Could looking at much less
elaborated ways of living, and unsnarling the complications raised by our
intensely overwound culture reveal something about our encounter with global warming which seems to have escaped
us so far?
This writer has been reading
ethnographies, ethnographies of the Ju/wasi, (some refer to them as the San)
the world’s oldest people (that is, people descended directly from the original
human inhabitants of Earth), who
once occupied almost all of East Africa, and more recently the Kalahari Desert;
and ethnographies of the inhabitants of Zanskar, one of the world’s most
inaccessible people living poles apart in the high Himalayas.
 |
| Uncomplicated living in Zanskar |
Why read about people living
distantly from our supremely dominant global, “civilized” cultures in the great cities of London, Washington, Rome, Paris, Berlin, and other Great
Capitals of the Western World? What can they possibly teach us that we don’t already
know, and that we don’t need to know? What is to be learned there? And why does this writer keep gnawing away
at the question: Why is it that Western Culture (and that includes coal-burning countries like China) seems
hell-bent on destroying the home in which it lives?
What would it take for the
dominant global culture to reverse itself 180 degrees? And what kinds of
reversal are we talking about? And how can anyone refer to a dominant global
culture monolithically, when it includes kids who “get it?” Are those kids a
separate culture? Why does it matter? If we are talking
about the clash of fundamental ideas of being in the world, why do we talk
about the proponents of those ideas in the same breath?
The Ju/wasi have inhabited Botswana for a known period of 60,000
years. Their oral cultural memory of the skies of 58,000 B .C. tell them where
to look for constellations which the unschooled eye cannot possibly find
(because over a geological time period, far beyond the scope of human time, the
skies shift infinitesimally slowly). Gift exchanging is a huge part of their daily lives, a practice which guarantees that no individuals can ever amass great wealth to the imporverishment of others. They lived happily this way for 60,000 years.
 |
| Ju/Wasi building a fire from scratch |
If the human race had lived
an existence as uncomplicated as the Ju/Wasi have, the climate of this planet
might still have been able to cradle human existence in a more benevolent
way.
 |
| Zanskar Buddhist monastery |
The Buddhist inhabitants of Zanskar
weave the fabric which becomes their one suit of clothes, which they patch, and
re-sew over a lifetime. At 16,000 feet, well above the tree line, the
inhabitants mostly subsist on a diet of barley and peas, wild and cultivated; some onions, radishes, cucumbers
and potatoes (grown in tiny kitchen gardens) and their yaks give them yak
butter. Of these they make tea (served
with butter); tsampa (barley flour moistened and kneaded with water to make
cakes, often eaten cold); and chang, a drink made of fermented barley which
makes the drinker warm and quite happy. To guard their animals from wolves,
they occasionally sleep outdoors in temperatures of minus 40 degrees. To plant
grains above the snow line, they build piles of soil which they spread over the
snow in early Spring. The darkness of that earth forces the snow to melt allowing them to plant their grains early enough to harvest them before the first
freeze. In other words, they make use of the very feed back loop that’s now
over heating our Earth such that, as polar ice melts exposing the dark sea to
sunlight, it further warms an already overheating planet. They live happily this way and have lived happily for as long as they have inhabited their kingdom.
If the human race had lived
an existence as simple as the Zanskaris, the climate of this planet might still
have been able to cradle our existence in a more benevolent way.
What does all this suggest?
While our planet gets
trashed, please ask this airline to reduce its carbon footprint with carbon
offsets at
Support Sunrise with your
generous dollars by buying from their offerings at
Help the Union of Concerned
Scientists sustain clean energy's winning streak while contributing at
Did you know 40% of Fresno’s school children are unhoused? Please
tell the USDA to stop the attacks on food assistance programs for hungry
Americans at
Extra credit. Release an
innocent black man from Missouri’s attorney general’s determination not to free
him at
Can’t be stopped: young
climate activists storm COP 25 stage.
Thunberg named Time’s person
of the year.
Calling for “Climate
President,” more than 500 groups demand next administration take immediate
action.
Timed to COP 25, and
decrying EU proposal to address climate collapse by 2015 as too little, too
late, Greenpeace activists stage spectacular House on Fire spectacle in
Brussels.
 |
| Greenpeace sets the world on fire |
Lavrov states Russia ready
to extend new START treaty.
More war lies debunked: UN
unable to link Saudi, Aramco attacks to Iran.
Supreme Court rejects “free
speech” challenge by Wireless Association CTIA against Berkeley’s cell phone
right to know about how cell phones harm you law.
House Democrats pass bill
restoring Voting Rights Act after Supreme “Court” decision guts it.
Coal resupply train blocked
in two states.
World’s big sleep out (some
of it in rainy LA) as thousands world over spend night outside in solidarity
with the homeless.
Environmental Health trust to
take legal action challenging FCC that 20th century techniques can't
evaluate 21st century technology.
Boston suburb of Brookline first East Coast
city to ban oil and natural gas infrastructure in new construction projects.
Do they know something we
don’t: 100 Italian municipalities pass resolutions
against 5G.
Never in America: Mexico’s
government launches massive seized assets auction for “Robin Hood” program
benefitting the very poor and destitute.
Indonesian steel
craftsmanship revives as builders demonstrate the superior strength of bamboo.
Six hundred kilometers of
roads blocked as French strikes urging withdrawal of pension “reform” draft law
continue.
100 California cities reject
PG & E’s bankruptcy proposal, demanding it be broken up.
Seven men sentenced for
murder of visionary Honduran social movement leader Berta Cáceres.
NRA investigation widens as
New York AG delivers new subpoena.
After House
progressive push to strengthen drug pricing billPelosi eats crow.
Chipping away at the Little
King: North Dakota county votes to accept refugees, defying #45 executive
order.
School fights back after ICE
detains Connecticut high school sophomore.
Small, predominantly black
Georgia town gets election officials to
reopen polling station closed in disenfranchising effort.
Houston cop gets in
McConnell’s face: “You’re either here for women [victims of domestic violence]
or you’re here for the NRA."
Texas sheriff’s deputy arrested for conducting unlawful strip searches of six women.
Packed Berkeley tenants
union, reconvening on short notice, endorses Bernie Sanders.
After non-profit college
forgives $141 million in student debt, Sanders points out
there’s only $1,685,456,413,335 more to go.
U.S. government drops
prosecution of Max Blumenthal after jailing journalist on false charges [covering Venezuelan Embassy protection events.]
Journalism is not dead yet as
rank-and-file news writer wins CWA News Guild presidency.
Brian Eno launches Julian
Assange campaign.
President of National Nurses
United testifies at health care Congressional hearing re: passing Medicare for
All!
Following budget cuts, S. F. City supervisors move
to save CCSF classes.
Methodist church nativity
scene depicts Mary, Jesus and Joseph as separated and caged family.
 |
| ICE Nativity |
Wisconsin high school senior
opens mosque doors, sheltering over 100 peers during school shooting.
Pawn shop worker in
Hurricane, Utah, saves falling infant while mom's busy shopping for shotguns.
No comments:
Post a Comment