Jewish predatory capitalism…
… is one of those terms that, once dropped into an otherwise perfectly regular conversation, can really put a damper on your afternoon.
A friend of mine invited me over for dinner and a cuddle last Sunday. His talkative temporary lodger spent some time with us at the kitchen table, and quickly engaged us in a discussion about the sense and nonsense of political activism. When suddenly the lodger dropped the aforementioned J-bomb* to describe America’s economic policies.
I should explain that I suffer from a slight case of Harmoniesucht**, meaning I have a disproportionate desire for me and others to get along. It is not always a particularly healthy disposition, as I regularly find myself still awake at midnight, thinking about all the awfully clever and soul-destroying retorts I should have dealt out.
Now this disposition came into conflict with a hypersensitivity to possibly antisemitic remarks, inculcated in me by German post-war school education, and I found it hard to react appropriately. I did seriously consider to pass over this, mostly for the sake of my friend and host, because I knew the way this would inevitably go down if I did not. I ignore stupid crap all the time just for the sake of peace. There simply is no point in picking a fight with every stranger who casually poops out an idea you think is stupid. It will not change anyone’s mind, nor will it improve the current state of affairs.
However, before my train of thoughts had properly come to a scheduled halt, I already heard myself saying, “Excuse me… what kind of predatory capitalism?”
From that point, the conversation took all the expected turns for the worse:
Just imagine the fun atmosphere during dinner. Well done, Tim. One super party conversationalist you would be.
My friend did not interfere at all in the dispute, and managed to change the topic before he and I withdrew to his room. I did apologize to him. Not for what I had said, but for blitzing the mood. He told me not to worry. "It can't hurt him to realize that not everybody agrees with him."
It turns out that my friend has had serious clashes with his lodger as well, albeit about less weighty topics. Which is why they still talk, I guess.
Insert crafty punch line here, for the pretense of closure.***
* original: jüdischer Raubtierkapitalismus.
** Harmonie.sucht [hamo’ni:zuxt], German compound noun. Semantic gloss: harmony.addiction.
*** half-arsed line. I wish I could write like mamoosh .
A friend of mine invited me over for dinner and a cuddle last Sunday. His talkative temporary lodger spent some time with us at the kitchen table, and quickly engaged us in a discussion about the sense and nonsense of political activism. When suddenly the lodger dropped the aforementioned J-bomb* to describe America’s economic policies.
I should explain that I suffer from a slight case of Harmoniesucht**, meaning I have a disproportionate desire for me and others to get along. It is not always a particularly healthy disposition, as I regularly find myself still awake at midnight, thinking about all the awfully clever and soul-destroying retorts I should have dealt out.
Now this disposition came into conflict with a hypersensitivity to possibly antisemitic remarks, inculcated in me by German post-war school education, and I found it hard to react appropriately. I did seriously consider to pass over this, mostly for the sake of my friend and host, because I knew the way this would inevitably go down if I did not. I ignore stupid crap all the time just for the sake of peace. There simply is no point in picking a fight with every stranger who casually poops out an idea you think is stupid. It will not change anyone’s mind, nor will it improve the current state of affairs.
However, before my train of thoughts had properly come to a scheduled halt, I already heard myself saying, “Excuse me… what kind of predatory capitalism?”
From that point, the conversation took all the expected turns for the worse:
- The dubious disclaimer “I have nothing against their religion as such”, directly followed by
- The age-old conflation of antisemitic stereotypes with the excesses of hypercapitalism, in the form of : “Most of the men in the control centres of finance are Jews!”;
- The fallacy that education exempts one from error: “I have a background in philosophy!”
- The pose of the misunderstood freethinker, for I was clearly trying to put words into his mouth to make him seem a right-winger.
Just imagine the fun atmosphere during dinner. Well done, Tim. One super party conversationalist you would be.
My friend did not interfere at all in the dispute, and managed to change the topic before he and I withdrew to his room. I did apologize to him. Not for what I had said, but for blitzing the mood. He told me not to worry. "It can't hurt him to realize that not everybody agrees with him."
It turns out that my friend has had serious clashes with his lodger as well, albeit about less weighty topics. Which is why they still talk, I guess.
Insert crafty punch line here, for the pretense of closure.***
* original: jüdischer Raubtierkapitalismus.
** Harmonie.sucht [hamo’ni:zuxt], German compound noun. Semantic gloss: harmony.addiction.
*** half-arsed line. I wish I could write like mamoosh .