Has anyone provided a more thorough, more reasonable critique of jewing than Kevin MacDonald? From what I’ve seen, the mild-mannered professor makes a meticulous case, constructed mainly by citing prominent jews.
Judge for yourself. MacDonald focuses on immigration in Chapter 7 of The Culture of Critique. The specific link I most often refer to is Jewish Involvement in Shaping American Immigration Policy, 1881-1965: A Historical Review, Population and Environment, 19, 295-355, 1998. These works and more are gathered at MacDonald’s Publications on Jews and Western Culture.
In Žižek, Group Selection, and the Western Culture of Guilt MacDonald notes the “few very articulate defenders of the basic ideas expressed in Culture of Critique” commenting on a post by Steve Sailer. Among the best is Ben Tillman, who distilled MacDonald’s trilogy like so:
Book 1 & Thesis 1: A Jewish group evolutionary strategy developed.
Book 2 & Thesis 2: In some historical instances, Europeans developed group evolutionary strategies to compete with the Jewish group.
Book 3 & Thesis 3: A number of Jewish intellectual movements of the 20th century were designed to prevent European-derived peoples from developing group strategies to compete with the Jewish group.
MacDonald himself summarizes the third volume this way:
A major theme of Culture of Critique is that Jewish intellectual movements developed theories which had a patina of science and according to which anti-Semitism had nothing to do with the behavior of Jews but was entirely an issue of the psychopathology of non-Jews. These theories were then promulgated by the elite media and Jewish activist organizations, and they came to pervade the academic world
Indeed, beyond merely gathering pages of names and incriminating statements by jews, MacDonald has identified a characteristic pattern of organized but veiled ethnic aggression, a recurring collective behavior he refers to as jewish intellectual movements. He has described, for instance, how this pattern fits neoconservatism. The summary of his argument, and his response to jew critics, is of particular relevance to the recent critique by Nathan Cofnas linked and quoted below:
I will argue that the main motivation for Jewish neoconservatives has been to further the cause of Israel; however, even if that statement is true, it does not imply that all Jews are neoconservatives. I therefore reject the sort of arguments made by Richard Perle, who responded to charges that neoconservatives were predominantly Jews by noting that Jews always tend to be disproportionately involved in intellectual undertakings, and that many Jews oppose the neoconservatives. This is indeed the case, but leaves open the question of whether neoconservative Jews perceive their ideas as advancing Jewish interests and whether the movement itself is influential. An important point of the following, however, is that the organized Jewish community has played a critical role in the success of neoconservatism and in preventing public discussion of its Jewish roots and Jewish agendas.
Similar scrutiny can and has exposed the “jewish intellectual movements” driving anti-“racism”, the legalization of pornography, the relentless promotion of race-mixing and sexual degeneracy, civil rights legislation, gun control legislation, “hate” legislation, holocaustianity, and other aspects of semitical correctness. Neoconservativism is just a relatively recent and egregious example of jews hijacking the minds and bodies of non-jews to serve the jews, and in the process causing incalculable suffering and death.
MacDonald’s key observation is that jews, as a group, are hyperconscious of themselves and their common interests as a group, distinct from every other group, but most especially Whites. The jews have made it taboo if not illegal to criticize the most explicit facets of their jewing. But more to the point, it is difficult to assess the full extent of the havok jews have wrought because, as MacDonald has documented, the jews have taken pains to disguise much of their jewing as something else. And the cover afforded by such dissembling and dissimulation only makes it easier for the jews to conspire, to silence critics, and ultimately to shift the blame elsewhere, usually by pinning it on Whites.
The jews are so ethnocentric it boggles even a race-conscious White mind. When they’re not shamelessly obsessing over what is or isn’t “good for the jews”, they’re psychopathologizing Whites for trying to do anything similar. The jewsmedia spews an endless stream of hyperbolic hand-wringing whose primary concern is either “anti-semitism” or “White supremacism”. The latest trend is to screech about both at the same time. The most sensible conclusion is that jews see themselves as utterly distinct from Whites, that they perceive Whites not as peers, but as their enemy, and thus as a legitimate target for any form of depredation.
While discussing Zizek’s review in 2014 (which turned out to be a plagiarization of Stanley Hornbeck’s review from 1999) MacDonald notes the dearth of serious criticism of his work. His long wait for a formal critique is finally over.
Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy, by Nathan Cofnas:
MacDonald argues that a suite of genetic and cultural adaptations among Jews constitutes a “group evolutionary strategy.” Their supposed genetic adaptations include, most notably, high intelligence, conscientiousness, and ethnocentrism. According to this thesis, several major intellectual and political movements, such as Boasian anthropology, Freudian psychoanalysis, and multiculturalism, were consciously or unconsciously designed by Jews to (a) promote collectivism and group continuity among themselves in Israel and the diaspora and (b) undermine the cohesion of gentile populations, thus increasing the competitive advantage of Jews and weakening organized gentile resistance (i.e., anti-Semitism). By developing and promoting these movements, Jews supposedly played a necessary role in the ascendancy of liberalism and multiculturalism in the West. While not achieving widespread acceptance among evolutionary scientists, this theory has been enormously influential in the burgeoning political movement known as the “alt-right.” Examination of MacDonald’s argument suggests that he relies on systematically misrepresented sources and cherry-picked facts. It is argued here that the evidence favors what is termed the “default hypothesis”: Because of their above-average intelligence and concentration in influential urban areas, Jews in recent history have been overrepresented in all major intellectual and political movements, including conservative movements, that were not overtly anti-Semitic.
Even if Pinker was right that MacDonald’s theories did not have enough prima facie merit to warrant attention in 2000, developments in the past 18 years have changed the situation. There are at least three reasons to give MacDonald a hearing.
First, some respected psychologists and evolutionary theorists have reported that they found value in MacDonald’s work.
. . .
Second, it is an undeniable fact that, in the past few hundred years, Jews have had a disproportionate influence on politics and culture in the Western world, if not the whole world.
. . .
Third and perhaps most important, though, is that MacDonald’s work has been influential—enormously so—in a certain segment of the lay community, namely, among anti-Semites and adherents of the burgeoning movement known as the “alt-right.” It is hard to overstate his influence among this group.
. . .
The refusal of scholars to engage with MacDonald has had unintended negative consequences. Many of his enthusiasts see him as credible because there has never been a serious academic refutation of his theories. The strategy employed 18 years ago—declaring his work to be anti-Semitic and/or to not reach the threshold to warrant scholarly attention—had the doubly unfortunate effect of intimidating scholars with a legitimate interest in the topic of Jewish evolution and behavior, and creating a perception among some laypeople—even if it was false—that MacDonald was being persecuted by the academic community.
In recent years, Jews have continued to produce examples favoring the default hypothesis. The most high-profile opponent of liberal activism in social science is, without question, Jonathan Haidt (see Duarte et al. 2015), who is Jewish. The most high-profile advocate of incorporating Darwinism into the social sciences is another Jew, Steven Pinker (e.g., Pinker 2002). The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE)—the most prominent organization that defends free speech on campus, primarily the speech of conservatives—was founded by Alan Charles Kors and Harvey A. Silverglate, both Jewish.
MacDonald paints a picture of Jews as hypocrites who impose liberalism on gentiles and adopt nationalism for themselves, but he ignores the fact that many of the most influential Jews seem to promote liberalism and multiculturalism for both gentiles and Jews.
Just as problematically, in a number of cases MacDonald fails to report that Jews whom he identifies as ethnic activists took stands against Israel and other Jewish interests (again, defining “Jewish interests” in MacDonald’s terms as ethnic self-preservation).
But misrepresenting sources and distorting history are not part of the methods of evolutionary psychology, or any other legitimate academic discipline.
Cofnas’s arguments are not new. He has essentially formalized, with a “patina of science”, the kind of excuses and sneers jews and crypto-jews have been making for years. Unable to refute the quotes and facts MacDonald cites, the best his critics can do is insinuate that MacDonald is the problem, that his scholarly criticism is somehow unfairly biased against jews.
This is not just the standard jew take on MacDonald, but smacks of the standard jew psychopathologization of “anti-semitism”, as MacDonald himself has described. Crying “anti-semitism” generally suffices as an argument-ending trump card for jews. Indeed, while implying MacDonald is biased against jews, Cofnas chutzpathically displays his own bias in their favor, lamenting the increasing popularity of MacDonald’s insights among “anti-semites”. By his own account he’s seeking to counter the supposed “negative consequences” of MacDonald’s indictment of jews, as opposed to the harm caused by their jewing.
As with Perle’s excuse for neoconservative jewing, Cofnas puts forth a supposed “above-average intelligence and concentration in influential urban areas” and “not all jews” as the excuse for anti-White jewing more generally. In short, Cofnas’ supposed “default hypothesis” is nothing more than his desired conclusion – heebs dindu nuffins! – smuggled in as an unsubstantiated premise.
What the Alt-Right Gets Wrong About Jews, published by alt-jewsmedia outlet Quillette, is another variation of Cofnas’ academic argument, though here the driving concern – that White racial consciousness is rising, and this isn’t good for the jews – is made more plain.
For many on the alt-right, every grievance is, at root, about Jews.
According to MacDonald, Judaism is a “group evolutionary strategy.” Jews possess both genetic and cultural adaptations (including, on the genetic side, high IQ and ethnocentrism) that allow them to develop successful intellectual movements that undermine gentile society and promote their own group continuity. “Jewish intellectual movements,” MacDonald argues, are led by charismatic figures analogous to rabbis. They attack white nationalism while promoting Jewish nationalism, and use pseudoscience to “pathologize” anti-Semitism, which in reality is a justified response to “Jewish aggression.” According to MacDonald, Jewish intellectual movements include Freudianism, Frankfurt School critical theory, and multiculturalism. These movements, MacDonald claims, taught white gentiles to reject ethnocentrism and accept high levels of nonwhite immigration to their countries while tolerating Jewish ethnocentrism and racially restrictive immigration policies in Israel.
MacDonald’s theory and the anti-Semitism of many on the alt-right are largely reactions to the perceived liberalism of Jews. One of us (Cofnas) has just published an academic paper that examines MacDonald’s most influential book, The Culture of Critique, and finds that it is chock full of misrepresented sources, cherry-picked facts, and egregious distortions of history.
But MacDonald seems to be right that Jews were disproportionately involved in radical leftist political movements in the twentieth century, and in the US Jews tend to vote Democrat. We think this can be explained by the high average IQ of Jews in combination with their being a persecuted minority, which has tended to push them toward political views that emphasize social toleration and the free movement of people. In other words, MacDonald reverses the correct order of causation: rather than Jews inviting persecution by advocating cosmopolitan policies that thwart the interests of Europeans, Jews advocated cosmopolitanism as a predictable response to persecution.
Persecution of Jews began for religious reasons in the Middle Ages and morphed into political persecution as Jews began to climb the social ladder, and political leaders saw them as a useful out-group to use as a scapegoat for people’s economic and social woes. For example, when Italian traders inadvertently brought the Black Plague from Asia to Europe, thousands of Jews were murdered in retaliation when Christian peasants decided that the Jews had deliberately infected them.
We don’t think MacDonald will be able to rescue his hypothesis, built as it is on misrepresented sources and distortions. But for some dishonest alt-right leaders, the literal truth of his ideas is probably not that important. They need an enemy to unify their movement. There is no more convenient a people to play this role than Jews.
These are the most common tropes jews of every stripe – “liberal” or “conservative” – reach for when trying to jewsplain how jews and their jewing aren’t the problem, non-jews are. The jew version of history – this one-sided persecution narrative, this self-image as eternally victimized outsiders, we wuz slaves in Egypt – is the same story this parasitic tribe has always told, and has always used to justify their vindicitve malevolence towards their hosts.
For jews, every grievance is about “anti-semitism”, which is, at root, a result of jewing. Scapegoating, for example, is a jewy word for a ritualistically jewy behavior. The term is almost always used whenever someone is fretting that jews might be held to account for what jews have done – to transfer the sins of jews to someone else.
Cofnas, for example, tries to excuse jewing by shifting blame to MacDonald and more broadly to uppity Whites. His behavior confirms MacDonald’s arguments rather than refuting them.
