The Economic Theory of Anti-Semitism

Many people have claimed that Jews as a group possess far too much wealth and power.

We call this the Economic Theory of Anti-Semitism. It postulates that Jewish wealth and power arouses the envy of other groups, and this in turn leads to anti-Semitism.

This theory has surfaced in different guises throughout history. One of the ways it became popularized was through "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is a viciously anti-Semitic book. It is the second most widely published book in history.

The book is a complete fabrication, created by the Russian secret police. It is an alleged record of the minutes of a secret meeting held by Jewish leaders. These influential Jews, says the book, were plotting to take over the entire world.
This fictional account provided an excellent excuse for the Russians to intensify their campaign of oppression against the Jews. It also strongly influenced the masses and bolstered the credibility of the myth that Jews control governments.

If we use the Economic Theory to explain the phenomenon of anti-Semitism, then anti-Semitism becomes purely a class struggle: the poor versus the rich, the less fortunate versus those with unlimited financial and organizational backing.

How can we test this explanation?

First, consider universal attitudes towards the rich. Have anti-Semites persecuted wealthy non-Jews as well?

As soon as the persecution is in any way limited to Jews it is no longer based upon economics, because at no time in history were Jews the only wealthy people. As soon as the hater decides to single out wealthy Jews and ignore wealthy non-Jews, economics no longer can be the cause for his hatred.

Second, if we remove the element of wealth and power from the Jews, does the anti-Semitism vanish?

Case Study: The Warsaw Ghetto

The Jews who lived in the shtetels of Poland and Russia between the seventeenth and the twentieth centuries were poor and powerless, utterly lacking any form of influence whatsoever. Yet they were hated. Often they were persecuted and subjected to unspeakable torments. On many occasions entire villages were ransacked and their Jewish inhabitants massacred in cold blood. Under those circumstances, anti-Semitism did not distinguish between rich and poor, between strong and weak, between powerful and powerless.

Likewise, anti-Semites in the middle ages initiated countless pogroms against Jews without first investigating their bank accounts or investment portfolios.

When the Nazis liquidated the Warsaw Ghetto there were no Jewish businesses to destroy. In fact, the impoverished conditions under which the Jews there lived were appalling. The Jews in the ghetto could not have been thought of as "rich" by anyone’s standards, and yet the Nazis felt they had to be eliminated.

Poor Jews have always been hated just as rich Jews have been. When a Jew meets with financial success, it may set the anti-Semite’s teeth on edge, but the Jew’s success clearly is not what created the anti-Semite. Money therefore cannot be the cause of anti-Semitism.

How about power? Can it be the cause of anti-Semitism?

The Fugu Plan

If someone who is rich and powerful comes to you for a favor, you don’t persecute him – you help him. Having such a person indebted to you is a great insurance policy.

There was one nation that did treat the Jews as if they were powerful and rich. The Japanese never had much exposure toThe Fugu Plan Jews, and knew very little about them. In 1919 Japan fought alongside the anti-Semitic White Russians against the Communists. At that time the White Russians introduced the Japanese to the book, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

The Japanese studied the book and, according to all accounts, naively believed its propaganda. Their reaction was immediate and forceful -- they formulated a plan to encourage Jewish settlement and investment into Manchuria. People with such wealth and power as the Jews possess, the Japanese determined, are exactly the type of people with whom we want to do business!

The Japanese called their plan for Jewish settlement "The Fugu Plan." The "fugu" is a highly poisonous blowfish. After the toxin-containing organs are painstakingly removed, it is used as a food in Japan, and is considered an exquisite delicacy. If it is not prepared carefully, however, its poison can kill a person.

The Japanese saw the Jews as a nation with highly valuable potential, but, as with the fugu, in order to take advantage of that potential, they had to be extremely careful. Otherwise, the Japanese thought, the plan would backfire and the Jews would annihilate Japan with their awesome power. Meeting with the Japanese

The Japanese were allies of the Nazis, yet they allowed thousands of European refugees – including the entire Mirrer Yeshivah – to enter Shanghai and Kobe during World War II. They welcomed these Jews into their country, not because they bore any great love for the Jews, but because they believed that Jews had access to enormous resources and amazingly influential power which could greatly benefit Japan. This is all detailed in the book, " The Fugu Plan " by Marvin Tokayer.

If anti-Semites truly believe that Jews rule the world, why don’t they all relate to Jews like the Japanese did?

The fact that Jews are generally treated as outcasts proves that people do not really believe that Jews are anywhere near as wealthy or powerful as they claim. It proves that anti-Semites do not take their own propaganda seriously.

Whatever Happened to Jewish Power?

If there is any truth to the notion that Jews control governments, why couldn’t the Jews get even one country to accept the refugees who were struggling to escape the European inferno during the Holocaust?Voyage I If "World Jewry" is so powerful and wields such political influence, surely at least one government would have agreed to take them in as refugees and allowed them to stay until the end of the war...

The film "Voyage of the Damned" dramatically brings home the point that when government after government buries its head in the sand while the wholesale slaughter of Jews goes unchecked, the claim that Jews control governments rings hollow and becomes painfully absurd.


Is Black Gold Thicker Than Milk and Honey?

Those who speak of Jewish power as a world problem have never acted as if they really believed Jews had any power.

Anyone who really believes someone is rich and powerful treats that person All-powerful Jew to be fearedwith kid gloves. As a case in point, the Arab countries initially did not find favor in the eyes of the Twentieth-Century world at large. However, because the world needed Arab oil, the world appeased the Arabs. Think about it -- when is the last time the United Nations issued a proclamation condemning a member of OPEC other than Iraq?

If anyone really believes that the Jews are the possessors of tremendous power and wealth, why do they not treat Jews in accordance with this belief? They should treat Jews with at least as much respect as the Japanese once did...

Economic 'excuse' shot down

So money and power are not the cause of anti-Semitism. Jewish financial success may make an anti-Semite gnash his teeth, but that’s not what made him an anti-Semite in the first place. Poor Jews have been just as hated as rich Jews.

Obviously, the economic reason for anti-Semitism is really an excuse.

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