Beyond Civilization

This book is more of a how-to than any of Quinn’s books I’ve read thus far, but even so, it’s more of a show-and-tell than a how-to. He builds on the foundation laid in the reader by the Ishmael trilogy (although the trilogy is certainly no necessary to understand this book) by pointing out extant tribal situation in the midst of Taker culture. Circuses, gypsies, etc. Giving an example from his own life, Quinn describes a newspaper in the production of which he was involved and which was tribal in organization.

I’m not sure if I am up to the task of defining a tribe without referring constantly to Quinn quotes. I’m going to describe what I have recognized as different sorts of tribal organizations. Without expending too much creativity, I’m going to call them working tribes, living tribes, and living+working tribes. One can imagine a Venn diagram of tribal organization.

Working tribes work together (predictably). The impetus for their initial organization can be a common interest, for instance information conveyance in Quinn’s newspaper. A possible problem that I could think of for this is the unfair division of proceeds in relation to input of effort.

Living tribes live together (whee). Their impetus is perhaps a desire to live in the same fashion, or familial relation. There is a sharing of resources (property, income, and the like) for overall livelihood of the group. Communal living (not, necessarily, an isolated ‘commune’) is one term for this. A problem I can see with a living tribe is unfair contribution leading either the hierarchy or unrest.

These two descriptions bring forth a question in my mind…can one be separate from Taker culture by being a member of only one of these two organizational types? I can imagine being in a working tribe and using that as your sole source of income…but here I am stuck. If you are getting all your sustenance from a tribe, are you outside Taker culture? And is it even possible?

I am reminded of a tale of a Mexican fisherman. This fisherman was just coming in from a morning in his boat when an American corporate businessman on vacation approached him.

“Sir,” he said, “I can see that your boat is not yet full. What are you going to do for the rest of the day?”

The fisherman looked up at him and grinned. “I will go home now, have lunch and siesta with my wife, and then later I will play with my children, and in the evening I will play my guitar and talk with my friends.”

“Well, that does sound nice, but why aren’t you going to go catch some more fish? At the rate you seem to be going, you could have a profitable business in no time.”

The fisherman stood and began to tie up his boat. “Why should I catch more fish, when I and my family can live on what I have just caught?”

The businessman smiled affectedly, relishing this chance to teach the fisherman a thing or two about making a living. “If you spent more of your time catching fish, soon you could buy a second boat. With the profits from that, you could buy more and more boats. Why, in 10 or 20 years I imagine you could sell that business to someone for quite a pretty penny!”

“What would I do then?” asked the fisherman.

“Well, in the morning you could go out and fish a little, if you would like, and then go home to spend time with your wife and your friends. Perhaps play a little guitar in the evenings”

If this wise fisherman can do it, why can’t I?

Obviously, living where I do, I can no more make my living fishing than I can go scuba diving. But say I were to do things that made money just enough so I could do the things I like?

But on the other hand, if the food I eat is locked up, am I really free of Taker culture?

I digress. On to the third tribal type: the living+working tribe. As a combination of the two mentioned before, in this type the same people you work with are the people in your community (meaning this in the communal sense of the word, of course). The most obvious example of this is the ethnic tribe. When puzzling over this type of tribe, I was reminded of the community in Starhawk’s Fifth Sacred Thing (another fantastic book). It has been a while since I read this, and I may not be getting the specifics right, but here are some general characteristics of this community:

They are responsible about their use and reuse of their resources. This includes trying to heal the damage already inflicted on the environment.

No one must work to survive. A bare sustenance is provided for everyone in the community.

The work that must be done (from childcare to medical care to music to…) is done by the people interested in doing it, and all contributions to the community are rewarded (though I hesitate to use that word). For example, a mother can stay at home to care for her children, but she is granted just as much credit as her partner who works outside the home.

There is no wealth hierarchy.

There is no ownership of the 4 sacred things (earth, air, fire, water).

There is coexistence of different lifestyles, races, cultures, religions, etc.

They employ hunting, foraging, and agriculture.

I realize that this community is not perfect, nor is it invulnerable. But I find it awfully attractive.