Comments on: Religious extremism: the good, the bad, and the deadly

Religious extremism: the good, the bad, and the deadly

redneck_zionist — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 08:32:13 -0800

Religious extremism: the good, the bad, and the deadly (pdf) is an academic paper offering an alternative analysis of economic self-interest as a motivation for terrorism. A University of California San Diego economics professor is among the world's leaders in a small but growing field of study that uses economic principles to gain a deeper understanding of radical religious groups.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 08:42:47 -0800

I loves me crazy economists. I know Freakonomics has been over-played, but those guys have done some pretty startling research. Good to see more interest in doing economic analysis of non-traditional subjects.

By: jefgodesky

jefgodesky — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 08:55:55 -0800

Of course, this is pretty conventional for cultural materialists, who basically have the run of the place in most of America's anthropology departments. Economic anthropologists do stuff like this all the time.

By: three blind mice

three blind mice — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 08:59:14 -0800

It's all Adam Smith's fault. Again.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 09:06:22 -0800

There are "Economic anthropologists"? Colour me ignorant. Where do I find such creatures? And how much would they be willing to pay for high-quality wing-tip loafers? Seriously, are there non-academic publications from these people that would be accessible to people outside the discipline?

By: jefgodesky

jefgodesky — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 09:18:02 -0800

Unfortunately, not so much. The Freakonomics phenomenon has amused me, because everyone's talking about how "rogue" it is--while I've thought of that approach as pretty typical for some time now. But I suppose it's entirely understandable, since Freakonomics was probably where most people first heard of such a thing. The Society for Economic Anthropology is a bit on the, well, useless side, frankly. This is the kind of stuff that's hard to find online, but relatively easy to find in journals and your local university's library.

By: any major dude

any major dude — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 09:23:04 -0800

It's all Adam Smith's fault. Again It's actually the fault of those who misinterpret him - or worse, use partial theory to rationalize their criminal intent. The same goes for Jesus, Marx, Mohammed, Rand and anyone else who's words and ideas have been bastardized to hold influence over the masses.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 09:33:59 -0800

I blame the media.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 09:40:22 -0800

Jesus, Marx, Mohammed and who!!!?? You almost had me there....

By: any major dude

any major dude — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 09:49:49 -0800

Yeah, I'm currently reading Atlas Shrugged after years of hearing right wing free marketeers use her philosophy has rationalization for an unregulated free market. She would be disgusted by our crony free market system as it exists today.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 09:57:48 -0800

"Crony free market system???!!"

By: any major dude

any major dude — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 10:08:26 -0800

So let me get this straight. 3 exclamation points followed by 2 question marks denotes incredulousness and 3 question marks followed by 2 exclamation points denotes confusion???!! Is this the new slang?

By: yonation

yonation — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 10:09:05 -0800

Also amazing and relevant is Landscapes of the Jihad... Review here (and no, i am not the author, nor related to him in any way)... Devji argues that Al-Queda and other such groups are much like offshore capital; in fact they mirror capitalism's evolutions in may ways, such as fluidity, risk-taking, subject to whims of nation-states but not attached to them, etc. fascinating take, and not just adam-smith rational-actor bullshit.

By: theorique

theorique — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 10:46:02 -0800

It's actually the fault of those who misinterpret him - or worse, use partial theory to rationalize their criminal intent. The same goes for Jesus, Marx, Mohammed, Rand and anyone else who's words and ideas have been bastardized to hold influence over the masses. Hitler and Swayze and Trump and... TRAVOLTA!

By: y2karl

y2karl — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 12:21:05 -0800

Also amazing and relevant is Landscapes of the Jihad... Review here Related post here.

By: Decani

Decani — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 18:37:26 -0800

There's good religious extremism? That'd be scientology, right?