A conjoint thought experiment about America’s preferred Jew

There is an old Jewish definition of an antisemite: someone who hates Jews more than is absolutely necessary.

The joke works because we all recognize the absurdity of quantifying hostility. But the joke also works because we all recognize the transaction: there is a socially tolerated level of suspicion toward Jews, and the boundary is policed by the coalition, not by the Jew

It is a great joke because it concedes the base rate. Some dislike of Jews is understandable. Perhaps even prudent. Antisemitism begins only when the customer orders more than the socially approved quantity.

But the joke leaves behind a methodological problem. How much is absolutely necessary?

Years ago, when I ran a market research firm in Louisiana, we used conjoint analysis to answer questions people could not or would not answer directly. When Wm. B. Reily & Company of New Orleans wanted to know what shoppers would give up before they gave up Blue Plate mayonnaise, we did not hand them a questionnaire. Everyone wants everything when nothing has to be sacrificed. We made them trade.

Brand name at full price with a warranty? Or the house brand at half the price with none? Change one attribute and ask again. Recombine the elements enough times and the mathematics works backward. It tells you what each characteristic is worth.

I am not presenting a survey. No representative sample of Americans was forced to choose among alternative configurations of Jews. This is a conjoint thought experiment, and the reader is the respondent.

Construct two Jews who are identical except for one attribute. Put them inside an American political coalition. Then ask which Jew receives greater credibility, protection and permission to remain.

Start on the progressive left. Both Jews are Democrats. Both oppose Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Both support Palestinian statehood, condemn settler violence and grieve for children killed in Gaza. One nevertheless identifies as a Zionist. He rejects the genocide label and believes Jews have the same right to organize politically as every other American constituency. The other calls Gaza a genocide, describes Zionism........

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