Quote:
Originally Posted by Trotskilicious
jews have a lot of money because at the turn of the economy at the end of the middle ages, the jews had become an urban group with some money because of their unique religious immigrant status at the time. jews got into funding mechinization & industrialization and got into banking because, they were urban already, and the aristocrats felt all of this was a fad that was beneath them. This then explains why, towards the end of the expansion age (i.e. 18th&19th centuries), jews had a dick ton of money and often the creditors of the very aristocrats who claimed to rule them (those "dastardly" rothchilds are a good example). Coupled with the Jews rigid otherness in devotion to their beliefs, common people suspected them and it was easy for the white elite to manufacture anti-semetism & jealousy towards them.
|
it goes back even further. In many European states in the Middle Ages, it was illegal for Christians to be "money lenders." Jewish populations were actually an essential financial tool for the elite in this way. Many old European cities have "Jewish quarters," and Jews were often forced to live there by law... weirdly this first developed in large part because rulers and aristocrats wanted to put their Jews somewhere it would be harder for people to come harass or kill them because they were such an indispensable resource. Obviously still racist af but it was really after the Middle Ages during Inquisition times when the Church was weakening and States were strengthening that the Jews became a major target of persecution by governments. So yeah there is 1000+ plus years of history tying the Ashkenazim culturally to finance