tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post7241721297552451285..comments2024-03-27T03:00:27.024-04:00Comments on Facts & other stubborn things: Keynes and Anti-semitismEvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12259004160963531720noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-63406995856307654872012-01-04T14:30:41.498-05:002012-01-04T14:30:41.498-05:00Keynes was 17 and simply parroting the widely held...Keynes was 17 and simply parroting the widely held views of his time.Unlearningeconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13687413107325575532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-45887235623482026612012-01-04T12:54:02.308-05:002012-01-04T12:54:02.308-05:00Dude, haters going to hate; if someone is going to...Dude, haters going to hate; if someone is going to dislike Keynes they are going to use this fact to their advantage. If you like Keynes, like him.<br /><br />All academic professions have polarizing figures like Keynes; camps of thought that are just really ugly sometimes; etc., so that's my frame for looking at Keynes and all that. What is weird (and I mean that in a good sense - weird is often good) about economics (and what I had never considered before that article in the Economist) is how much of that is on public display. Economists really get their freak on for the world to see. Could be because economics is a more "political" field. I just throw that out there because it is the only explanation that comes to mind.Lord Vaderhttp://lordvader.empire.sith.jedisuck.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-60640401947473938852012-01-04T12:42:40.631-05:002012-01-04T12:42:40.631-05:00I still think it's an odd read. Did you read t...I still think it's an odd read. Did you read the whole passage. It wasn't just "I don't like Jews, but this particular Jew is nice". He was quite mean <i>and then</i> quite generous to these guys as a individuals, all before criticizing Jews more broadly. It was a very schizophrenic passage - more than just the typical attempt at integrating views on an individual into prejudices about a community.Daniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-61497025152217981372012-01-04T12:40:29.411-05:002012-01-04T12:40:29.411-05:00I don't think it's a big deal, Lord Vader....I don't think it's a big deal, Lord Vader. I've agreed he was a eugenicist and an anti-semite for a while, and it obviously hasn't swayed me from appreciating him. I can still appreciate his other ideas and appreciate him as a historical figure without liking the bad stuff. This is particularly convinced that it doesn't have any real influence on the aspects of him I do like.<br /><br />I'm writing this up because this stuff has been in the blogosphere recently in a few places, and I think it's important - as a Keynesian - to be clear on these points. It's unhealthy for people to think that those they admire can walk on water - so it's particularly important to critique our own. That's all I was doing - making sure I lent my voice to the recent discussion of this.Daniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-63947589974420534912012-01-04T12:36:13.685-05:002012-01-04T12:36:13.685-05:00Is it surprising that Keynes was a product of his ...Is it surprising that Keynes was a product of his time? Not getting why this is a big deal.<br /><br />"It's an extremely odd read."<br /><br />Nothing odd about it; there is an easy way to see it - Keynes was trying to integrate individual Jews into his general anti-Jewish mindset, while also still treating them as Jews. Garden variety bigots still do this today. Always assume that someone is a garden variety schmuck in all things except for what they are famous for.Lord Vaderhttp://lordvader.empire.sith.jedisuck.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-68537413974268629232012-01-04T11:41:18.850-05:002012-01-04T11:41:18.850-05:00Ron Paul is Running for president now.
JMK has be...Ron Paul is Running for president now.<br /><br />JMK has been dead for a while. There's an important difference in there somewhere in how we should approach their ideas.Argosy Jonesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-10669750559442134262012-01-04T10:59:32.796-05:002012-01-04T10:59:32.796-05:00*Logarithmic meaning exponential in this case... I...*Logarithmic meaning exponential in this case... I think. I always get those two mixed up.Watooshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-769971555083602282012-01-04T10:45:21.925-05:002012-01-04T10:45:21.925-05:00No, I believe it's from 1933 Anonymous.
The a...No, I believe it's from 1933 Anonymous.<br /><br />The article does quote an earlier essay he wrote when he was young.Daniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-40570618901236707322012-01-04T10:35:02.638-05:002012-01-04T10:35:02.638-05:00is the Keynes quotation taken from a diary written...is the Keynes quotation taken from a diary written when he was 17 or 18Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-26707449599543971402012-01-04T10:04:24.180-05:002012-01-04T10:04:24.180-05:00Well, the 1990's were not the 2010's eithe...Well, the 1990's were not the 2010's either - so much has happened since I've been alive, both visibly and behind the curtains, that I'd almost characterize the progress of humanity as a logarithmic progression. It's roughly 20 years since those newsletters were published, and much has happened in the political atmosphere since then. Gays are much, much more visible and accepted today as they were then, racial minorities are more prevalent and their issues are taken more seriously, ditto with women (although much work is still to be done). A conservative cracking jokes about black looters in '92 was nothing unexpected, nowadays it's (mostly) frowned upon.<br /><br />I think Ron Paul grew up in a racially insensitive setting and may still harbor prejudices that seemed normal at that time, but judging by his recent rhetoric on religious tolerance, drug wars and foreign affairs, it's clear that he has let go of a lot of it. Old as he is, I think he's grown as a person and does disawow the newsletters. (He may have too much respect for Rothbard to throw him under the bus, though.)<br /><br />This is not to try and make Paul the perfect candidate - he's not. There are plenty of valid reasons to not vote for Paul. I just think that the most you can draw from this issue is his public relations problems that might translate to incompetency as the leader of the executive branch, not the disgrace of having a bigot in the White House.Watooshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-89475511806851450022012-01-04T09:49:20.694-05:002012-01-04T09:49:20.694-05:00A famous British Orientalist in the 19th century o...A famous British Orientalist in the 19th century once said about South Asian people that deceit and perfidy are second nature to them.<br /><br />Among the intellectual classes in 19th century Britain, I am surprised by the level of chauvinism in **some** of them. Not because there is anything surprising about chauvinism - an old trait of human nature.<br /><br />I was surprised, because chauvinism and ethnic suspicions are not exactly the necessary traits for victors of history. (Chauvinism is more typical of the defeated ones - such as Middle Easterners after the end of the Ottoman Empire.) After the English asserted near global dominance, it is utterly baffling why they wanted to rub it in everyone's faces and remind them that they are the superior. Well of course someone from London in 1900 will be much better educated and materially better endowed than someone in Mogadishu in 1900. What's the big deal of reminding everyone of that?<br /><br />Same for these quotes by Keynes. The English enjoyed high enough living standards, high enough cultural standards. Why should they feel threatened by the presence of a tiny minority? Because a tiny group of people shall displace the local habits and culture?Prateek Sanjaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-92105016622930293122012-01-04T09:42:56.891-05:002012-01-04T09:42:56.891-05:00I've commented on Catalan's post before th...I've commented on Catalan's post before that there was an article that concluded that Keynes merely uncritically accepted Jewish stereotypes rather than actually holding animousity toward the Jews, but I couldn't recall the article. Now, I have recalled the article, and here it is.<br /><br />https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/pi/article/viewFile/1591/1117Blue Auroranoreply@blogger.com