>>3765508A Jewanon (not OP)
Part of it is a focus on education in Judaism. even if you were some poor ass peasant in Austria, you would at least read Hebrew and Yiddish. That gave you a bit of an edge, and you end up with people who go into jobs with writing and reading (accounting, shop-owning, banking, trading, etc.)
A lot of the Jews you think about (the Eastern European/American ones) also congregated in their own little communities because the non-Jews offered them to make their little Jewish communities or die. So they all try to support each other, and if one is successful, they'll help out their community.
I'd doubt saying we're the guiders of humanity, but nor are we the bane of humanity.
