Hi everyone,

I hope that the article is a poor summary of this book.  If not, this  
is really scary.  I can't believe that someone could make statements  
like this in the modern world.  Is this author totally ignorant of  
major critiques of colonialism?  To claim that capitalist society is  
less violent than pre-capitalist or pre-industrial society is very  
odd (and, I would expect, rather hard to prove in a quantitative  
manner).  To suggest that foragers are lazy because of their genetic  
profiles is simply taking a page from colonial administrators who  
suggested that they could be treated as children or degenerates.   
Surely Mr. Cage must have foreseen the serious concerns that would  
come from scholars in biology, history, and archaeology- if not in  
economics.

I'll read this book before I make more judgments, but I'm very  
disappointed in the NY Times for publishing such a simplistic review  
of this book.

Best,
Tim



Subject:
is capitalism genetic?
From:
geoff carver <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To:
HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 7 Aug 2007 10:16:53 +0200
Content-Type:
text/plain

i'm sure this is going to be debated in way too many places; among  
other things, if this article is right (ha!), this guy seems to be  
suggesting some kind of genetic cause for capitalism...
but other than that, as an alternative to Weber & the sort of  
technological models for social/historical progress archaeologists  
use to explain the causes & effects of the industrial revolution,  
etc.,, interesting to see what the economists are up to, i guess...
SCIENCE   | August 7, 2007
In Dusty Archives, a Theory of Affluence
By NICHOLAS WADE
Gregory Clark believes that the Industrial Revolution occurred  
because of a change in the nature of the human population.



http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/science/07indu.html? 
pagewanted=1&ei=5070&em&en=6d0f6a2f1ba27d24&ex=1186632000


Timothy Scarlett
Assistant Professor of Archaeology
Department of Social Sciences
Michigan Technological University
[log in to unmask]
(906)487-2359 (office)
(906)487-2468 (fax)
------------------------