On Nov 14, 2009, at 6:37 PM, Joseph Catron wrote:
> I believe that's what Shane is referencing. But his is an awfully
> charitable
> take on the Thuggee, and I'm not convinced it's entirely an
> historical one.
>
> Shane, isn't the society thought to have preceded British rule by
> centuries?
> And didn't its killings clearly stem from religious fanaticism more
> than
> economic displacement?
>
It is entirely normal for displaced peasants to find "traditional"
cultural forms for the banditism to which they have been forced. Then
the oppressors commit synechdoche, using the native term for that
traditional form to label and libel the whole banditry that they
themselves created.
Shane Mage
> This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it
> always was and is and shall be: an everlasting fire,
> kindling in measures and going out in measures."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos