Updating my reflections on Gaza, Ukraine and the U.S. economy, plus remembering an OLLI colleague

By Herbert Rothschild

The sense of moral outrage that prompted students to protest our war in Vietnam was energized by self-interest — the males were draft bait. That “impurity” didn’t disturb me; mixed motives prompt most human choices. In contrast, the current student protests seem to be motivated solely by moral outrage. That should give pause to those who defend Israel’s conduct of its war in Gaza and its overall treatment of Palestinians. It’s prophetic of a future in which Israel will be an international pariah and a source of abiding shame to Jews.

The refrain “Hamas, Hamas” cannot justify wholesale bombing and the starving of 2 million people. Neither act is a strategy to defeat an enemy living in tunnels underground. Thus, the war has led to a wider examination of Israeli behavior since Jewish settlers began to colonize a land that, in 1890, had 43,000 Jews, 57,000 Christians and 432,000 Arabs, all living together rather peacefully under Turkish rule. One result of this examination is the charge of genocide, cruelly ironic given that it was the Holocaust that garnered the necessary international support for the founding of the state of Israel. 

The charge of genocide is not exact. While many Israelis don’t care whether Palestinians live or die, they want them to leave. News analysts keep asking what the endgame is for the Palestinians in Gaza, but it should be obvious that the endgame is to make it impossible for Palestinians to live in any part of what was once their homeland. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispelled all doubt of that intention when, on Feb. 22, he spoke at the U.N. about a “New Middle East” and held up a map showing Israel in control of all the territory. Palestinians were nowhere to be seen.

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In a column on Oct. 1, I asserted that it was time for Ukraine to engage in peace talks. Its summer counteroffensive had regained a negligible amount of territory and, as I was writing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in a news conference at the U.N., indicated that Russia would recognize Ukraine’s borders prior to Moscow’s 2022 invasion if Kyiv would pledge to not join a military alliance.

I conceded that the Biden administration was unlikely to renounce our long-standing and highly provocative goal of bringing Ukraine into NATO. I went on to say, however, that “Democrats would do well to recognize that there is growing domestic discontent with our financing a war that promises to continue for years. Current Republican efforts to cut off aid will not succeed this year, but red flags are waving.” Those flags waved for six months after I wrote that; the aid package didn’t pass until this April.

Meanwhile, short on ordinance, Ukrainian forces gave back at least as much ground as they had gained last summer. As I’ve said before, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a hero, but he needs to read the warning signs and put his people’s suffering above national honor. As Aristotle asserted, courage isn’t the opposite of cowardice; it’s the mean between cowardice and foolhardiness.

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The Federal Reserve continues to maintain the high interest rate it believes is necessary to curb inflation. The year-over-year inflation rate for all goods and services was 3.1% in January, 3.2% in February, and 3.5% in March. For the 12 months ending in March, it was 3.5%. So what’s the problem?

Last August I wrote a column in which I asked why the Fed is fixated on 2% as the highest tolerable rate of inflation. I pointed out that “[In] the 35 years from 1966 to 2000, the average annual rate of inflation was 5.4%. If one excludes the five years when it was highest and admittedly a drag on the economy — 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1981 — the average annual rate was 4.8%. Those 30 years weren’t marked by economic misery even though inflation was more than twice as high as the Fed’s current goal. There is no simple correlation between the rate of inflation and economic strength.”

A major driver of current inflation is insurance rates. Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, acknowledged that reality in testimony before Congress on March 7. “Insurance of various different kinds — housing insurance, but also automobile insurance, and things like that — that’s been a significant source of inflation over the last few years.” In March, auto insurance rates were up 22% from a year ago. Medical insurance rates have also increased. What makes this worth noting is that Fed policy doesn’t influence insurance rates, so they should be stripped out of their calculation of what’s an acceptable overall rate of inflation.

I continue to suspect that the Fed won’t be satisfied until the job market favors employers. In a tight labor market, the balance of power starts to shift from management to labor. We can’t have that.

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When Deborah and I were traveling, word reached us through Ashland.news that Ray Embry had died. The obituary dwelt on Ray’s long involvement and important service to OLLI at SOU. That was how I came to know Ray. Starting in 2010, he would take literature courses I offered and I would take his. Once, at my suggestion, we team-taught a course on Melville’s short fiction. It was a fine experience. Ray was an insightful reader and a gifted teacher.

The penultimate contact I had with Ray was in spring, 2020, when I tried to persuade him to team-teach with me again, this time the short stories of Flannery O’Connor. For the last few quarters he hadn’t been teaching, and I had heard he was worried about his mental acuity. I thought perhaps that teaching with me would give him sufficient confidence to return to what he loved. After saying no then yes, he finally begged off, though he told me he had reread the stories with pleasure.

Our last contact was an unexpected phone call about a year ago. I didn’t realize he was calling from Modesto, where he and Sydney had relocated. He wanted to talk about literature, but his thoughts were hopelessly garbled. So, I wasn’t sad to read of his passing, because dementia is terribly hard on the family caregivers. But I’ll miss Ray. As the OLLI slogan says, “Come for the classes . . . stay for the connections.”

Herbert Rothschild’s columns appear on Friday in Ashland.news. Opinions expressed in them represent the author’s views and may or may not reflect those of Ashland.news. Email Rothschild at herbertrothschild6839@gmail.com.