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Comment by thinkcontext | Hacker News Reader

> usurers

In case anyone missed it, this is an anti-Semitic slur.

That seems like a very uncharitable interpretation, I went through many pages of google results for that term and couldn't find anything in regards to anti-Semitic connotations.

Perhaps we should assume that friendly_chap is telling the truth when he says he's referring to the bankers, and not the jews?

Yes... and maybe discussions shouldn't be immediately disrupted and censored as soon as someone accuses another as being anti-semite.

I don't know how on here to read a flagged comment, so I don't know the context in which this was used, but I thought "usury" was a quite common term. There are usury laws in states against high-interest loans. I think we should be mindful against creating slurs where they don't exists, as the word itself is just a word that refers to something very real. Again, I don't know how to see the context.

>I don't know how on here to read a flagged comment

Go to https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cabaalis and turn "showdead" to "yes".

While you're not missing much, the context doesn't seem very damning.

I cannot imagine why you would get downvoted for what you said. Seems some politically motivated down-vote fest going on now. Did not expect things to be this ugly on HN. I am upvoting your's to compensate and flagging mine, with the hope of drawing Dang's attention.

Edit: Apparently I cannot flag mine.

Why don't you just flag the anti-semitism?

To be honest that was way too confusing for me to figure out. I am quite a few continents away. As I said, I don't have much of the cultural context.

Apparently 'usury' is anti-Semitic and this was the first time I have heard such a claim. Something tells me that I should not bother finding out why it is or isn't.

It's not just use of the word "usury". It's the combination of the money lenders theme (or they run the banking system) with they run the media and they're taking over the world.

The usury slur is literally centuries old. It originated from the time when Christians were forbidden from charging interest. Over time it morphed into the stereotype that Jews are greedy and money grubbing. You probably have noticed the upswing in anti-Semitic sentiment related to the rise of Trump, take Charlottesville with the torch lit March with chants of "Jews will not replace us". Things are a good deal worse in Europe, it EAS exceedingly clear what the poster was referring to.

I don't have the cultural context, so help me grasp why would this word be anti-Semitic, as far as I know it has a perfectly legit meaning.

It is not, but I appreciate your self confidence. I guess I'm secretly a self hating jew.

You are not Jewish

Many of my ancestors are. Though not in terms of religion. I do not follow any religion apart from Buddhism which I don't consider a religion.

Where does he say anything against Jewish people? Claiming his comment is anti-semetic is anti-semtic.

Why did he get flagged? He didn't say anything worth being flagged over. He said that people in the US are in debt, and then this person assumed that he meant to Jewish people and called him anti-semetic, and then his comment was immediately censored.

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