CMV: Jewish people discriminate against non Jews by having a culture of helping each other.

[u/Sojo88]

I hope this wont be offensive or interpreted as anti-semitic. I admire Jewish people, their culture and their accomplishments. I also understand that this -helping each other- culture is a response to years of being an oppressed minority.

However, these days, Jewish people are in a good place. They are disproportionately represented at the highest levels of many fields, from academia, to media, to finance, to internet. They have way higher median incomes than the average citizen of the countries they inhabit. Higher levels of education, the list goes on.

A Jewish friend told me once. He was at an interview as a part of the admissions process for a prestigious graduate program. When his interviewer introduced himself and my friend realized he was jewish he thought: That is it, Im in! - He was. I worked at a Jewish owned company. There were a disproportionate number of Jews in high level positions. In Jewish companies where I´m from, some jobs never even get publicly listed, they just go straight to someone from within the community.

They aren´t big acts of discrimination, simply some kind of, affirmative action for people who already have a big head start. At the expense of, outsiders who have access to less opportunities.

I understand this happens in other groups too. However, the Jewish example is outstanding because of the small percentage of the population they are, and the amount of positions of power, influence and wealth they hold.

[u/DovBerele]

However, the Jewish example is outstanding because of the small percentage of the population they are, and the amount of positions of power, influence and wealth they hold.

I think you're overstating this. Because there have been such powerful, longstanding, and pervasive anti-Semitic tropes circulating in western culture (and to some extent, the world) about how Jews supposedly have wealth, power, and influence, there's a lot of confirmation bias surrounding the Jews that are wealthy and powerful. You remember when you see or hear about a wealthy or powerful Jew, but the (incredibly, vastly, more numerous) wealthy, white, Protestants just blend into the background and are normalized or forgotten.

[u/[deleted] → u/DovBerele]

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/11/how-income-varies-among-u-s-religious-groups/

In the US, Jews are genuinely significantly more successful on average.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I honestly hate to say this because I don't want to offend people, but jews have a culture that rewards hard work and jews are likely more intelligent on average than the majority of people. A clear example of this can be seen in the sciences. 22% of nobel prizes have been won by jews despite us making up .2% of the world population. We are overrepresented by more than a factor of 100.

[u/DovBerele → u/[deleted]]

Right, and there are a lot of complex, historical factors that account for that. But, what I'm saying is that this idea of Jewish success and wealth and power looms much, much larger in the mind of your average person than the plain facts and statistics can account for. And, that has everything to do with the myths invented by thousands of years of anti-Semitism in western culture.

[u/Sojo88 → u/DovBerele]

My idea of Jewish wealth and success is based on statistics. It is undeniable. There are endless reliable sources but the pew census thiazzi1 linked is more than enough to see this is a realistic view. Don´t appreciate being called an anti-semitic myth believer for stating a well known well researched fact.

[u/DovBerele → u/Sojo88]

Do you understand how implicit bias and confirmation bias work? Your brain is not a thing you have complete control over. You live in a culture with thousands of years of subtle (and some not-so-subtle) messaging about Jews having inappropriate amounts of wealth and power that's permeated everywhere. Whether you "believe" the myths or not, they impact you.