75 years - 8 days. WTF? On saving the world

December 22, 2017

I want to save the world. I have always wanted to. I feel it’s the natural state of every human being to want to save the world. I can’t understand why hardly anyone else wants to.

But then, I know I’m weird.

I was raised Jewish and learned early that being Jewish made me one of the Chosen People. I imagined that God had chosen me, singled me out, even among the Chosen People, to do His work.

I’ve long since lost the faith in God that I had as a kid—and perhaps God has lost faith in me, as well. I no longer believe in God, but I wish that I did.

But I’ve now discovered a God that I can believe in.

A couple of days ago, I came upon Confessions of a Supply-Side Liberal, the blog of economist/philosopher Miles Kimball. I found this in a post about Louis Brandeis.

Peters (an anti-semitic professor at Harvard)…asked him the following question: “Mr Brandeis, if you were walking down the street and found a package, a bag of wisdom and another bag with a lot of money, which one would you take?” Without hesitating, Brandeis responded, “The one with the money, of course.” Peters, smiling sarcastically, said, “Just like a Jew. Unlike you I would have taken the wisdom.” Brandeis shrugged indifferently and responded, “Each one takes what he doesn’t have.”

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