Thursday, April 17, 2014

Capitalism and the Jews

Doesn't seem to be all that much new in Jerry Z. Muller's Capitalism and the Jews: (1) Jews entered a space--finance--from which Christians were barred; (2) Jewish literacy and other related social factors supported their success; (3) Christianity has a tendency to glamorize or elevate poverty; (4) The successful minority--in this case Jews--are likely targets during economic hard times or when scapegoats are politically expedient.  (5) Jewish involvement with capitalism and Marxism/communism/socialism made them easy targets for those on the right and the left.