Abstract

The New Know-Nothingism

Conservatives, and some not so conservatives, are testing out a new thesis in their effort to shut out ideas that make them uncomfortable: Any attempt to analyze the origins of a distasteful phenomenon is tantamount to endorsing it. Whether the problem is global terrorism or anti-Semitism, the message is the same. "It's bad. It must be condemned. That's all we need to know." The new Know-Nothings' target is the pugnacious economist/New York Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman. In a piece exploring the political roots of recent anti-Semitic remarks by Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Krugman noted that Bush Administration policies had helped provide grist for Mahathir's scapegoating tactics, which derive from the complicated ethnic balancing act he must perform to stay in power and promote his nation's fragile prosperity. Nowhere in the column did Krugman, a Jew, even hint that Mahathir's words were remotely justified. Indeed, he called them "inexcusable" and has written quite critically of Mahathir in the past. But the mere idea that he thought it worthwhile to look into what might have caused such an outburst led immediately to hysterical calls for Krugman's head. None of the attacks can find anything objectionable in Krugman's writings about Jews or anti-Semitism.