[Lapg] "Re-learning" what we've forgotten - by Chris Maser

Sun Jan 6 22:41:47 PST 2008

Hi Diana,
I really appreciate your article submissions and commentary. By the way, are you a permaculture person? My connections to the listservs is that I finished Larry Santoyo's L.A. Permaculture Design Course in March 2007. I work as Lead Teacher in Biology and Marine Biology at Banning High School's Global Environmental Science Academy, so we use many of these articles in discussions and use them in our projects. Sharing these articles and other information is great!
Thanks,
Dennis Pilien

----- Original Message ----
From: Diana Liu <diana1127 at sbcglobal.net>
To: lapg at arashi.com; City Repair LA <cityrepairla at lists.riseup.net>
Sent: Sunday, January 6, 2008 8:09:53 AM
Subject: [Lapg] "Re-learning" what we've forgotten - by Chris Maser

I thought that this was a very good article.  I don't mean and certainly don't think that we should abandon what we have now and go live a "hunter-gather" way of life.  However, there are some fundamental principles of human relationship that the article suggested that we can learn from the hunter-gather society that seem to have gotten lost as we became more "civilized".  Isn't it ironic?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.
                                   - Lao Tzu
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-----Inline Message Follows-----

"Re-learning" what we've forgotten

by Chris Maser

Editor's note:  This is Chris Maser's Part Three of his series for 
Culture Change.  I ate this one up, because ever since I read a 1987 
article in Discover magazine by Jared Diamond, about 
hunter-gatherers' working only a few hours a day a few days a week, 
I've been aware that our modern way of life is not what it's cracked 
up to be.  In Maser's article there is solid anthropological insight 
applicable to our current challenge as a dysfunctional society facing 
extinction.  In his 18 maxims, he concludes with "Placing material 
wealth, as symbolized by the money chase, above spirituality, nature, 
and human well-being is the road to social impoverishment, 
environmental degradation, and the collapse of societies and their 
life-support systems." - Jan Lundberg

* * * * *

If we all treat one another with the best principles of human 
relationships, it is analogous to complying with Nature's biophysical 
principles by taking responsibility for our own behavior.  In other 
words, if I want to become acquainted with you, it is incumbent on me 
to determine how I must treat you in order to allow, even encourage, 
you to reciprocate in kind.  Thus, for me to receive the best 
service, it is my responsibility to initiate a good relationship with 
the person serving me. Likewise, to have an adequate supply of 
quality resources in the form of ecological services from Nature to 
run our cities, we must take care of the land in a way that 
perpetuates the natural capital we require for a quality life.  Here, 
the bottom line is that, by treating one another -- as well as the 
land -- with respect, we are uniting the two disparate entities into 
a single, self-reinforcing feedback loop of complementary services 
that can be perpetuated through time.

To bring this about, however, we need to view one another and 
ourselves differently, which necessitates a brief, generalized visit 
to the hunter-gatherers of olden times.  If you are wondering why we 
need to visit the hunter-gatherers, the answer is simple: to 
understand what we have forgotten -- how to live in harmony with one 
another and the land.

What the hunter-gatherers knew

The hunting-gathering peoples of the world -- Australian aborigines, 
African Bushman, and similar groups -- represent not only the oldest 
but also perhaps the most successfully adapted human beings. 
Virtually all of humanity lived by hunting and gathering before about 
12,000 years ago.  Hunters and gatherers represent the opposite pole 
of the densely packed, harried urban life most people of today 
experience.  Yet the life philosophy of those same hunter-gatherers 
may hold the answer to a central question plaguing humanity at it 
enters the 21st century:  Can people live harmoniously with one 
another and Nature?

Until 1500 AD, hunter-gatherers occupied fully one-third of the 
world, including all of Australia, most of North America, and large 
tracts of land in South America, Africa, and northeast Asia, where 
they lived in small groups without the overarching disciplinary 
umbrella of a state or other centralized authority.  They lived 
without standing armies or bureaucratic systems, and they exchanged 
goods and services without recourse to economic markets or taxation. 
[ - to continue reading this article, go to:
http://culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=143&Itemid=2#cont 
- make sure all the address is pasted into browser.]

* * * * *

CULTURE CHANGE
P.O. Box 4347
Arcata, CA 95518 USA
Telephone and fax: 1-215-243-3144
Email: info at culturechange.org

Thank you!  We look forward to any feedback.

Pass along the subscription link below to enable a friend to sign up 
to receive Culture Change Letters via email.
_______________________________________________
You are subscribed to the Culturechange mailing list
http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/culturechange
To unsubscribe from this or any mutualaid.org hosted mailing list, visit: http://lists.mutualaid.org/unsub.php

"Re-learning" what we've forgotten

by Chris Maser

Editor's note:  This is Chris Maser's Part Three of his series for 
Culture Change.  I ate this one up, because ever since I read a 1987 
article in Discover magazine by Jared Diamond, about 
hunter-gatherers' working only a few hours a day a few days a week, 
I've been aware that our modern way of life is not what it's cracked 
up to be.  In Maser's article there is solid anthropological insight 
applicable to our current challenge as a dysfunctional society facing 
extinction.  In his 18 maxims, he concludes with "Placing material 
wealth, as symbolized by the money chase, above spirituality, nature, 
and human well-being is the road to social impoverishment, 
environmental degradation, and the collapse of societies and their 
life-support systems." - Jan Lundberg

* * * * *

If we all treat one another with the best principles of human 
relationships, it is analogous to complying with Nature's biophysical 
principles by taking responsibility for our own behavior.  In other 
words, if I want to become acquainted with you, it is incumbent on me 
to determine how I must treat you in order to allow, even encourage, 
you to reciprocate in kind.  Thus, for me to receive the best 
service, it is my responsibility to initiate a good relationship with 
the person serving me. Likewise, to have an adequate supply of 
quality resources in the form of ecological services from Nature to 
run our cities, we must take care of the land in a way that 
perpetuates the natural capital we require for a quality life.  Here, 
the bottom line is that, by treating one another -- as well as the 
land -- with respect, we are uniting the two disparate entities into 
a single, self-reinforcing feedback loop of complementary services 
that can be perpetuated through time.

To bring this about, however, we need to view one another and 
ourselves differently, which necessitates a brief, generalized visit 
to the hunter-gatherers of olden times.  If you are wondering why we 
need to visit the hunter-gatherers, the answer is simple: to 
understand what we have forgotten -- how to live in harmony with one 
another and the land.

What the hunter-gatherers knew

The hunting-gathering peoples of the world -- Australian aborigines, 
African Bushman, and similar groups -- represent not only the oldest 
but also perhaps the most successfully adapted human beings. 
Virtually all of humanity lived by hunting and gathering before about 
12,000 years ago.  Hunters and gatherers represent the opposite pole 
of the densely packed, harried urban life most people of today 
experience.  Yet the life philosophy of those same hunter-gatherers 
may hold the answer to a central question plaguing humanity at it 
enters the 21st century:  Can people live harmoniously with one 
another and Nature?

Until 1500 AD, hunter-gatherers occupied fully one-third of the 
world, including all of Australia, most of North America, and large 
tracts of land in South America, Africa, and northeast Asia, where 
they lived in small groups without the overarching disciplinary 
umbrella of a state or other centralized authority.  They lived 
without standing armies or bureaucratic systems, and they exchanged 
goods and services without recourse to economic markets or taxation. 
[ - to continue reading this article, go to:
http://culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=143&Itemid=2#cont 
- make sure all the address is pasted into browser.]

* * * * *

CULTURE CHANGE
P.O. Box 4347
Arcata, CA 95518 USA
Telephone and fax: 1-215-243-3144
Email: info at culturechange.org

Thank you!  We look forward to any feedback.

Pass along the subscription link below to enable a friend to sign up 
to receive Culture Change Letters via email.
_______________________________________________
You are subscribed to the Culturechange mailing list
http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/culturechange
To unsubscribe from this or any mutualaid.org hosted mailing list, visit: http://lists.mutualaid.org/unsub.php

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