Keys to Jewish Success 유태인의 성공비결

A look at the historical experience of the Jews shows that while most Jews were mired in poverty at the beginning of the 20th century, over time they tended to do disproportionately well in societies that allowed them to complete on an equal basis. The fact that Jews were long a minority subject to discrimination is sometimes given as a reason for their tendency to devote themselves to commerce, finance and the professions. Yet not all minorities long subject to discrimination necessarily succeed under conditions of market competition.

 

There are a number of ways to account for Jews disproportionate achievement. For one thing, Jews had more experience with commerce than most other groups. The tacit knowledge of buying, selling and calculating that was passed on in families with ties to business helps explain why Jews tended to be better at it. Social networks also played an important role. Jews were spread across many countries, but to some extent shared a common language and a sense of common fate. So they were more aware of distant opportunities, had more international contacts and were disproportionately active in international trade. In addition Jews had a religious culture that promoted universal adult literacy and a culture that respected book learning. Those attitudes and dispositions were transferred from religious texts to secular forms of education. As a result, Jews were highly oriented toward education and willing to defer current pleasures and income to obtain more of it.

 

- be mired in~ : ~ 에 빠지다. 

cf. The country has been mired in its own economic crisis, marked by soaring inflation.

- disproportionately : 비율을 뛰어넘을 정도로 상당히

- on an ~ basis : ~ 한 빈도, ~ 한 상태

    cf. The system was introduced on a trial basis for one month.

- be subject to ~ : ~ 에 지배되어, 종속되어 / ~ 조건으로

    cf. It is not right for person funds to be subject to taxation.

- devote A to B : A를 B에 헌신하다.

    cf. I decided to devote myself to studying.

- account for ~ : ~ 을 설명하다 / ~ 에 대해 책임을 지다.

    cf. It doesn’t account for everything.

- pass A on : A를 건네주다.

    cf. Please pass this on to all your e-mail contact

- universal : 보편적인

- secular : 세속적인 <-> religious

- defer : 연기하다 미루다.