I have been thinking a lot about evil-not just recently but for many years. And I think that one of the reasons why I hate the Anne Frank industry so much is because of the communist propulgated Lillian Helman myth/lie that Anne Frank said anything like "in spite of it all, I still believe people are good'.
She said no such thing.
And people are not set to "good" on their default setting.
Human beings are flawed, and with very little encouragement, can do horrible, evil, sick things.
We will never legislate that out of human nature, we-as humans, will never eliminate the evil inclination, the darkness that grows in the heart of man. Similarly, we (the Jews and our allies) can never "eliminate" antisemitism, not matter how much we (I mean the dopey, goo-headed, utopian Jews) "fight" it.
We can only fight the people and the empires and regimes that do evil.
We can't eliminate it entirely from our midst.
Every good person has a duty to fight the battles that they can and not despair.
Not despairing is a victory over evil in and of itself.
I get a lot of e-mails from people asking "what can we do". It's funny, because I don't consider myself particularly expert on very many things, especially not fixing the world, but I am flattered that there are some people who think I have some good ideas. A few anyway.
So, having said that, I believe that there are two things that we can do.
One: we can do nothing.
Two: we can do something.
And we do both nothing and something at the same time.
When I say "we can do nothing" what I mean is unless you are the warrior, the actual individual soldier with the gun, you can do nothing. It is that individual soldier who is doing the something-the big something. The sacrificing his or her life something.
At the same time, we, too, can do something.
We can do a lot.
And that's why I always say hey people-do what you can, and not what you can't.
I will put out my short list of things we can do again because as I said, some people have been asking me. I'm glad I have this little perch that I can chirp from.
First of all, don't be afraid.
This is such a huge something, and it is so liberating not to be afraid. Tell the truth. Speak your mind. Make those jokes, say what you mean and mean what you say.
Raise moral children.
Defend Judeo-Christian values without any hesitation.
Publicly. Vocally.
Every day.
Support the people who fight and do good things for them and for the people who care for them. Real things. Not necessarily big things. Make dinner. Babysit. Do laundry. Visit the wounded. Sing to them. Pray for them. Read to them.
Whatever you do in your professional life, or for fun, you can do for them.
A haircut, a song. A ride. A letter. A boat ride.
Support Israel.
Where Israel and the Jews go, so goes the civilized world.
Buy Israeli.
Go to Israel, spend money in Israel.
Celebrate life and the culture of life.
Never despair.
Never give up.