Societies, like individuals, can become sick.
And, as with individuals, the symptoms point to the pathology.
The shocking acceleration of antisemitism in our country is a sign that something is very wrong.
Antisemitism is a classic symptom of a society that has problems and is looking for someone to blame. Why is life so hard?
It is no accident that with the acceleration of antisemitism, we observe a strong movement on the political left toward socialism and antipathy to capitalism.
They all come from the same place: a problem in human nature that wants to pass blame and responsibility to others.
Capitalism means work, private property and personal responsibility. Socialism means the government will take care of you, which really means the government can take from Peter and give to Paul.
I began my life's work dealing with this problem. I saw the lives of low-income Americans being destroyed by the welfare state and have spent a good part of my life working to change this.
The pathology of blame is, like COVID-19, highly contagious and now has moved over to the alleged right side of the political spectrum.
I say "alleged" because we now have some who call themselves conservatives who are buying big-time into the culture of blame. But anyone selling blame and not personal responsibility is not a conservative.
One particularly talented entrepreneur, claiming to be a conservative, cashing in on the culture of blame and conspiracy, is a young black woman named Candace Owens.
For Ms. Owens, Jews and Israel are behind the murder of Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump is getting paid off by Israel, and Israel itself is, in her words, a "cult."
It is troubling to learn that a "cult" is the source of the magnificent beauty and wisdom in the Psalms I read each morning, or the wisdom of Ecclesiastes or the story of Queen Esther who defeated a government in ancient Persia bent on destroying the Jews for the same reasons that motivate Ms. Owens.
Israel is particularly troubling to the blame and conspiracy entrepreneurs such as Ms. Owens because it is a model of what it means to take responsibility for one's existence.
In 1867, Mark Twain travelled to the Holy Land and recorded in his book "Innocents Abroad": "There was hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country. ... Palestine is desolate and unlovely. And why should it be otherwise? Can the curse of the Deity beautify a land? Palestine is no more of this work-day world. And why should it be otherwise? It is sacred to poetry and tradition -- it is dreamland."
Shortly thereafter, Jews, escaping persecution, began returning to their historic homeland and transformed what Mark Twain described into a modern thriving state, now with per capita GDP higher than most nations in Europe, all while fighting forever wars with Arabs who have refused to accept the existence of one Jewish state.
Americans feel troubled because we have real problems. The welfare state has run rampant with the federal government now consuming almost a quarter of our economy. Hundreds of billions in fraud has been reported in Medicare and Medicaid. Social Security is broke. National debt exceeds our entire GDP, and budget deficits go as far as the eye can see. As a result, average incomes are barely growing.
The culture of blame and irresponsibility has wounded love, marriage and the American family—exactly the battle that Charlie Kirk was fighting.
By exploiting and profiting off the nation's troubled spirit, Candace Owens undermines Charlie Kirk's life's work.
Real conservatives are digging in to work to fix our nation's many problems.
Sorry to tell Ms. Owens that the exploitation payoff she's cashing in on will not mend her broken soul.
Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and author of "Necessary Noise, How Donald Trump Inflames the Culture War and Why this is Good News for America" (Hachette 2019).