A provocation, or the return of the 'socialism of fools' ?

The pile-on and me-tooism of middle class left politics on Facebook is a concentrated expression of the milieu's politics more generally.  The fact that so many of these radicals keep recirculating unexamined and unthought endorsements of questionable lines on class society also comes as no surprise.

A Facebook group called Occupy Canada recently posted this picture:

Having just finished Karl Kautsky's Foundations of Christianity, the use of the image and the analogy provoked this comment at their site:

I don't think "Jewish moneychangers" are a good analogy to the capitalist ruling class of the United States. It feeds into stereotypes about Jews as rich parasites, a frequent trope of anti-Semitism throughout the history of capitalism.

Anyone confused about the class struggle in Jesus' lifetime should read Kautsky's "The Foundations of Christianity"
http://www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1908/christ/ch12.htm

Kautsky writes:

"Of course this is just tall talk [chasing the money-changers out of the temple] on the part of the evangelists. If Jesus had ever had such power, it would not have gone unnoticed. An author like Josephus, who recounts the most insignificant details, would have had to mention it. Moreover, the proletarian elements in Jerusalem, like the Zealots, were never strong enough to rule the city uncontested. They kept meeting with resistance. If Jesus intended to enter Jerusalem in opposition to the Sadducees and the Pharisees, and clean out the temple, he would first have to win in a street battle. Street fighting among the various factions in Judaism were every day occurrences in Jerusalem at that time."

Let's leave divisive topics like Mel Gibson's version of the Gospels out of our politics today. 

Whether Occupy Canada really thinks this is a useful popularization as an image, or it is a snare for the unwary to "Like," best to take it down.

Jay
20120409