Austinist: The Accidental Gentrifist: April Fools, 12 Months a Year

Edie

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:53:01 -0600

"Weaponized irony" is my new favorite phrase.

kenneth1

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:49:09 -0600

I see where the teacher Gibbons was pardoned by Sudan's president and is now safely ensconsed on a flight to London. Goes to show that even repressive, genocidal regimes with a medieval legal system understand the power of bad P.R.

Benj

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:02:51 -0600

Oh, and Kenneth: I hope you're not kidding. Because I'd agree, conditionally. Most significant religious experiences are in some way related to derealization, which can be neurologically measured, and is defined as pathological or a 'healthy extroversion' purely relative to the culture or subculture that encourages it. Is there a social value? Sure, but that flies out the window when education suffers so politicos can keep hold of a large section of the populace, who are uber-religious and anti-evolution partially because the educational system was never fully operational in the first place.

Benj

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:55:30 -0600

Steak, I've read none of those. For the past five years I've been acquiring books much faster than I ever seem to be able to read them. I never have time. I feel like Tevya. Thanks for the recommendations, though. I'll add them to the list.

kenneth1

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:29:14 -0600

The way I see it, religion is just another form of mental illness. As an experiment, I've decided to name my genitals "Mohammed." Now let's see how long it takes some goggle-eyed towelhead to lunge at my crotch with a knife.

Edie

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:23:46 -0600

I fell for the craiglist April Fools day joke...

misssteak

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:20:34 -0600

I'm curious if you've read Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. The juxtaposition he relays between those religious folks that are focused "on heaven" and those that are focused "on earth" is how he comes up with his theory on the originiation of modern capitalism. I bring this up, because I'm personally curious about if/how semiotic theory addresses capitalism and symbols -- especially in regards to religious symbols. I would propose that it does seem to matter whether a religious symbol is an elaborate expensive statute or a simple teddy bear. I think it would be interesting to explore how our symbols are influenced by capitalism (it would at least a fun exercise in using Weber or Marx AND Derrida or Kristeva or Baudillard) in the same study :) ) Regardless, an excellent post as always. I probably need to brush up on my semiotic theory for further detailed discussion on this. The last book I studied was the Kristeva Reader last christmas.