Jewish Goblins?

[junediamanti]

No: HPFGUIDX 81909

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "zesca" <nansense at c...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "darrin_burnett" 
<bard7696 at a...> 
> wrote:
> > It doesn't strike me that the Goblins are meant to parallel the 
Jews.
> > 
> > Rather, I think they parallel the idea of a Swiss banker, and I 
use 
> > canon to back me up.
> ...
>> 
> madeye:
> Hey, Darrin, i like your comparison to the Swiss bankers.
> 
> What about the idea that the comparison to the status of Jewish 
usurers exists 
> in two ways:
> ::a population that is discrimated against, for whom there exist a 
different set 
> of rules 
> ::the Goblins, like the medieval Jews, are the only ones who manage 
the 
> finances 
> while the Swiss system provides a banking option, there are other 
banking 
> institutions to choose from. can the same be said in the banking 
world?
> in Medieval France the Jews were the only ones practising usury 
because it 
> was seen by the Christians to be inherently base and unclean.
> 
> ciao, 
> madeyemood who's curious about the meaning of schien froi which 
sounds 
> suspiciously like schaudenfreude or whatever that German word is 
which 
> means taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others.

Actually, in mediaeval France, florentine bankers were a major force 
until expelled by Philip IV - who also attacked the order of the 
Knights Templars.  

Historical parallel is the ancient classical system of Permutatio - 
this meant that money could be transferred by letters of credit - all 
your wealth represented on a piece of paper.  This was why state 
confiscation of assets very rarely worked in Rome because this system 
enabled money to be the most portable of assets.  A similar system is 
current among the Islamic world today and is a reason why it has been 
virtually impossible to sieze any of the assets of Al Quaeda.  

June