What does a BIDEN Presidency look like?

[Razgovory]

We must be aware of anti semitic tropes, even when Jews are not explicitly mentioned.  Now more than ever.  The least few years have shown they have a nasty habit of worming their way into our culture. 

[crazy canuck]

BB you were making a joke based on a hateful anti-sematic stereotype.    We all accept it was not deep political commentary.

[grumbler]

Beeb, I got it:  you were mocking the silly conspiracy talk by invoking another silly conspiracy.  Alas, I wasn't so desperate to be offended that I saw your joke as offensive.  You will have to look further than me to find your virtue signalers.

[crazy canuck]

Oh wonderful, anti-Semitic jokes are now a ok so long as they are made for a purpose Grumbler agrees with.

Its like 1920s America all over again.

[Barrister]

If making jokes that use and abuse ethnic stereotypes are now frowned upon on Languish, then this is not the forum I once knew.

[Grey Fox]

I think it was a fine joke.

[The Brain]

I like how some people that are upset have no qualms about using a forum that has that smiley in the first place.

[Razgovory]

What I saw was BB warning Tyr about the nature of his statements.

[The Brain]

What I saw was BB warning Tyr about the nature of his statements.

Indeed. And while I doubt that Tyr is anti-Semitic, his complete blind spot that makes anything OK as long as the Left does it makes him for instance pooh-pooh anti-Semitism in Labour.

[Zoupa]

I think it was a fine joke.

Same. Can we relax please. The smiley itself is made tongue in cheek.

[Jacob]

To those of you sharing Beeb's point of view, is it okay to say that billionaires as a class wield too much political influence, or is that "anti-semitic" by itself? Or is it that the word "elite" is inappropriate by itself to use when talking about the very rich due to it being used in some dogwhistle constructions?

[Sheilbh]

To those of you sharing Beeb's point of view, is it okay to say that billionaires as a class wield too much political influence, or is that "anti-semitic" by itself? Or is it that the word "elite" is inappropriate by itself to use when talking about the very rich due to it being used in some dogwhistle constructions?

I think it's the phrase "pulling the strings of the global economy" that would be a bit dogwhistley/socialism of fools for me. It also strikes me as something you could see being used in a dog-whistley way in a right-wing anti-semitic account of the problems with "globalism".

[Zoupa]

To those of you sharing Beeb's point of view, is it okay to say that billionaires as a class wield too much political influence,

Sure

or is that "anti-semitic" by itself?

No.

Or is it that the word "elite" is inappropriate by itself to use when talking about the very rich due to it being used in some dogwhistle constructions?

I don't think so. This is my 2 cents only of course, and it's a snapshot in time of what I think ppl mean when they say elite. I don't believe the word has been "corrupted" (yet. Many serious publications use it properly, which to me is a sign that it's not a dog-whistle.

[Jacob]

If making jokes that use and abuse ethnic stereotypes are now frowned upon on Languish, then this is not the forum I once knew.

Two things:

1) I'm glad to see that you accept that you're the one making the joke that uses and abuses ethnic stereotypes.

2) Using jokes to shut down discourse you disagree with is a well established rhetorical strategy that we all use here on languish (in fact, it's probably the primary rhetorical strategy), and which is widely used to real effect on the political stage. In this case, you used a joke that used and abused Jews (aka anti-semitism) to shut down Tyr's argument that as a class billionaires have too much influence.

I mean, it's languish and it's not the biggest deal in the world, and we all know neither you nor Tyr are anti-semitic, and it's just a joke so it doesn't really matter except as the usual grist for the languish kvetching-mill.

But the point remains, IMO, that billionaires having too much influence is a valid critique to make and one that does not have any anti-semitic elements to it unless someone inserts them. And you were the one who inserted them.

[grumbler]

I'm astonished that Jacob, one of the longtime members here and a former mod, is unaware of the joke smilies that "[use] and [abuse] ethnic stereotypes," like  and  and  and  and  and 

You have to be really sensitive to think that these are seriously meant as slurs, and you have to be really oblivious to not have noticed them, all these years (or, if you've noticed them, not complained about their existence and use).

I'd also question the perspicuity of someone who doesn't recognize the provenance of statements such as

Regular multi billionaires who pull the strings of the global economy....you don't really hear about them because they aren't publically rubbing shoulders with celebs and aren't so overt with their political connections.
They're the true elites.

Secret elites "who pull the strings of the global economy" should sound v ery familiar to anyone with a knowledge of history, and the sentiment itself should be instantly dismissed give the media prominence of so many of the actual multi billionaires who pull the strings of the world economy, like Musk, Gates, Bezos,  Ma, Buffet, etc (yes, there are a few politically powerful multi-billionaires that shun the spotlight, but they are a definite minority, I think).