Don’t forget Jewish mothers.
Seriously.
That is relevant because there is no real correlation between wealth and IQ.
So the fact that Jews have an IQ on average of about 115 doesn’t explain why they are wealthier if there is no connection between the two.
MENSA likes to point out that it has both billionaires and welfare recipients in its membership rolls.
It seems to me that rather than asking this about “Jews” we perhaps should be asking this in regards to “American Jews”.
Certainly, Israel has lots of Jews who are poor and not terribly successful.
I don’t believe the Kochs are Jewish. Haven’t been able to Google-fu a cite.
As I mentioned there are several reasons for the low numbers including what you mentioned. But 15 million Jews worldwide is really, really low. Even putting aside all the difficult circumstances Jews have faced, just standard population growth would likely lead to higher numbers than that. According to one historian, Jews accounted for 10% of the population of the Roman empire. It wasn’t just war, disease, and isolation that accounted for the low modern numbers. To quote an article about Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein authors of The Chosen Few:
And you can even see it today. While plenty of people of Jewish ancestry are still religious, many (most that I know) are not. They probably won’t make their kids go to Hebrew school, aren’t culturally Jewish, and may not even marry a fellow Jew. I doubt 30 years from now, all of the Jewish exceptionalism we see today will be much of a factor given the cultural expectations are fading more and more each day.
A disproportionate number of Russian billionaires and oligarchs tend to be Jewish too. But yes, per capita the nation of Israel is not much more impressive than any other western nation, from what I can see.
Perhaps due to genetics and culture, because Jews have been forced to survive and thrive at the fringes of society they have developed certain cognitive talents that can be translated into success in the business and social world. I didn’t mention that in the OP, but that could be a major ingredient. And by ‘genetics’ I mean Jews who are genetically prone to the skillset necessary to survive and function on the outskirts of society would have more kids than Jewish people who didn’t. The end result of that is a group of people who are better at rising to the tops of business and politics since their history has selected people and encouraged a culture of people who can navigate complex social and economic situations where they are at a disadvantage, and still come out ahead. In a way it’d be like taking a group of people who have done nothing but run all their lives, then put them in a walking competition with people who have done nothing but walk. If a group learns to survive on the outskirts of the economic and social system, certain genetic and cultural traits will be passed on and you end up with a people who are better at navigating those situations to rise to the top.
Yeah, I can see that. Being welcome to hang in the upstairs bedroom until you’re 35 and having someone to do all your cooking and cleaning for you sure makes it a lot easier to get a doctorate.
I think you should drop the genetic aspect. Just saying.
Go ahead, give your fahthuh a heart attache!
Seen Fiddler On The Roof?
Tradition!
No one’s going to mention the obvious? God like Jews better than other people.
Or the speaker is trying to be extra careful to not have his meaning be derailed by bullshit sensitivity. By that I mean like yours.
What he said wasn’t offensive but you have qualms about his word choice because it was chosen over what you thought he should say but didn’t because he thought it would have connotations that are also not offensive but you think he or his audience thinks there are.
Just my nitpick.
Not too bad. 10% of female Senators (2 out of 20, and both of them mine) are Jewish, and 16% of female Nobel Prize winners (7 out of 44) are Jewish, not to mention 2/3 of female Supreme Court justices.
Yeah, I’m going with the cutting-off-part-of-your-dick requirement as what’s holding the numbers down.
I tried to unsuccessfully to track down an article perhaps in the NYT some years ago by a successful NY Jewish man who described how his mother pushed him to succeed with incredible intensity, persistence and creativity. And, how all his friends who also became successful Jewish men had mothers doing the exact same thing. It isn’t the stereotype I’m talking about, it is the enormous investment Jewish women traditionally have made in making their sons successful, as scholars, businessmen, professionals.
In medieval times, as it is now in Islamic countries, money lending was a religious taboo. The bible forbids loaning money for a percentage of interest.
This would considerably have hampered the economy, if not for the practical solution of leaving the money lending to the Jews. So there had to be one or more Jewish money lenders/bankers/goldsmiths in every town.
So, while most Jews weren’t rich, many have in their extended family and circle of aquantances a Jew who is rich. And as the Jews have a tradition of charity and helping each other out (maybe grudgingly, but still) that means that enterprising Jews, or Jews who need capital to pursue an expensive education, may easier get the money to do so.
Your use of the present tense here is bizarre. Was that intentional?
I’m wondering if there is such thing as a reverse stereotype threat.
I have a good friend who is Jewish. She isn’t shy at all about expressing her “tribe pride”. If a Jewish wunderkind appears in the news, she gets absolutely giddy over it. She loves talking about Jewish predominance of the Noble Prize roster and the generosity of the Jewish people. She has said some things that make me go :dubious:, if I only because I never know what she wants me to say.
It makes me wonder, though. If it’s irrational for a person to be self-loathing because of their group membership, is it equally irrational for a person to have high self-esteem because of it?
The Jewish culture in no doubt a model for success. A close friend and mechanic that had worked for me and retired the same time I did had banked every paycheck though his entire career. They lived off of his wifes check and lived a simple but comfortable life. They would withdraw from savings for property investments which were always positive cash flow investments. His networth exceeded $10,000,000 when he retired from a blue collar truck mechanic job.
Another casual friend and fellow swapmeeter had a small bagle business. He wore one of those signs with 2 pcs of plywood connected by rope like a tent. 10 years later he owned a very successful large bagle company.
The one thing they seem to have in common is that they are taught when they are young that they are special and that they deserve success. I don't know any statistics on how many Jews become attracted to chrystal meth but just from casual observation it seems to be a bit of a weakness. I have seen some young people with very promising careers fall victim to this and later fall into severe mental illness.