Anti-semitic, anti-immigrant

[Michael Perelman]

I suspect that more than pure hysteria and even more than the force of
propaganda contributes to the rise of your irrationality.  In the case of
antisemitism, the Jewish person combined an element of strangeness with the
hard face of capitalism.  For example, in the South Jewish people commonly
ran the general store, which was a major source of credit.  Interest was
high and no doubt seemed unfair.  The Jew, in effect, put a face on
capitalism.  Since the Jew represented the capitalism that people saw in
their everyday life, it did not take much of a stretch to identify them with
the highest levels of capitalism.  The existence of some prominent Jewish
bankers made that perspective easier, especially because the Jewish bankers
tended to give their own name to their business.  Except for Morgan, the
typical non-Jewish banker would use a nonpersonal name, such as the First
Bank of Whatever.

It was easier, I suspect, to identify the source of one's fears with the
strangeness of the Jewish conspiracy rather than realizing that very similar
people, except for their class position, were pulling far more strings than
the Jewish banker.
--

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901