Correlations?

[koinegeek]

From (of all places) this Scientific American article:

One method to attenuate murdercide, then, is to target dangerous groups that influence individuals, such as Al Qaeda. Another method, says Princeton University economist Alan B. Krueger, is to increase the civil liberties of the countries that breed terrorist groups. In an analysis of State

Comments

[snack_kun]

I think you hit it on the head.

[tacky_tramp]

I don't know if I agree with the SciAm analysis. A country with "a tradition of civil liberties" is quite a different animal from one that formerly rebuked such things and suddenly has them imposed upon it. Nations' forms of government both spring out of and powerfully shape the cultural values of their people; it's a complex intertwining that can't be unraveled and reknit with one deft stroke of the constitutional pen.

If the angry islamic fundamentalists woke up tomorrow in a nation with western civil liberties, they wouldn't suddenly swell with love for the systems they now hate. They would probably revolt against that government until it was to their liking, and then continue to attempt to do the same to the existing world order -- taking down those currently in power, reversing globalization, etc.

[koinegeek]

Aye. It's never a one-dimensional dynamic, is it?

[wudu_wasa]

In the Czech Republic, after the Soviet regime, they killed their first president. To me it's quite simple, you people can't attack that which infuriates them, they'll attack that which supports or affects that which they don't hate. By the way, do you think my Meme is too revealing?

[koinegeek]

Perhaps. Path of least resistance?

Regarding your meme, it's a little revealing, but no more so that others I've seen.

I admit, I didn't read the whole article you linked.

[spanambula]

First of all why is an economist making statements that should be the purview of a sociologist?

I disagree with Krueger on several levels. First, it seems to presuppose that the Western system of government is the ideal (which as Americans, we have been brainwashed to agree with). Second, and more important, it fails to account for those terrorist groups that operate with the approval (official and un-) of their respective governments.

I agree with [info]lottelita, this is too simplistic.

Re: I admit, I didn't read the whole article you linked.

[koinegeek]

You know, one of the main reasons I posted this was to see if anyone said "What's an article like this doing in Scientific American?". You've come the closest so far. Although I would argue that Economics is a cross-disciplinary science straddling math, sociology, and psychology. A good economist should be a good sociologist, though his or her opinions ought to stick to the realm of market dynamics.