You can be forced into a role by society and use that position to leverage privilege. Just look at the Irish becoming cops in the US
Doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive 🤷🏽♂️
It wasn’t that they were forced to work as money lenders, it was that their religion did not prohibit it whereas Muslims and early Christians were not allowed to charge interest on loaned money.
I mean, Jews were legally barred from most professions in much of Europe. If you can’t be an artisan, a retainer, or a peasant farmer, not sure how many more viable options there are for making a Medieval living.
So, you ban a group of people from most professions. You exclusively allow them to work in another profession. And, it’s a group of people that share a religion, so they intermarry and attend religious services together.
It’s a real mystery why so many of them work in the same profession, isn’t it!
Incidentally, this also explains why there are so many jews in Hollywood. Being a populist entertainer (like vaudeville) was one of the careers you could pursue as a jew in the late 1800s / early 1900s. When radio and movies first started, there were no incumbents who could refuse to allow jews into the business. Hollywood itself existed because it was a way to try to get out of the range of people trying to enforce Thomas Edison’s patents. I’d imagine it wasn’t just Edison’s patents that they got away from, but all the existing power structures that kept jews out of jobs.
How many of you have the same job that your parents have?
Just arguing the logic of this meme.
How many of you have the same job that your parents have?
Yes, Mister Smith, can you imagine having the same job as your parents? Mrs. Baker and Mr. Clark come see this fool who thinks that jobs were passed down in families. Mr. Cooper, you’re not going to want to miss this either. Same with you Ms. Parker and Mr. Bailey. Mr. Chapman, Miss Hunter and Mr. Knight too, you won’t want to miss this.
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I’m not fuckin’ legally bound to a profession because of my ethnicity or religion.
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Grandfather was a factory worker. Mother was a factory worker. I’m a clerical worker.
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As anyone with a parent in a specialized trade can tell you, having connections and a ready educator is a huge advantage in getting into that trade.
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Banking requires capital. Guess what families tend to pass down?
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Family businesses, and professions, were MUCH more important in the pre-modern age.
Back then, pretty much everyone had. If your dad is a shit shoveler, then you’re also a shit shoveler. Cause unless you find someone else to let you be their apprentice, your parents are the only ones who are gonna pass on any knowledge of a trade. Plus, your dad already got the shovel and the cart, and that’s an investment!
I agree but what does not translate to modern days. This is my point actually
For the majority of history that’s been the norm. Only in more recent times, with the advent of widespread tertiary education people are more likely to choose their own path as opposed to going into the family business.
The moneyed class wanted a way to collect interest for their moneylending, but as “good Christians/Catholics” usury was Biblically forbidden. ‘Do good unto your brother in faith’ etc
Jews provided a convenient workaround for that restriction. And bigots spun that into a global conspiracy.
“Its not usury, if we call it interest because our God is a moron.”
Christians apparently.
All the Abrahamic religions have these hilarious workarounds, like just leaving your oven on all Sabbath to avoid using a machine