Why are Jews So Financially Successful in the World Today

There are currently only 15 million Jews in the world, which isn't many considering that there are 7,046 million people in the world.

In the top richest people in the world, there are 3 Jews in the top 10, 6 in the top 20 and 9 in the top 30 (see http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/), however, England's richest man is way down at number 89.  There are 52 million people living in the UK, which means that there are 3.5 times as many UK citizens as there are Jews in the world.

It may be argued that some of these billionaires had a head start due to wealthy family, not so. Look at George Soros ($19.2 billion), he had to survive in Hungry during the Nazi occupation and relied on charity when he lived in London after the war, a real rags to riches story.

In America, Jews make up only 2% of the population, but 100 of 400 wealthiest Americans are of Jewish descent. A study by the Pew Forum institute found that Jews are the richest religious group in the US. Another Gallup poll found that 70% of American Jews enjoy "a high standard of living" more than any other religious group.  Most of these Jews came to America on crowded boats within the last 60 years, escaping persecution in Europe and the Middle East, settling in dirty, crowded slums in Brooklyn, deprived of work by anti-Semitics such as Henry Ford.  Working rights for Jews were only dropped after the 1964 Civil Rights Act, enabling Jews in America to work freely, yet nobody associates the Civil Rights Act or movement to the Jews, instead they are "ignored" whenever it is mentioned.

So why has this small minority of the worlds population thrived. Maybe because Jewish tradition always sanctified studying, and eduction is a major key to success and prosperity.  Jews also work and help each other as a Jewish community and were the first people to practice globalization, using their network of family and friends from all over the world.

It can't be argued that Jews are right wing capitalists, Carl Marx was Jewish and after WWII the majority of Jews were Socialist and Communist, thus many of the workers unions in America where started by Jews, and many Jews put on a watch list by the American Government due to their Communist and Socialist ideals.

It can't be argued that they invite successful people to join them and convert.  To become Jewish, you are not invited, you must study and show your dedication over years before you are accepted into the community, and not all Jews will accept you.

Lets look at me, as a Jew who grew up in a middle class, liberal Jewish household, my education was important to my parents, so they sent me to a private school, even when they couldn't afford it.  I saw my grandparents nearly every week and was close to the rest of my family.  My father spent most of his time at work earning money to support the family.  I am now married with 2 children and want only the best for my children.  I too, like my father did, work long hours so that my family can live well and to ensure that they have a chance at a good future. I am not a practicing Jew, I am atheist, but I know and respect my identity and ancestry.

Looking at my life and the lives of friends, I think it boils down to traits that nearly all Jews practice, empathy, nepotism and a sanctity for education.  I am reminded of the empathy of an old Jewish man with this recent incident (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/06/sleeping-stranger-subway-picture_n_4228826.html) where a Jewish man let a strange black man sleep on his shoulder on the subway.  The Jewish community works together with great nepotism, helps each other and most of all, their own family.  This empathy and nepotism, especially with our own family, as well as the desire for education gives our siblings a distinct advantage in the world today.  Maybe its because we are a small community that nepotism is so strong, or maybe it's down to the persecution we have had over the ages that we all stick together as a means of unity and defence.

Why are we such a close community, maybe that because Jews have suffered persecution and attack through the ages and even today, giving even more cause for nepotism in the community.  Benjamin Netanyahu said "If Jews laid down their arms, there would be no more Israel.  If Arabs laid down their arms, there would be peace".  Even with all the illegal terrorist acts against Jews and Israel today, still people of the world side with the enemies of Israel or the Jewish people.  As Fidel Castro once said "I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews.".  People choose to forget and accuse Palestinian troubles to be the cause of the Jews.  Lets just look back at history. The original British Mandate of Palestine included what is now Jordan, Israel, Palestinian territories and parts of Syria and was supposed to be given to the Jews as a Zionist state.  The Zionist movement however suggested less land as a larger part should go to the Arabs, the British did this in 1946, giving more land than suggested to the Arabs in what is now Jordan, on the understanding that there would be no persecution of other religions or people, however they expelled all the Jews who fled to what remained of Palestine, and thus the Jordanians reneged on the mandate.  The British then subsequently broke their original agreement again and made Israel even smaller than what was previously agreed and eventually Israel was established.  Then, during the Arab Israeli war Jordan took the West Bank from Israel, and subsequently forced their Palestinians to relocate there, as well as executing some of them (Black September).  It was during the 6 day war that Israel reluctantly got the land back (it was due to military defense measures during the war and not something the Israeli Government wanted).  Lets not also forget the Palestinian leadership, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who sided with the Nazi's, visited concentration camps and asked European nations not to send their Jews to Palestine, but to the concentration camps in Poland.  When he died (he was hiding from prosecution in Beirut) his cousin took over the leadership of the Muslim Palestinians, citing Haj Amin al-Husseini as a hero, that was Yasser Arafat who then led the terrorist organisation the PLO that hijacked planes, murdered civilians, etc.  So despite the allegiances to the most evil regime in history (they still fly the Nazi flag on occasion today http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/172988#.Ur5T7fRdV8E), terrorist activities then and now, Human Rights atrocities, blatant corruption, etc., people still support the Palestinians over the Israelis and ignore what the Jordanians and Egyptians have done to the Palestinians, and what the Lebanese still do today, being apartheid towards the Palestinians.  Palestinians living in Israel are freer than in any other country in the Middle East, have the same rights as a Jew or Christian, are members of the Israeli Parliament, yet the Jewish state of Israel is blamed and persecuted.  Maybe this continuing persecution is what unites Jews in such a tight community.

I quote Steven Pinker, the Jewish Canadian academic, to maybe shed some light on the question in this blog "Jews are known for many things, but strength, swiftness, and agility are not among them. There is one trait, as controversial as it is familiar, for which Jews are above all known, and that is shrewdness in business.".  Maybe we are shrewd, we need to be to defend ourselves against persecution, however I know many a Jew who is far from shrewd in business and my step brother is a professional boxer.

This may seem a strange to quote this in this blog, but one Nazi leader said how easy it was to execute the Jews as they just accepted their fate and never defended themselves.  Obviously there were the Jewish partisans, like the Bielski's (my uncle even fought with them), however what this showed is that the Jews are not aggressive, which can also be shown as only 0.3% of the British prison population is Jewish (http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn04334.pdf).

To end this article, I will quote Edmund Wilson "The Jew lends himself easily to Communism because it enables him to devote himself to a high cause, involving all of humanity, characteristics which are natural to him as a Jew.".  This quote epitomizes empathy and nepotism within the Jewish community as we are forced to stick together due to persecution, defend ourselves with as little violence as possible (violence has very little positive effect), and this, with the embrace of education, I feel is the reason for our success.

Comments

  1. Shrewdness is currently an unidentified biological entity that enters living organisms. Its presence can be seen even among pets. One dog is always more cunning than their siblings. For unexplained reasons the Ashkenazim appears to be the shrewdest among sub races and is endowed with this mysterious biological entity. Superior intelligence alone cannot account for numerous Ashkenazim being on top of the wolf pack-----hi IQ geeks seldom hold jobs as CEOs of corporations. Until the essence of shrewdness is discovered we can but stand in awe at the amazing and shrewd Ashkenazim who are sometimes called Jews.

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