The Genuinely Interested Podcast Ep 115 Blake Flayton - The New Zionists
Blake is a freelance writer, a columnist, and new media director for Jewish Journal. He is also the president and co-founder of The New Zionist Congress. They are a group of students, young professionals, professors, thinkers, and leaders from around the world, who believe in Zionism's mission and its continuity today. Blake was a lifelong progressive Democrat, but when he went to college he was met with antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric coming from the same groups which he previously championed. After finding himself in a bit of an identity crisis, Blake managed to find his calling and became a new fresh voice for a younger generation of Jews in America. Jews have a long history of being persecuted for nothing more than holding a different belief. With antisemitic attacks being at an all-time high, we need more brave voices like Blake. I'm happy he came on the podcast for us to discuss some extremely important and relevant topics.
Blake and I discussed:
- What is the future of progressivism?
- What the New Zionist Congress org is all about
- The current political atmosphere on college campuses
- Why Jews are attacked by both sides of the political spectrum
- What is Pinkwashing?
- Hiding your Jewish identity when traveling
- The profound impact summer camp in Oregon had on his understanding of his Jewish identity
- Populist messaging masquerading as truth
- The problem with Identity politics
- Filter bubbles & echo chambers of information on social media
And much, much more...
My Take: The highly politicized climate we find ourselves in steals reason and agency from individuals and lumps us all into groups - it's the most tribal inclination humans possess. We need independent thinkers to steer people away from identity politics, political tribalism, and the mob mentality in which we currently find ourselves.