800 Million Rich Jews and the big joke of the Middle East

I was on a plane the other day and engaged in a fascinating conversation with a college-educated, African-American woman who works in real estate.

After a long conversation about Section 8 housing and discrimination, I shared that I felt Jews and African-Americans were natural allies in fighting oppression, since "when it comes to street cred in having been an oppressed or persecuted group, I would argue that Jews are at or near the top of the list."

She agreed and then remarked something along the lines of "but now there are so many of you and you control all the money."

"How many Jews do you think there are exactly?" I asked.

"Maybe 25%."

"Of the world population?"

"Yes."

"So, there are 7 billion people in the world...."

"Ok, maybe 1/8th."

"That's about 800 million people."

"Yes."

"Uh, well, ok. I would say that, on a good day if you are really stretching who you count, we're probably in the 14 million range."

"Really?"

"Yes. Now, as for the money part, I suppose it is probably true that, on average, Jews have more money than many other ethnic groups, but you know why I think that is?"

"Why?"

"I think it's a Darwinian survival response.

If there is one thing we have learned over millennia it's that we really can't count on other people to take care of us. When we do that, we are pretty damn vulnerable. 

So, since we can't go man-to-man in defending ourselves against our enemies, we have to figure out a way way to preserve ourselves.  That comes down to money and technology.

We don't have to earn extra money only because we want to-- sure, we like nice things and experiences like everyone else- we do it because we have to.

If we don't have the money, we can't pay for the things we need to defend ourselves and we can't give the money to the non-Jewish friends who actually do want to help us. There are plenty of those, but there are plenty of the non-Jewish enemies as well. The good guys need financing to help us, so we have to pay them.

And when it comes to technology, it's the same story.

Israel wouldn't be the technological powerhouse it is today were it not for the fact that they are outnumbered 1000 to 1. They have had no choice but to figure out a more effective way to defend themselves. Or they die. Talk about "necessity is the mother of invention."

You see, For Israel, a lost life is really expensive proportionally. For its enemies, it's really cheap.

The ironic thing is as my friend Anat says, 'if the Arabs just left us alone, we would probably just kill each other and do the job for them.'

So, you see, what Jews have learned the hard way is that, in order for us to increase our odds of survival, we have to be as smart as we can so we can effectively earn money to pay for our defense and invest in tools and technologies so we can compete with an disproportionate quantity of enemies. 

At a global level and I wouldn't say that it's something we discuss as a group, rather something that has become intuitively understood. It's why, I think, that Jews care so much about education and work ethic. Those are two pillars of financial success which is critical to our survival.

There is a saying in the Israeli Army "Ein Breirah" which means 'no choice.'  As in, 'we have to defend this territory because we really don't have an alternative.'

You see, we really don't have an alternative. If we can't have some degree of agency over our own defense and future, we're extremely vulnerable, something we know from a long history of being vulnerable and powerless.

The by product of this may be disproportionate wealth, power, and/or influence, but try to remember something. This isn't because we necessarily set out for this goal. It's because we really don't have a choice if we want to go on living as a people with a commitment to a set of values and beliefs."

"I've never heard that explanation before. Thank you for sharing it with me."