The Jews

Let me start off by saying that if you think this book is rascist then you are falling into the same problem that Belloc is crying out against when he wrote "The Jews" in 1922. We need to talk about problems, issues, frictions in society even when these problems are based around race, nationality, sexuality, religion, etc. Belloc amazingly predicted the Holocaust: "the danger is rather that... the natural antagonism to the Jewish race... may take an irrational and violent form, and that we may be upon the brink of yet one more of those catastrophes, of those tragedies, of those disasters which have marked the history of Israel in the past... The peril seems still far distant from [England], though it may be at the very door of our neighbours."

How did he foresee the danger? What was the issue in the 1920s with respect to the Jews? There were many but the bottom line is that there was "friction" in Europe between the Jewish people and the societies in which they were living (be it England, France, Germany, the USA, etc.). However, people didn't talk openly about these issues, about the causes of this friction, let alone about the friction itself. Why? Among other things, because any form of debate was immediately shut down:

"If a man alluded to the presence of a Jewish financial power in any region—for instance, in India—he was an Anti-Semite. If he interested himself in the peculiar character of Jewish philosophical discussions, especially in matters concerning religion, he was an Anti-Semite. If the emigrations of the Jewish masses from country to country, the vast modern invasion of the United States, for instance (which has been organized and controlled like an army on the march), interested him as an historian, he could not speak of it under pain of being called an Anti-Semite. If he exposed a financial swindler who happened to be a Jew, he was an Anti-Semite. If he exposed a group of Parliamentarians taking money from the Jews, he was an Anti-Semite. If he did no more than call a Jew a Jew, he was an Anti-Semite."

We see this today, don't we? When you don't agree with the SJWs, the Cancel Culture, or parts of the liberal agenda, you're immediately struck down and your voice is quashed. But this attitude will sooner or later lead to disaster. The interior voice of disagreement in certain parts of society will breed extremism (e.g. far-right) simply because friction cannot remain friction. It is not an indifferent thing. If it is not talked about openly and recognised for what it is, it will grow and be followed by gross extravagances.

So, yes, Belloc talks openly about the Jewish "problem". A book like this would not enter the mainstream today, especially if it dealt with something like Islam or same-sex marriages. But Belloc respects the Jews - in fact, he loves that nation, admires it for many of its characteristics, and wants to help it before it is too late: "I repeat the formula for a solution: it is recognition and respect. Recognition is here no more than telling of the truth..."

This is the way to have open debates, even if you do not agree with certain arguments or a thesis in general. I think everyone today should read a book like this before we completely forget how to talk to one another and before we forget that when frictions occur, they need to be aired or things will just get worse.

It really was refreshing to listen to somebody openly but respectfully talking about controversial issues.

An interesting, insightful, and fair-minded examination of the Jewish Question from the vantage point of 1920s Britain. Belloc writes with the aim of offering a peaceful modus vivendi between their civilization and ours. Taking a moderate stance, he denounces extremism on either side, critiquing both rabid anti-Semitism and Zionism. He delves into Jewish history, covering such topics as medieval expulsion, the 'Russian' Revolution, and Palestine. Though aspects of the book may seem dated to a present day perspective, it's largely still relevant. While Belloc's examination of wrongs on both sides glaringly neglects any discussion of the Talmud, his socio-cultural analysis anticipates future works, such as Kevin MacDonald's trilogy on Judaism.

A truly remarkable analysis, made in 1922. Most of obsevations are still valid. The prophetic statements towards the future state of Israel. Worth of reading. And no, it is not antisemitic pamphlet.

I managed to finish this book within a year! It wasn't easy. I picked it up thinking it was a history book but it wasn't. Written in 1923, the author was concerned about solving the "Jewish problem" in Britain but also all over the world. I'm sure he wasn't surprised by the Holocaust. I wanted to understand where he was coming from. But no matter how I slice it, he comes out anti-Semitic (a term he doesn't believe in). Depressing but I suppose it did help me understand how foolishly fearful people were.

Very well written and takes the problems seriously and gives thoughtful and reasonable commentary on and suggestions for dealing with them.

Jewish apologetics. The author acknowledges that there is a Jewish problem but will not admit the Jews are the cause of it. It reminds me of those stories you see of people that are attacked by minorities and then blame "white privilege" for the behavior of savages.

An extraordinarily depressing book, Belloc's The Jews, published in 1922, reads a little bit as if it was written 20 or 30 years from now. Belloc writes at a time when the "liberal" attitude towards the Jewish people (that they were essentially no different from the other peoples among whom they lived), which had enforced ideological and political conformity in tolerance and equal treatment of Jewish minorities, was just in the process of cracking up, unable to withstand what Belloc describes as the inevitable conflict that arises between different peoples (with different interests and different sympathies) inhabiting the same places.

Along with various financial and political scandals, the most serious blow was the Russian Revolution, which was in many ways was regarded as Jewish-organized and Jewish-run (see Yuri Slezkine's The Jewish Century for an even-handed modern treatment of this issue). Although these events had perhaps no immediate effect on the general public's attitude towards the Jews, each served as its own military mine, dug underneath the walls of strictly-enforced bien-pensant opinion. As fault lines between Jewish and Gentile interests become more salient, the liberal consensus becomes more vulnerable to anti-Semitic availability cascades, and a public opinion that had once seemed uniformly tolerant can become quite hostile, almost overnight. It is clear and to his credit that Belloc had some premonition of the horrors that were coming, and of course his warnings acquire a new force in hindsight.

The book doesn't fit the modern temper, which, having developed a new liberal uniformity of opinion with regard to Jewish-Gentile relations, one nearly identical to the old one, is extremely hostile towards discussions of the Jewish people as in any essential way different. Neither will his recommendation of cultural and political ghettoization appeal much to the modern reader (assimilation, Belloc, believes, is impossible, and expulsion immoral). But the bald fact that he had seen a working consensus so similar to our own collapse, and then went on to provide at least the sketch of a framework for understanding why it had, and how to develop a more lasting peace, should be enough to grant his views a tolerant hearing.

The style is repetitive and pseudo-logical, but I don't know if that's from an overabundance of caution in approaching what was then and is now a controversial subject, or just the way he wrote.

Note that this book was first published in 1922. Its copyright has expired, so it is freely available and easily found on the internet.

Hilaire Belloc was a highly prolific author. As is often the case of those who write a lot, he did not always write well. The Jews is wordy and repetitive. I wish an editor had forced Belloc to cut out the fat. Furthermore, he makes confident assertions about questionable issues while providing no citations.

That said, The Jews by Hilaire Belloc is an interesting historical document. If you read it with imagination, especially between the lines, you will no doubt learn something about the world of nearly one hundred years ago. Considering that anti-Semitism is still with us, you might even learn something relevant to the world today. History never repeats itself exactly, but it teaches one about human nature and illustrates what is possible.

Is the book itself anti-Semitic? By our current standards, it doubtless is. Beliefs the author takes as basic information would today be considered gross calumnies. Were an author of Mr. Belloc's stature to write such a book now, it wouldn't be published. If it somehow did get published, the author would be denounced by all right thinking people. Excerpts, whether in context or not, would be quoted proving that he is a monster who should be expelled from society. He would lose his friends, his safety, and his livelihood. Ceremonial book burnings would be held on university campuses.

Of course, it isn't fair to judge a book written in 1922 by the standards of today. I believe that in the context of his times, Hilaire Belloc was making a good faith attempt to suggest a reasonable accommodation between European Jews and gentiles of his day. The author saw disaster looming, and he did his best to keep it from happening.

Note that 1922 is well before the start of the Holocaust. The accuracy of Mr. Belloc's predictions about the events that were to come is chilling.