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Jewish problems

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Re: Jewish problems

#61

Post by mturmon »

natasham25 wrote: post #31

Yep, that is why my family moved to the US from Russia. My mom wanted to be a doctor, but wasn't accepted to medical school even though she got straight As and was completely qualified. They just said they can't accept her because she's Jewish, and there is nothing she could do about it. I'm really glad I got to grow up here in America.

Here's a nice article about Grigori Perelman, Fields medal winner, solver of the Poincare conjecture, and mathematical genius/recluse.

Perelman came up in the Soviet system in the 1980s, when the discriminatory practice you mention was in force:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/apr/29/he-conq...

Relevant quote:

"For a Jewish boy [sic] gifted in mathematics to be admitted to a university, there were three possibilities: hope you were one of the two Jews accepted at Leningrad University every year; go somewhere with less draconian admission policies; or make it onto the Soviet team for the International Mathematical Olympiad, which guaranteed admission to Leningrad University. Perelman decided to try out for the team."

Re: Jewish problems

#62

Post by tlogan »

cheez wrote: post #21

Can someone please explain to me what the hell is the problem people have with Jews? The only thing I can tell is maybe they're disproportionately financially successful? I guess that's a problem...

I don't think the discrimination is reserved for Jewish population.

That is unfortunate story of our crazy world. Pick up any country in the world and you can find a story very similar to Jewish story... For example, Armenins in Turkey in 1915-16 (and latter on). Or Albanians in Serbia. Romas (Gypsies) in Nazi Germany. Palestinians in Israel. Tutsis in Rwanda. Etc. etc.

We just need to always fight against things like this.

Re: Jewish problems

#63

Post by ellyagg »

Alex3917 wrote: post #13

Whereas in the US the reason that colleges use essay questions is because jews score too highly on the SATs. We can thank Harvard for this, as usual. Gladwell has an essay about this here: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/10/10/051010crat_atlar... I forget what Gladwell is copying from, but I know that there is an earlier article that goes into even more detail.

Jews had a hard time getting into some Ivy league schools for a stretch, but not colleges in the US in general, c.f. elsewhere on this page.

What is it with you anyway? I found your comment earlier today about "the US does it too!" re the Dalai Lama almost odd enough to comment on but this is the second comment in a row where you found an angle to bash the US. Do you think every negative comment about a country is a secret thumbs up to the US? And you just can't be having that?

Re: Jewish problems

#66

Post by goo »

mdasen wrote: post #46
cheez wrote: post #21

Can someone please explain to me what the hell is the problem people have with Jews? The only thing I can tell is maybe they're disproportionately financially successful? I guess that's a problem...

Answering as someone Jewish. . . Jews don't assimilate (fully). In the Passover story, one of the things we note is that even living in Egypt for a long time, they didn't assimilate and they were disliked for it. Heck, how often do you hear people talking about other immigrants "not assimilating these days". For centuries, Jews even spoke a language other than the vernacular. We're a much more tolerant world today an…

Thank you for that deeply insightful comment -- growing up surrounded by a very Jew-positive culture, I never properly understood why Jews had been oppressed in a modern context in the first place.

Re: Jewish problems

#67

Post by mkopinsky »

adrianwaj wrote: post #58
pavpanchekha wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha, you think it was that easy to emigrate from the USSR, especially for Jewish men and women? There's a reason people didn't, and it isn't because everyone thought they were better off staying.

I would've made it out. That's what I believe.

You are an arrogant prick who has no clue what it means to be thrown in jail for requesting a visa. Yes, people did get out. But the flippancy with which you say, essentially, "I would have been better than all those other people who didn't make it out or were jailed for daring to ask" is troubling.

Re: Jewish problems

#68

Post by edanm »

TheDroids wrote: post #59
tkahn6 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that Zionism has only existed as a coherent and codified ideology since 1896 and AIPAC has only existed since 1963. In fact Herzl published Der Judenstaat as a response to what he witnessed covering the Dreyfus Affair as a journalist.

Except, er, so since AIPAC has only be around since 1963 and the concept of Zionism over 100 years, that couldn't possibly be a reason why people have a problem with Jews? shrugs

I think the point being made is that antisemitism has been around for thousands of years, and the groups you're talking about have been around for 100. So they don't explain anti-semitism.

Re: Jewish problems

#69

Post by [deleted] »

goo wrote: post #66
mdasen wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Answering as someone Jewish. . . Jews don't assimilate (fully). In the Passover story, one of the things we note is that even living in Egypt for a long time, they didn't assimilate and they were disliked for it. Heck, how often do you hear people talking about other immigrants "not assimilating these days". For centuries, Jews even spoke a language other than the vernacular. We're a much more tolerant world today an…

Thank you for that deeply insightful comment -- growing up surrounded by a very Jew-positive culture, I never properly understood why Jews had been oppressed in a modern context in the first place.

[deleted]

Re: Jewish problems

#70

Post by sliverstorm »

alecbenzer wrote: post #35
cheez wrote: post #21

Can someone please explain to me what the hell is the problem people have with Jews? The only thing I can tell is maybe they're disproportionately financially successful? I guess that's a problem...

I've also always wondered why a specific group has been so apparently consistently persecuted against for so long. It seems like it's been too long of a time period for the hate to simply have been passed on from generation to generation.

The reason they have been persecuted for so long is because they have survived for so long. Most heavily persecuted groups don't last long.
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