I've got this theory that we made a wrong turn about 10,000 years ago. We're presently standing on the brink of extinction and nobody is asking, "Where did we go wrong?"

Well I have a possible answer; when we abandoned our hunting, gathering and fishing tribal way of life. I mean it worked for us for millions of years and we managed to occupy practically the entire planet. I bet it was far more fun and enriching. We'll throw in boating too for those who need an island vacation break now and then.

So how about it? Let's have a party that promotes taking us back to a life style that we KNOW works. Any takers?

Hey, Dingo,

Back in the 1970s I explored the communal and get-back-to-nature movement. This didn't work for various reasons, and a big one is that we are too attached to modern convenience to even head back to an agrarian society, let alone tribal hunter/gatherer. However, you do have a very good point: What we are doing now, to a still large extent, is doomed to failure because we live outside of nature, not within it.

We take from the earth, utilize and consume what we take, and then return non-decomposible toxic chemicals back to the earth. As it is, this is a linear scheme that has a beginning and an end. The beginning is the extraction of resources; the end is death of the human race--and possibly the earth.

The good news is that many highly intelligent people are working on ideas to make our systems cyclical, as nature works. Some of these ideas have already been tried with success. Whole nations have embraced many of the concepts, with Japan as a shining example.

Unfortunately, the US has a lot of power to stop such activities. Within our economic and political structures, great resistance forms over various proposals. The key is to show businesses that using cyclical models of doing business not only restores and preserves the earth, the cyclical models result in more profits than the linear models.

We did not make a mistake 10,000 years ago. We can make a big mistake now--but the human spirit will not be cowed by highly paid lobbyists, and human ingenuity will not be stifled by bull-headed status quo types.

We may not even need a political party--just practical results in the world of business.

Dingo, are you suggesting that we abandon such "luxuries" as penicillen, irrigation (the discovery that launched the agricultural revolution that you speak of), writing, and all sorts of tools and tricks that allow us to live past the age of 45? I don't know about you, but it seems presumptuous if I were to say that we should start living a lifestyle where more people would die before the age of 5 than live.

Let's just say this is half in fun and half serious. If we can make our economic processes truely cyclical as AuthorMusician suggested then that would be a good start. Penicillen etc is nice but the potential of WMDs and environmental disasters that loom before us trumps all that.

No Cro-Magnon ever had to worry about dying of radiation sickness.

No, but a population swing in a large predator that hunted cro-magnon man could. A climate change probably could too.

What large predator did you have in mind? Must be one that never existed.

As a mobile creature that could adapt nature to his physical needs Cro-Magnon could not have been conceivably eliminated as a species by anything but the worst possible climate change, probably something that wouldn't happen in a 100 million years. Compare that with the immanent danger of all out nuclear war.

Here's a quote for the ages from Americas best known literary primitivist - Henry David Thoreau:




I take the point here to be that material and institutional monument building generally diminishes our human possibilities even as it seemingly enhances us in some faux collective sense.

Um ... wouldn't about 5 and a half billion of us have to die before the uncultivated Earth's resources could support us...?

Let's see if we improve our storage techniques, I'm not opposed to baskets or pottery, and with salting, smoking and honey we could pack away plenty for the lean months and support a lot more than the Cro-Magnons. Acorns, fish, blackberries and cattails would be very big around here.

50 million people in the world? That's quite enough. I love all that space. My understanding is that back in Cro-Magnon days there was roughly about 5 million. Don't want the transition to be too messy. I mean look at all the species we took out of the gene pool because we didn't adopt population and technological flood control. Time for this ape with its oversized head to start thinking a little of our cousins. And think about this, our kids won't have to play at being boy scouts.

The idea that I'm getting is the primitivist party wants us to throw down our clothes and strap on some leaves. Personally I'm happy wearing plastic, and as long as we work within nature, as Mr. Musician points out we might be on to something. Unfortunately most corporations are public entities and therefore shortsighted and also have to produce profit reports for their stock-holders. On the brighter side of things we do have a space program that might develope to the point where we can rape another planet of its resources and sit another day on our couch with the remote control flipping through reality shows. Lets just hope the space program outpaces the nuclear proliferation... I like reality TV!

I'm not aware off hand of any primitives who wore leaves(Maybe you're thinking of grass hula skirts). Skins would be more likely. Nothing wrong with scrounging for what's already around; tire swings - great!



Deep down I think I have a recruit here.