Money has been on my mind. For one, the Jewish Museum in London is going to open a new exhibit mid-March, called Jews, Money, Myth. From the catalogue: ….it examines the origins of some of the longest running and deeply entrenched antisemitic stereotypes: the theological roots of the association of Jews with money; the myths and reality of the medieval Jewish moneylender; and the place of Jews – real and imagined – in commerce, capitalism and finance up to the present day. 

The exhibit will feature international art works, including Rembrandt’s Judas returning the 30 Pieces of Silver, manuscripts, board games, cartoons and whatever cultural objects and commissioned videos you can think of that reflect on the theme. Will it enlighten those who hold deep beliefs about Jewish money secretly running the world? Will it harden the attitude of those who feel victimized by the stereotypes? Will it speak to the fears of those who think highlighting the topic will only strengthen anti-Semitic thinking? We should revisit this in the summer….

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/31/london-jewish-museum-to-explore-tropes-about-money

Just as the stereotype persists that Jews have too much money or use it for nefarious purposes, so does our ignorance about he consequences of the lack of money. This could not have been more clear than when I realized, with shock, what is happening in Florida right now. Here we were all celebrating the restoration of voting rights to convicted felons, miraculously voted in during the midterm elections.

Never mind that certain felons were permanently barred from the return to civic rights – those convicted for murder or sexual offenses. And that 400.000 are on parole or probation, which also excludes them. It still leaves about 1.1 million people who could theoretically register to vote.

As the ACLU chapter of Florida reports, registration requires that your sentence is completed. That, in turn, involves paying off all the fees and fines accrued during the judicial process. They estimate that 560.000 or so of the ex felons have fines that they are not able to pay off, simply because they are too poor. The idea that you can reenter society after having payed for your crime in prison is clearly attenuated by the requirement that you pay for your imprisonment. What a travesty.

And one, by the way, by no means restricted to Florida: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/opinion/election-voting-rights-poverty.html

At least we now have initiatives that combat the lack of money at the beginning of the criminal proceedings: The Bail Project. It fronts money to people too poor to come up with cash bail. The money is released when the accused show up in court, being available for the next case. Do people show up, you wonder? It looks like 96% of them do. More importantly, 90% of those held on bail plead guilty. When bail is paid, it turns out 50% of the cases are dismissed, and less than 2% receive jail sentences. Compare those two outcome in light of prison overcrowding (never mind in light of what it does to the life of a person.) You can check out the details (and donate….) here, including the organization’s 5-year plan to open offices across the country: https://bailproject.org 

Photographs today are from Miami in honor of the restored voting rights, but also sort of related to money: a lot of traditional neighborhoods there as elsewhere in the country are gentrified with the help of “art washing” – the influx, often supported and financed by real estate developers, of artists and galleries who make the neighborhood more attractive, draw in tourists and investment and displace the original poor tenants (until the artists are driven out as well….)