GEORGE KONRAD
553
also be anticipated, possibly connected to the underworld. I don't know
where aggression will spring from its lair, but people will have cause to fear
their fellow humans; of this I am certain. The only question is whether the
killing will require some kind of moral-sounding explanation appealing to
the common good.
What is the first interest of Jews? That Auschwitz should not happen
again! To stand up against legalized discrimination, to acknowledge respect
for human rights. Auschwitz is impossible in a world that honors relation.
For this reason, Jews ' interests are in universalist points of view and with–
in these, in European cohesion.
In other words, there is truth to the anti-Semitic charge that Jews are
interested to a greater degree in non-hostile dialogue that crosses borders
and being on negotiating terms wi th other forces in the world; there is also
some truth to the notion that Jews view passionate local disputes skepti–
cally and prefer to place themselves in the posi tion of third party, or
understanding mediator.
It
is not libelous to state that, by and large, Jews are sympathetic to cul–
tural pluralism, and prefer to be active in areas where there is less rage,
giving advantage to less knotted conditions; they place a higher value on
possible compromise than on principled intransigence, though we know
plenty of Jews whose thinking is monolithic, tenacious, and intransigent.
The more dovish, however, believe truth is not the triumph of their own
position, but rather of compromise.
It
is not good to win leaving the other
beaten, humiliated, and filled with a desire for revenge.
The Diaspora forced Jews to acquire a many-sided knowledge of the
world; they knew-they had to know-markets, life, culture, morality, and
customs existed elsewhere too, that the foregoing had to be considered,
and that it was improper to disparage them just for being different. A
greater degree of respect for others was an inescapable consequence of the
Diaspora, along with skepticism about blustering self-praise.
They were also able to learn that differing interests, needs, and actors
far from one another could be linked; they recognized the val ue of net–
work organization and learned practical relativization, though they tended
toward the pessimism of "nothing's new under the sun" and "everything
bad comes back again"; they were nevertheless able to value the world at
large and to look toward the future with curiosity and confidence.
Jews are, by necessity, carriers of globalization. Not all Jews are
clustered in the land of Israel, which cannot be said to be especially
large. As they are used to mobility, they need the whole of the globe
in which to disperse. It is good for mobile persons to be able to wander
