Unearthing the Earthly Paradise
by Don J. Cormier
Anybody
who pays attention to the daily news knows that planet earth is not a paradise.
The world is full of problems. Natural disasters, famines, and diseases
kill people in various parts of the globe. Human conflicts frequently
result in physical violence ranging from wars at one end of the scale to
simple fist fights at the other. Even when problems are not life
threatening, they frequently result in suffering for millions of people.
Many
people dream of a perfect world or earthly paradise in terms that recall
the Biblical garden of Eden. Many people would like to live as Adam
and Eve, with spiritual peace among the beauties of nature, with abundant
food and water, perfect health, and no need for hard work.
Most
people would be surprised to find that our early ancestors really lived
in a kind of Eden. Of course, effort, pain, conflict, disease, and
death have always been present, but scientists suggest that our ancient
ancestors lived hunter/gatherer lifestyles which provided adequate food
with little hard labor. The fact that hunter/gatherers lived in small,
mobile bands meant that social problems associated with dense, settled
populations could not arise.
Our
"fall from Eden" may have come with the change from a nomadic, hunter/gatherer
lifestyle to one based on agriculture. Farming required a settled
base which increased the monotony of everyday life. Farming produced
more food which fostered a higher population, which fostered the division
of labor in society and the development of specialized warrior castes.
Our
world may be the true garden of Eden, but we can't see it because it's
been paved. If the research is true, and if we truly wish to live
in Eden, we can — if we are willing to unearth it. We can chip away
the carapace of agricultural civilization.
It
is at this point which most people would abandon the notion of re-creating
"Eden". Most people would prefer living with modern problems than
to make radical life-style changes. To employ a Biblical metaphor,
they would rather stay in Pharaoh's Egypt than move out to the promised
land. They fail to consider the fact that the journey to the promised
land — or back to Eden — could be made in small steps.
The
first step could be a personal one. It could be to relearn the old
hunter/gatherer skills, so that one might be able to live in the wilderness.
A
possible second step is also personal. This second step would be
to restrict oneself to no more that two offspring. If population
density prevents us from living a nomadic, hunter/gatherer lifestyle, then
the population must be reduced and individuals must take responsibility
to reduce it.
Further
steps would be to encourage the preservation of open space and endangered
species, and the development of decentralized, environmentally sustainable
technologies.
For
those who truly wish to find the new Eden — or to unearth the old Eden
— it's time to study, to train, and to network. Time for our agricultural
civilization may be running out and only those who have prepared may be
able to survive it's fracture.![10x5 Page Background GIF Image](../../Images/10x5_Page_Background.gif)
Editor's Note — Mr. Cormier follows
in a long tradition when he ponders the mixed blessings of settled society.
An ancient Sumerian myth reflected similar concerns.
"Here were the delights of society,
exquisite craftsmanship, beautiful clothes, the arts of sex and music.
But civilization has a darker side, said [the God of Wisdom], which has
to be accepted along with the good. There was the art of being mighty,
the art of being kind, the art of straightforwardness, the art of deceit,
the art of kingship, justice, and the enduring crown, the resounding note
of a musical instrument, rejoicing of the heart, the kindling of strife,
the plundering of cities, the setting up of lamentation, fear, pity, terror.
All this is civilization, said the God of Wisdom. All this I give
you, and you must take it all with no argument, and once taken, you cannot
give it back."
— from the documentary series Legacy,
produced by Maryland Public Television and
Central Independent Television PLC
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I believe that the idea of civilization has been generally misunderstood.
I suggest that civilization is a characteristic not of societies, but of
individuals. A highly settled, technological society might be populated
by barbaric individuals, by civilized individuals, or by both. The
same thing is true of a primitive, nomadic society. Civilization,
then, is not a way of organizing society, but a kind of individual human
behavior.![10x5 Page Background GIF Image](../../Images/10x5_Page_Background.gif)
Acknowledgments
• My thanks to Lady Jan the Voluptuous for
her ongoing editorial assistance and for her countless other efforts in
support of this newsletter and of its editor.
• My thanks to The
Affiliate, of Vankleek Hill, Ontario for regularly printing reviews
of the Frontiersman.
• My thanks to Sir Donald the Elusive for paying
the production costs of this newsletter and for his additional contributions.
— editor
Practical Theory — In theory, there is no difference between
practice and theory; but in practice, there is.
— author unknown, provided by Silicon Valley Bob
Frontiersman@ida.net |
Frontiersman
479 E. 700 N., Firth, Idaho 83236 |
February 1998
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