Wednesday, November 4, 2009
This is just a quick link to follow -- an "aside." These are links to interesting things that, for one reason or another, I didn't place into a full posting. Click the link to visit the full article. Go to the blog index for a regular listing of posts.
Amity Shlaes: Secret Israeli Weapon Can Fix Mideast - ' Americans think of war or religion when they think of Israel. But Israel is also an unusual high- tech success story. A survey last May of non-American companies on the Nasdaq counted three Korean companies, five Irish businesses, five from the U.K. and six from Japan. Israel had 64. In 2008, Israel drew more than twice the venture capital per citizen than the United States. It drew 30 times as much VC cash as continental Europe, and 350 times more than India. There are some pretty familiar ethnic explanations for the Israeli tech miracle. Jews are supposed to be smart. Jews from overseas will fund Israeli companies regardless of quality. And so on. But those explanations don’t suffice...' [Freedom.]
The ideas are interesting, but sadly, not important. Jews were great for the medieval economies, but that didnt stop religious kings from expelling them. It may have even made it more praiseworthy - just as the BDS types will feel extra virtuous if boycotting Israel actually hurts us. Anti-Semitism has ALWAYS been redemptive - and those who would argue for the Jews because they created jobs etc were selling their souls to feed their stomachs. Think about it, in their world view, if we can squash Israel, we not only get justice for the Palestinians, but peace throughout the entire middle east, heck, popping Israel will give peace between the West and Islam, stop terrorism, bring about peace on earth (peace in our time?). Destroying Israel becomes the ultimate act of human redemption. And you would delay the coming of their messiah for a micro-chip - dont you feel dirty! If history is any guide, Israel being creative, positive, decent will not stop the world throwing them under a bus, and feeling good about it.
Dan Senor pimped his book on CNBC's Squawk Box last week.