Neal. 1989. An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood; Anchor

Hayek, Friedrich A. 1988. The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press

Hayek, Friedrich A. 1990. The Intellectuals and Socialism, Fairfax, VA: Institute for Humane Studies; reprinted from the University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 16, No. 3, Spring 1949; http://mises.org/document/1019

Lefkowitz, Jay P. 1993. “Jewish Voters and the Democrats,” Commentary, April, Vol. 95, No. 4, pp. 38-41

Liggio, Leonard P. 1997. “Market and Money in Jewish and Christian Thought in the Hellenistic and Roman Ages,” An Austrian in France: Festschrift in honour of Jaques Garello, Kurt R. Leube, Angelo M. Petroni and James S. Sadowsky, eds., La Rosa, pp. 283-294 (originally published in The Christian Vision: Man and Morality, T.J. Burke, ed., Hillsdale, MI: the Hillsdale College Press, 1986.

Lilla, Mark. 2001. The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics, New York: New York Review Books

MacDonald, Kevin. 1998. The Culture of Critique: An Evolutionary Analysis of Jewish Involvement in Twentieth-Century Intellectual and Political Movements, New York: Praeger

Mises, Ludwig von. 1972. The Anti-Capitalist Mentality, South Holland, IL: Libertarian Press

Nozick, Robert. 1997. “Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism,” in Socratic Puzzles, Cambridge: Harvard University Press

Podhoretz, Norman. 2009. “Why are Jews Liberals?” Wall Street Journal. September 10;
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203440104574402591116901498;
http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/116672.html

Rothbard, Murray N. 1990. “Concepts of the Role of Intellectuals In Social Change Toward Laissez Faire.” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2, Fall, pp. 43-67.

Sombart, Werner. 1913. The Jews and Modern Capitalism, London: Unwin

Stein, Ben and Benjamin Stein. 1979. The View from Sunset Boulevard: America As Brought To You By The People Who Make Television; Basic Books

Twain, Mark. 1898. “Concerning the Jews.” Harper’s Magazine. March;
http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/Concerning_the_Jews0.asp

Van den Haag, Ernest. 2000/2001. “The Hostility of Intellectuals to Capitalism,” The Intercollegiate Review, Vo. 36, Nos. 1-2, Fall/Spring, pp. 56-63

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7:46 pm on December 11, 2018