20190121 - Hunter-Gatherers

 

   As the polar vortex opens up and pours freezing weather into the US and Europe, Pamela and I are hovered against the Whipple Mountains in southern California, just eight miles from Parker, AZ, avoiding as much of the climatic mayhem as possible. Looking at one of the computerized model's projections, we're going to be just outside the extreme cold. That doesn't mean we're enjoying warm weather. We're just not suffering like the rest of the country. 

       We enjoyed an inside day today and I took the plunge into a research project. Today I officially started research into the hunter-gatherer. 

     Many of my follower and friends know that I have long believed that humans got ourselves into the mess we have today when we ceased to be hunter-gatherers. Now I'm going to start working to support that hypothesis. 

     There are actually a number of hunter-gatherer tribe still around today. Sadly people think that they either want or should be like the rest of us.  I've addressed that issue before. They are, in quite a few ways, superior to modern man.  They are not some inferior version of us. In fact, in his book The Reality of Hunter-Gatherers, James Heffernan writes "Hunter-gatherers were not and are not savages living in abject conditions. They are very successful - some would argue, based on the data underlining work time and (ample) leisure, caloric return, freedom from authority, ease of dispute resolution, etc., more successful than your typical domesticated/civilized individual or family."   

     Today more posts and articles than I care to count came across my screen about the damage we are doing to our world and how we are running out of time to take corrective action. I'm sure all of you get the same thing.  At some point we are going to be forced into making some changes. The hunter-gatherers (HGs) were the first conservationist, the first minimalist and knew how to live well with nature without attempting to change or subjugate it. We can learn something from the HG. We need to learn from them instead of try to force them to be like us. 

      I'm not trying to earn another PhD but I am going to try to keep my work at a high academic standard. I have a cousin who is a professor of Anthropology and a couple of friends who are anthropologists, so I know they'll keep me in line.  

     What I have noticed in the southwest is that there are a lot of ancient sites that are either poorly protected or not protected at all. With the current administration's lack of concern to preserve anything, I do feel a bit pressured to gather information and take pictures at these sites incase one or more becomes an oil well or strip mine. Most of the sites I have encountered have been the homes of indigenous people who seem to have been in the transition from HG to farmer. This is an important period for my study, but I wouldn't want anything to happen to these sites even if I weren't doing research. 

     Modern humans are so intent upon reacting to challenges by attempting to control or change nature.  Many times within the past few decades of US history nature has demonstrated that that is not a viable approach. For example, we try to control and manipulate the Mississippi River. At least two times in my life the river has taken down the levees and reclaimed the land. We just don't learn. We try again to control the river and build them again. 

     We can't go back to being HG. The damage is done and we will face the consequences, but we should be intelligent enough to admit what we've done and learn ways to go on in harmony with nature. We can learn a lot from studying the HG.  

     If you're interested in following my progress I have started a Facebook page called Studying the Hunter-Gatherers. You are also welcome to share information. All I ask is that there by no politics. I'm not doing this to be anti-Trump or pro-anything else. I'm not doing it for "civilization".  I'm doing this for all of nature, which happens to include us. 

     The nature of our future is totally dependent upon the future of our nature.  

     Good night. Hope you got a good view of the eclipse last night. Keep safe and warm.