Jon Ronson Quotes
But when I was doing the KKK I had constant nightmares of being exposed as a Jew and lynched by the Klan.
Ronson, Jon. Interview by Terry Gross. Fresh Air, NPR, 28 Feb. 2002.
The irony was that Breen was in charge of the Motion Picture censorship at a time when he personally could block any motion picture from being exhibited by withholding the Hollywood Production Seal of Approval. He was not only a virulent anti-Semitic but prohibited things like scenes with a double bed rather than twin beds for married couples.
After the Russian Revolution he fought both the Whites and the Reds. He finally lost to the Reds and was banished. Both the Red and White armies went on pogroms and attacked Jews. The Whites were the worst and did so with the complicity of their officers by and large. The Reds, under Symon Petliura issued orders {617892} against pogroms but didn’t enforce it much. Makhno’s troops had some minor anti-Semitic activity but he disciplined them harshly. Specifically he had them shot. None the less, the few incidents were publicized by both the Reds and the Whites who were themselves engaged in the worst anti-Semitic behavior used their exaggeration as propaganda against Makhno and his army.
Constantine the Great. Roman Emperors saw Christians as their most dangerous foes. However, Constantine converted to Christianity and ceased the vicious persecution of the Christians. As politicians in many societies need scapegoats to blame for various problems, and the Christians were no longer available, the Jews then became the targeted scapegoats.
Jon Ronson is a Welsh-American journalist, author, and filmmaker whose works include Them: Adventures with Extremists (2001), The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004), and The Psychopath Test (2011). He has been described as a gonzo journalist, becoming a faux-naïf character in his stories. He produces informal but sceptical investigations of controversial fringe politics and science. He has published nine books and his work has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, City Life and Time Out. He has made several BBC Television documentary films and two documentary series for Channel 4.
