Sounds like it could be Borat’s first novel. Though in China, something like this on the cover of a book is not meant as a joke. Instead, it’s meant to grab the attention of Chinese book buyers who are actually interested in making money. The Jewish way. The Washington Post, in a story Wednesday, uncovered many real-life how-to business books with English titles that would make most Jews scream “Oy gevalt!” Books such as “The Legend of Jewish Wealth” and “Jewish People in Business: The Bible of How to Live Their Lives” are shelved with all the other normal business-related books. My favorite title that the Post found was a book called, “The Eight Most Valuable Business Secrets of the Jewish.” I wonder if “convince China that you have eight really valuable business secrets” was one of them. There are around 50 distinct “Jewish” business titles floating around Shanghai bookstores. In today’s China, where the Chinese are racing to get ahead, capitalist self-help books are a big industry. And according to the Post, the ones with Jewish this or Jewish that in the title are incredibly popular. The dangerous element to these books, however, is that these books are all the Chinese have to learn about Jewish culture. In a country of over a billion people, there are only 10,000 Jews. And while these books are normally chock-full of ridiculous stereotypes like “Jews don’t break their promises” and “Jews show up places on time,” mostly all of the stereotypes are actually quite complimentary. The Post highlights the cover of January’s Shanghai and Hong Kong Economy Magazine which read, “Where does Jewish people’s wisdom come from?” Moses? While I suppose one could look at these books as propagating harmful stereotypes, the truth of it is the Chinese are somewhat in awe of Jewish culture and the two groups are historically very close. And not just in Manhattan’s Chinese restaurants. In Shanghai, for instance, Jews built up pretty much the entire riverfront, or the Bund, in the early 20th century. And when World War II broke out, the Chinese were instrumental in saving and protecting many of Shanghai’s Jewish community, which numbered 30,000 at its peak. So while I understand it’s the American’s reflex to get all bent out of shape about books such as these that classify Jews as successful and smart and hardworking, I think any group would just be proud to be associated with these attributes. And when I read about the Chinese buying up books that talk about Jewish business sense, I can’t help but think that maybe there are some stereotypes that aren’t half bad. It’s really nothing to kvetch about.
•Washington Post: Sold on a Stereotype
I realise that this post is pretty ancient, so my comment is well after fact, but it really is something to kvetch about.
These books propogate the stereotype that Jews are all rich (which leads to envy and resentment), and “wisdom” is easily translated to “cunning”, a much less positive term. The stereotype that Jews have money and are smart leads to the surprisingly common misconception that Jews somehow run the world, or have some kind of conspiracy going to run the world in the future (see “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, a now-debunked book still taken by many to be the truth, which claims that the goal of the Jews is world domination through control of the media, banks, and the entertainment industry, among other things).
I hope you can see now that even a positive stereotype is not at all positive. Please be more careful in the future.
I understand that the comments about Jews may be interpreted positively or negative. Personally, if I was a Jew, I’d like the fact that was stereotyped as successfull, hardworking and smart. “We” do not need to be carefull! You cannot stop people from commenting their opinions about yrself, your race, religion, etc.. everyone has their right to their opinions, you just have to decide how YOU deal with it and how it will affect you. Its a question of atitude. Like I said, I’m not Jewish, but I do mostly appreciate the Jewish successfulness I notice in many of them.
It’s so pathetic that there really are people out there that believe that although Jews make up such a small percent of the population they control the world.
A repellent roll of déjà vu brushed all over me as I observed “Echelon Conspiracy,” which tells the history of a secret, prestigious government organization utilising a cell phone to command an clueless young man. Was this not the plot of last fall’s “Eagle Eye”? Maybe it’s a depressing sign of the times that authors Kevin Elders and Michael Nitsberg and director Greg Marcks ripped off a film that wasn’t all that good to begin with. Both films are every bit foolish, but “Echelon Conspiracy” has the added distinction of being a rehash, and not a really solid 1 at that. This is one of those rare examples where it’s obvious that the actors don’t care that much about what they’re making.