Evraim wrote:I shall open this discussion by postulating a general theory explaining the Jewish dominance of various sectors of Western societies. According to a significant portion of Anti-Semites, Jews and people of Jewish heritage occupy the upper echelons of the social ladder in disproportionate numbers. These assertions are substantiated by data. For example, Jews and people of Jewish heritage constitute more than twenty percent of the undergraduate population at top schools in the United States. Furthermore, a disproportionate number of Nobel Prize recipients have been Jews or people of Jewish heritage.
This, however, begs the question: why are Jews performing so well within the current intellectual and cultural paradigms of Western societies? As Dr. Gelman establishes, discrimination against non-Jewish whites and other groups cannot explain these disparities. What then are we to make of arguments rooted in the uniqueness of Jewish culture? Are Jews more likely to contemplate the existential questions of life? Are Jews, as a culture, more predisposed towards feats of intellectual and academic brilliance than other groups?
We can observe from the data that Asian Americans are at least equally represented when compared to Jewish Americans in universities. However, Jewish Americans tend to secure more Nobel Prizes and occupy more offices in government than their Asian American counterparts. For example, 1.25% of representatives claim Asian heritage, while 6.20% of representatives identify as Jewish. While the demographics of electoral districts may explain this difference in representation, Jews also appear to be over-represented in other areas. For example, despite the fact that Asia holds more than two-thirds of the world's population, Jews still outpace Asians with regards to Nobel Prize recipients.
One perplexing aspect of the discourse on Jewish representation in Western societies and throughout the world is the emphasis placed on the unique characteristics of Jewish identity and culture as opposed to the values of these societies. Sociologists have longed theorized that the structure and mores of a civilization determine the hierarchies that emerge, and, as a logical consequence, the populations that comprise the elites. Why then have Western societies in particular elevated Jews to such a high status? What differentiates Jews from non-Jews?
Sigmund Freud hypothesized about the nascent connection between infantile experience and sexuality, predominantly focusing on the relationship between offspring and parents. Essentially, his argument was that early experiences shape the manner in which an individual conducts him or herself later in life. While Freud's theory was rooted in human sexuality, his successors have extrapolated his theories in a less stringent manner, founding the field of developmental psychology. One of Freud's disciplines, Karl Jung, applied the basics of Freudian psychology to the interpretation and study of dreams, symbols, and archetypes.
By combining these disparate psychological and sociological fields of study, we may arrive at a novel, though often reiterated hypothesis, that early cultural experiences leave an enduring mark on the collective psyche of a people. One speculative example of this phenomenon may be found in the flood myth, which is common to a multitude of divergent cultures, and is possibly rooted in the primordial experiences of the human species. Jews have themselves become archetypes and symbols within the wider Western cultural paradigm, being represented in such figures as the Wandering Jew. However, I shall contend that these archetypes have become antiquated and have been subsumed by more ancient and powerful archetypes, altering the dialectic which exists between the Jew and the Gentile.
In order to pursue this objective, it is necessary to first establish that beards serve as symbols of prestige and achievement throughout the world. This perception of beards and the elevation of bearded men is seen in many ancient civilizations, including the Egyptian culture. The Torah expressly mandates a prohibition against the shaving of one's beard. In both cases, powerful figures, such as kings and deities, are shown wearing impressive beards, giving facial hair a divine connotation. This obsession with the divinity of facial hair was prominent in several other Middle Eastern civilizations, as well as elsewhere.
There are, however, notable exceptions to this phenomena, especially on the European continent. The Greeks and the Romans both viewed facial hair as feminine and contemptible. To understand these attitudes, it is obligatory to comprehend the significance of facial hair within the Greco-Roman sexual and social paradigm. Facial hair has consistently been associated with masculinity, and, in the case of young men, the advent of adulthood. Both of these classical civilizations entertained a fascination with issues of gender and power.
Their love of the masculine may be seen as manifest in the practice of pederasty, or the development of an affectionate, educational, and sexual relationship between an adolescent and an older man. These relationships could often be abusive and damaging to the psyches of young men involved in them, as seen in the archetype of the young boy subjugated by the glorious conqueror, epitomized by Troilus and Achilles. Thus, the initial respect and prestige associated with facial hair became dread and contempt, as young men rebelled against their masculinity, abandoning the divine symbol of the omnipotent father figure in favor of bland conformity and eternal boyhood.
Despite this, later civilizations preserved the nascent respect for divine facial hair, resulting in a gradual elimination of the cultural apparatus of sexual repression. Most civilizations continue to view the beard as a symbol of virility, wisdom, and affluence. In fact, many medieval and renaissance paintings depict Jesus, the perfect embodiment of man, and his divine father with abundant facial hair. These depictions have remained more or less constant even as Westerners have begun to abandon facial hair in the name of professionalism. This is one of the most profound impacts of Capitalism, an economic system which demands constant childlike consumption.
Nonetheless, one prominent ethnic group has managed to preserve its cultural attachment to facial hair far longer than other groups: the Jews. This has been a source of much elation and much consternation for the Jew, who receives both the respect of the Gentile and his hatred. He represents the archetypal father, a figure of immense wisdom and inexhaustible libido. If our objective is to understand the phenomenon of Antisemitism and the success of the Jew, Freud offers the most practical insight.
The beard is a phallic symbol. Its perseverance among Jews has created an enduring impression on the psyche of both Gentiles and Jews, even with its gradual abandonment among both groups. This has resulted in the elevation of the Jew to the role of the archetypal father, and the subordination of the Gentile in the role of the archetypal son. The son yearns to gain access to the archetypal mother, representing wealth and worldly success, but this is impossible so long as the father remains alive. As such, the oedipal complex of the son states that he must murder the father to marry the mother. This is the root of Antisemitism.
In the same instant, the son has admiration for the father because he is capable of such grandiose feats as seem impossible to the son. His status as divine father represents a self-fulfilling prophesy, wherein the Jew is afforded more respect and status by virtue of his facial hair, whether actual or ingrained in the psyche of his cohorts. In this sense, it is possible to argue that the Jew is the master race. There you have it. The root of the Jewish experience is penis envy.
Well Ev, I liked it all until right about here...but this is probably due to my disagreement with Freudian Psychology....
The beard is a phallic symbol. Its perseverance among Jews has created an enduring impression on the psyche of both Gentiles and Jews, even with its gradual abandonment among both groups. This has resulted in the elevation of the Jew to the role of the archetypal father, and the subordination of the Gentile in the role of the archetypal son. The son yearns to gain access to the archetypal mother, representing wealth and worldly success, but this is impossible so long as the father remains alive. As such, the oedipal complex of the son states that he must murder the father to marry the mother. This is the root of Antisemitism.
In the same instant, the son has admiration for the father because he is capable of such grandiose feats as seem impossible to the son. His status as divine father represents a self-fulfilling prophesy, wherein the Jew is afforded more respect and status by virtue of his facial hair, whether actual or ingrained in the psyche of his cohorts. In this sense, it is possible to argue that the Jew is the master race. There you have it. The root of the Jewish experience is penis envy.
