Monday, February 13, 2012

Superintendent for the Destruction of the Gods



Part of what Graeber is outlining here is that everywhere coinage arose in the service of conveniently funding empire and elites (which happened in China and Greece and India at suspiciously similar times) its opposition arose also, in the form of various philosophies and religions. In this sense the rise of overpowering religion after the fraction of empires (and the vanishing of coinage) was a very good thing for the average farmer, who was much less likely to have to deal with the mechanisms that could enslave him (religions often being opposed to usury and slavery) in the business of military expansion.

ѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪѫѪ

In other filling-up-the-space news, NO POKÉMON IN THE SEARCH HITS!

oh shit its monday 20
my pet 3
black closeted men 2
cute spiders 2
faded background van halen 2
gerbils 2
hutsul culture 2
hutsul logo 2
michelangelo god 2
sammy hagar in the river? 2

FUCK-YOU-GOOGLE UPDATE!

Searched straight from Firefox, which sends me to .ca:



Searched via Googlebar Lite which will send me to the .com I usually use:



Assholes, I would like to search THE WEB. THE WEB!

IT'S LOVELIER IN LATVIA UPDATE!



There we go: the international site for the order, a Wikipedia article, and a little more non-local stuff. Easy!

17 comments:

Smut Clyde said...

According to later histories, Harsa employed leprous monks to systematically desecrate divine images with urine and excrement, thus neutralizing their power,

Is the Order of Saint Lazarus aware of this occupational opening?

Substance McGravitas said...

It takes an informed question to make me realize how much Google is sucking.

Substance McGravitas said...

Hmm, I get better results pretending to be from Latvia, probably because there AREN'T results to return.

Has the tiny republic of Togo got their own Google yet?

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

In this sense the rise of overpowering religion after the fraction of empires (and the vanishing of coinage) was a very good thing for the average farmer...

So when President Santorum is on every pundit's lips, Monsanto and Archer Daniels Midland will prosper (even more)?
~

Substance McGravitas said...

It's comparative: if the situation is armies marching through your fields all the time and taking you or your family as slaves vs. quiet times plus god-botherers you'd take the latter.

I don't think Santorum is quite as anti-debt or anti-war as various iterations of Catholicism or Buddhism or Confucianism were at the time.

Smut Clyde said...

how much Google is sucking.

Bloody oath. In some alternative reality, Alta Vista prospered so well that Google are following their business model.
It takes a lot to turn me to a Micro$oft product but Bing is looking better and better.

In other news, the NZ Pry Minister has been talking to Google about outsourcing governmental functions there. BEAT THAT.

Substance McGravitas said...

I'd be shocked if that flew; such things were proposed here but they violate privacy laws and it would be very weird if there wasn't something similar on the books there.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

According to later histories, Harsa employed leprous monks to systematically desecrate divine images with urine and excrement, thus neutralizing their power

I'M IN UR SANKCHUERRY, KILLIN' UR GODZ!!!

Substance McGravitas said...

If I leave the house and a bird shits on me, I feel pretty goddamned neutralized. I believe in the effectiveness of the neutralization formula.

Smut Clyde said...

The cosmic irruption of Divinity is no match for the POWER OF POOP.
Now I am imagining Serrano's 'Piss Krishna'.

Substance McGravitas said...

How important is the leprous part of the formula?

The footnote says the monks were Ajivkas so they may have been PANTSLESS TOO, mikey. This in combination with the nudity may have been important.

Substance McGravitas said...

With the leprosy I mean. Nudity, leprosy, it's all appalling and corrupt, isn't it?

El Manquécito said...

Nudity, leprosy, it's all appalling and corrupt, isn't it?

Not as bad as asparagus pee.

Smut Clyde said...

Nudity, leprosy, it's all appalling and corrupt,

Porno version of Thomas Covenant: DO NOT WANT.

Substance McGravitas said...

Jeepers, that one starts off with a rapey leper.

Brando said...

Porno version of Thomas Covenant: DO NOT WANT.

The Lord's bane is foul.

jim said...

"Sure, they may be poo-smearing leprous monks, but damn it all they're OUR poo-smearing leprous monks."