This is an anthology of works by major Zionist thinkers. It introduced me to the fact that Zionism was primarily a radical project of self-criticism and not a whining diatribe against the Gentiles. The ruthless mode of thought and pitiless self criticism of the founding fathers of Zionism makes one realize that this is our strength in the face of our enemies, who clearly lack the ability to engage in self-criticism. 
The Introduction by Rabbi Hertzberg is brilliant and worth the price of the book alone. If you want to know something about Zionism, Israel, and modern Jewish history, buy this book and read the Introduction!

By varying accounts there are 25-30 million free agents at present in the United States.  Most of these work from home.  Add millions of micro-businesses and one comes to the conclusion that the 20th century will be known as the first and last century in which most working people were salaried.  Up until the 20th century most working people were small farmers, merchants and independent professionals.  If present trends continue – and there is every reason to believe they will – then by the middle of the 21st century most working people will be self-employed in one form or another. This will have revolutionary impact on politics, tax and social policy and the economic balance of power. Cultural attitudes that encourage innovation and risk-taking will have tremendous advantages in this emerging reality. This is why I claim that: “No people on earth are better prepared by virtue of education, temperament and historical adaptability to embrace the challenges of the 21st century”. This book provided me with much of the information that enabled me to open The Optimistic Jew with the above lines.

Constitutionalize before you democratize.  This is the essential theme of this book, which is destined to become a classic similar to Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. It is a call for constitutional democracy over Majoritarian democracy.  When democracy is adopted before constitutional protections of inalienable individual rights are internalized the result is Hitler in Germany and Hamas in Palestine (both democratically elected).  If the thesis of this book had been internalized by American policy makers some of the current mess in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East might have been avoided.  The lessons of this book must also be internalized by Israel if we are to strengthen Israel’s constitutional democracy in the future.  This is also a necessity in the globalized age wherein the rapid rate of change requires the ever-growing empowerment of the individual.

This elegantly written work contrasts liberal democracy (individual in the center) with totalitarian democracy (state in the center). It charts the development of totalitarian democracy in Europe since the 18th century. I prefer the term Majoritarian democracy because it is more inclusive and therefore more useful. Stalinism, Maoism and Fascism are the totalitarian version of majoritarianism.  Western European democracies have Majoritarian tendencies, while the English speaking world – especially the US – is dominated by the constitutional imperative.
Understanding this enabled me to understand another dissonance I had with Israeli society.  In America, my birthplace, democracy means that government engages in activities that cannot be handled efficiently by civil society.  In Israel, following the continental tradition, democracy meant government involved in all aspects of social life. Today, Israel, like Europe, has come closer to the American view of individual vs. society but its Majoritarian tendencies are still evident. Talmon’s book is a wonderful companion piece to Fareed Zakaria’s book, although its style is heavily academic. 

The debate over how to create an efficient system of government without sacrificing the sacred rights of the individual; how to make government serve society and advance its “general welfare” with a degree of competence while still harboring deep suspicions about the inherent unbound power of government per se.  How three million people (only about 60% of them even literate let alone well-read) could produce writing of such informed elegance and tight logic is one of the mysteries and miracles of history.  Reading these essays and then listening to the poll constrained mutterings of modern politicians world over is like first soaring along at a hundred miles an hour and then hitting a giant sludge puddle.  The principles debated here have never been more relevant to the human condition.  Would that this book be translated into Hebrew and made compulsory reading for the modern Israeli politician.

Easy to condemn as “pop sociology”, this book is of great historical value in that it “popularizes” significant academic research and thus democratizes important information.  The subtitle says it all: “How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference”.  How ideas and concepts and fashions can have a “viral” character.  The Jewish people have always been a “little thing” but their ideas have had greater direct and indirect impact on humanity than any other people in recorded history.  Israel will always be a “little thing” but it has the potential – with the support and participation of the Diaspora – to become a major positive driver of human civilization in the 21st century. This is a fundamental claim of The Optimistic Jew.