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.
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 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.
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.
