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THE VIEW FROM HERE - Although Western Civilization has cultural archetypes for individual inalienable rights which culminated in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, the West also has countervailing archetypes. The far Right and the far-Left hate, detest, and reject individual inalienable rights.
Individual Inalienable Rights Limit the Powerful
The Declaration stated, the purpose of government is to “secure these rights” and the US Constitution’s Preamble identified “securing the Blessings of Liberty” as one of its purposes. Because power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely, the government must limit power in order to secure individual rights. The Federalist Papers explained the necessity to balance power against power so that no one person and no one faction could run roughshod over others. Other archetypes, however, are inimical to inalienable rights.
Doctrine of Exclusivism
Exclusivism holds that my group alone knows the Ultimate Truth and dissenters are evil. Christianity has been plagued with this belief in exclusivism (solus Christus). “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14.6 This statement is foundational as it appeared as early as 90 to 100 years after Jesus’s death.
Islam also is exclusivistic. “And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” Surah Ali 'Imran 3:85
The logic of exclusivism divides the world into two parts: the holy, saved, the good vs the evil, damned, and bad. The exclusivism’s path to mass murder has four steps.
(1) Epistemic Exclusivism characterized by Objective Truth vs. Falsehood
(2) Moral Dualism which pits Cosmic Good vs. Cosmic Evil
(3) Dehumanization where The "Other" as a disease or threat
(4) Eliminationism where violence and murder of the Other become a moral imperative (Nazi death camps)
The exclusivism of Marxism’s is the Doctrine of Class Struggle which divides the world into the Oppressor (Bourgeoisie) vs Oppressed (Proletariat) categories. Marx categories ignore race. Nazism, however, is inherently racist as its Good vs Evil dichotomy was the victim Aryan and the evil Jews. Today’s Leftist Identity Politics (aka Wokeism) is also race based with immutable groups of the evil Oppressors (Whites and Jews) vs. the virtuous Oppressed (minorities).
The GOP’s Unitary Executive Theory (UET), however, is not racist with the Good v Evil categories based on race. Although the GOP has millions of members who personally believe in Christian exclusivism, UET itself is economically driven to concentrate all power in the Chief Executive and to make Congress and the Judiciary subordinate in order to nullify the Constitution’s checks and balances. The GOP power grab requires the abolition of the rule of law so that the President determines the law. In Trump vs United States, 603 U.S. 593 (2024), the Supreme Court explicitly ruled that in his core duties, the President is above all criminal codes. This ended the millennia old archetype that everyone including the king was subservient to the law. America is rooted in both the ancient Hebrew concept of limited power and the Anglo-Saxon tradition of kings bound by law— yet Chief Justice Roberts wiped out both lineages with a single stroke of his pen.
Wokeism and its Anti-Semitism
Because Wokeism is race based, it has advanced to homicidal anti-Semitism at warp speed. Anti-Semitism is absolutely necessary because the Jewish People totally invalidate Wokeism premise that White Racism is so powerful that no minority can overcome it. Since Jews are Western Civilization's most persecuted minority which experienced an attempted extermination less than one hundred years ago, the fact that Jews have been fantastically successful in America proves that Pelosi’s Identity Politics is a thousand percent wrong. The only way to avoid the intellectual collapse of Identity Politics is to claim Jews are really the most visible Oppressors. The Woke Dogma of Intersectionality requires that Jews always be oppressors even in face Hamas’, Hezbollah’s, and Iran’s on-going attempt to complete Hitler’s extermination of the Jews. Wokers and Islamists have a similar motive to hate Jews. Just as American Jews destroy the false Woke Doctrine that no minority can overcome white racism, a thriving Jewish state invalidates a core teaching of Islam. The paragon of Islamic archetypes is that Jews have been rejected by Allah and replaced by the Muslims. By creating one of the world’s most vibrant countries, the Jewish state of Israel negates Islam’s validity.
It Could Have Been Otherwise
If Charles Martel had not won the Battle of Tours on October 10, 732 and had not Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand exiled the Moors and the Jews from Spain in 1492, the Muslims might have participated in all of Europe’s coming intellectual revolutions. The Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution, and the Renaissance gradually separated church and state, shifting the moral and legal baseline from divine law to human reason and secular philosophy. The Muslims, however, retreated from their Islamic Golden Age (8th to 14th centuries) when they led the world in science, math, and philosophy so that instead secular thought became the captive of Sharia . Virtually no one in the West comprehends that Muslims are psychologically locked into the 13th Century. One sign that Trump may not be as naive as he appears is that he now says the War with Iran started in 1979 which parallels Hamas’ assertion that its October 7th attack did not break any peace deal since their war of annihilation against the Jewish state is ongoing.
The lesson for us Westerns is to understand that the cultural archetypes which dictate Islamists’ behavior are not the same as the archetypes which structure our society
The Jewish People are Not Exclusivistic
One vital difference between Jewish archetypes and those of Christian and Islam is that the Jewish People are not exclusivistic. We Jews do not believe that only we know the Truth. Our ways are our ways and we have no intention of imposing them on others. “Live and Let Live,” Hebrew ( לחיות ותן חיה ) Chaye ve-ten lichyot. We prefer that others follow the Code of Noah; its foremost rule being “Do not murder us.”
America’s individual inalienable rights dovetails with Jewish Tradition. We’re free to proceed with our archetypes of tikkun olam and mitzvot. Anti-Semites are totally and completely ignorant of how Jews think. We have no interest in running the world. If we Jews did control the world, do you think Hasan Piker would even be a thing?
(Richard Lee Abrams is a former Los Angeles-based attorney, an author, and political commentator. A long-time contributor to CityWatchLA, he is known for his incisive critiques of City Hall and judicial corruption, as well as his analysis of political and constitutional issues. Abrams blends legal insight with historical and philosophical depth to challenge conventional narratives. A passionate defender of civic integrity and transparency, he aims to expose misuse of power and advocate for systemic reform in local government. You may email him at [email protected])
The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatchLA, its editors or publisher. The author is responsible for the accuracy of the claims, quotations and sources presented. Publication does not constitute an endorsement of the author’s assertions or positions.
