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Well, we care more about human life

That's the line one hears often in the Jewish world and one I heard when presenting to somebody my murder rate statistics from the prior post. It's not a good answer because the point was never that 27 deaths a year is not a tragedy, just that it doesn't justify turning an entire culture on its head by spending so much energy on the military and keeping 5 million people, more than 1/2 the population of Israel, in captivity and policing them.

But while we are on the subject, do we care more about human life? Israel spends 18 billion a year, 10% of government spending, on defense, drafts every young person to military, and requires men to do yearly service until they are 40. Military culture here dominates everything. Yet, the country has 6 MRI machines. There were lots more MRI machines than that within 5 miles of me in America. Do I have to say any more? Is that a country that values human life? What about the highway driving which leads to over 200 deaths. What about the murder rate that is not from terrorism, one that results in 134 deaths. Do you hear anybody talking about that, addressing that? If we valued every human life, wouldn't we talk about all of it?

No we value something else. I'm not sure what to call it. Maybe terrorism is just more dramatic somehow. Or maybe it has the effect of awakening a Jewish identity. Now this should be awakened by keeping of mitzvos. But people who don't keep or don't rightly value mitzvos need another devices I suppose.

Or maybe it offends our sense of military prowess and that's a kind of sacrilege in this country. To the founders, it was half their identity, breaking off from religion being the other half. And not much has changed.

If you want to get at the truth you have to cut through the cliches, especially the self-serving ones. You have to listen to the data, listen to facts and reshuffle your brain.


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