Since its inception civilization has created a value system of good vs. evil. The concept of good and evil (or the more scientific “right” and “wrong,” seems to permeate so much of our thought, that we have projected it onto indigenous mythologies as well. “Surely the notion of good and evil comes from human nature, not culture!” Perhaps if we look deeper, we may see that the notion of good and evil live and die with a culture of destruction.
Archive for the 'Philosophy of Rewilding' Category
In our culture, the young and the elderly experience perhaps the worst amount of prejudice and abuse. Living with abusive parents, families and forced into schooling where the system coerces us to do what it tells us than dumped in nursing homes and forgotten. Oppression among the young and old happens so often and looks so normal to us, most people don’t even see it as oppression. Of course, children and old people don’t get a voice in this culture. As you age you see a positive progression up the hierarchy; as an adult you forget the oppression as you accept the benefits that come with growing older. Once you reach a certain age, you once again receive oppression as a senior citizen.
When I think of “resistance movements” I envision a small group of people resisting against a much larger and all-powerful militarized machine. To think of civilization as an all-powerful death machine, the idea of resisting makes me feel small and paralyzed. But when viewed through the eyes of rewilding, resistance looks and feels very different.
I have always used the term primitive skills to refer to things like making hand-made tools such as the bow and arrow or the the social systems such as tribal organization or educational systems such as mentoring or body skills such as heightening senses or rituals such as giving thanks to the landbase. After spending several days at Rabbitstick Rendezvous (the oldest primitive skills gathering in the country), I figured out why I get a funny feeling when I tell people that I practice “primitive skills.”
An Open Letter to the City Repair Project, from your not-so-friendly, collapse-wary, hard-up Urban Scout.
Dear The City Repair Project,
You don’t really know me, but I know you. I have to say, it took me a while to get up the nerve to write this letter. But after sitting for several months now and seeing your ugly cob structures sit empty of people, and watching my savings go faster than a cup of Stumptown Coffee, I finally feel filled up with an insane jealous rage as to why the fuck you get so much funding for your bullshit cob projects and I can’t seem to scrape up a single penny.
I recently joked with Penny Scout about how the term, “scavenger hunt,” sounds like an oxymoron; a scavenger doesn’t hunt… they scavenge. This joke inspired me to write a little about the terms of subsistence strategies.
I recently saw a comic (thanks Anthropik!) that inspired me to articulate some things about the notion of “green-washing,” and other terms floating around in mother cultures myth-space/meme-pool.
John Zerzan did a talk at (The Dreaded) Reed College a while ago. One of the Reed professors accused John of idealizing indigenous peoples, in the age old tradition of the “noble savage.” I hear this one come up often, and it feels just as boring and reactive and lazy every time.
I’ve had a bad week, psychologically. My money has begun to dwindle and I have to face the reality; I live as a slave in a hierarchical system. It makes me terribly depressed to imagine myself behind the counter, serving up another latte to another slave as they head to their slave-job.
As you may imagine, I’ve gotten many e-mails from pissed off vegans after posting, Civilization Found in Vegan Ethics. One person just couldn’t understand the fundamental connection between grain diets and population growth. Others, like the ones I responded to here, live in denial that plants have feelings too. I would like to say that some very nice non-fundamentalist vegans and I had a good dialogue, so thank you guys!
Get a job. Get a job? You’re stealing from people. Taking from them. You’re a vampire. No, I’m trying to live another way… I’m trying to escape. You haven’t escaped shit. You sit around on your fucking computer all day, driving your girlfriend crazy with your weird sayings and movie quotes and commercial jingles you randomly puke up. You’ll never escape this way.
I feel that most people generally equate technology with physical objects or artifacts. Tangible items we can hold in our hands. Given their invisible nature, social technologies seem to go unnoticed or unrecognized as “technology.” However, right now a very primitive technology has sprung up among the most high-tech communities. In an ironic twist of fate, I have begun networking with these self-proclaimed, “tech-geeks,” to learn one of the most ancient technologies out there: sharing.
Recently I received a message from a Myspace stalker who said to me: “…you live through your inheritance without a real job soaking up earth skills… i wouldnt mind trying that inheritance thing out sometime…” Despite his insanity and lack of understanding of anything about this project, I still feel on the defensive. I generally try not to care what random assholes think of me. However, to alleviate strangers spreading rumors in the future, I do feel I need to clarify these assumptions surrounding my money and me.
I got a myspace message today that totally exemplifies why I hate Brownies (AKA Tom Brown Jr. Fanatics).
At Derrick Jensens talk in Portland last October, Derrick asked the crowd if they knew the name of the people who lived here before civilization. More than a few people responded that “no one lived here,” and that, “Willamette (as in the Willamette river that runs through Portland) means ‘the valley of sickness and death.’” I don’t remember the first time I heard this myth, but I can tell you that I never questioned it. In fact, I’ve even helped spread it. I never seemed to think twice about it, it simply made sense; white people do stupid things like move into misquito infested valleys. But when Derrick asked, and I saw so many people respond with this claim, I really began to wonder just where the hell it came from.
Continue reading ‘Willamette; The Valley of an 8,000 Year Old Culture’
REWILDinfo: study, teach and converse. This brand new site has two parts, the first part contains a forum for rewilders to talk about rewilding, the second part contains a wiki serving as a free online field guide to rewilding. Come start a conversation at the forum and add your knowledge to the field guide today! Please tell all your friends to check it out too.
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