What you talkin' about Marx?

[Tommy4ever]

Right, I'm reading Capital, Volume 1, Chapter 4, and I've come across this sentence:

''The capitalist knows that all commodities, however tattered they may look, or however badly they may smell, are in faith and truth money, are by nature circumcised Jews, and what is more, a wonderful means for making still more money out of money''.

Is the highlighted bit some strange joke that I don't understand? Is it a racial slur I don't understand? Is it some important piece of analysis I don't understand?

WTF Karl?

[Octavian]

I think he's referring to the practice where a Christian couldn't loan another Christian money so he would loan them the money through a jew. Example C>J>C

[Kuppo Shakur]

So all of the above.

[Sir Comradical]

All he's saying is that a lot of the vulgar stereotypes associating jews with usury (turning money into more money) should really be said about the capitalists. In other words, why pick on the jews? It's not their judaism that causes them to use money in the M-C-M way rather their role as capitalists.