Thu 11 Jan 2007
Primitivism in a Nutshell
Posted by Fiacharrey under Philosophy
I have been trying to find a way to express the concept behind what some call “primitivism,” and what it means to me: why I think it is important. I found this quote by Edward Abbey which I think sums it up nicely:
The real work of men was hunting meat. The invention of agriculture was a giant step in the wrong direction, leading to serfdom, cities, and empire. From a race of hunters, artists, warriors, and tamers of horses, we degraded ourselves to what we are now: clerks, functionaries, laborers, entertainers, processors of information.- Ed Abbey
January 12th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Edward Abbey rocks, there is no question. However, I do find the above quote problematic on a couple levels. I myself lean towards anarcho-primitivism, so it’s not the basic premise of his quote that I object to - it’s the simplifying of it on these terms. The “real work” of “men” (which I’m assuming Abbey is using here to encompass the human race, including women, though I may be being generous) was not hunting meat - it was much more complex, and included an enormous amount of gathering in addition to the hunting - some contemporary anthropologists have supposed that a better term is actually gatherer-hunter than hunter-gatherer, since the gathering function provided an enormous amount of sustenance, in some cases the vast majority. One could also argue about the “real work” of men being art, spirituality, community, etc. (which Abbey implies in the quote). Hunting was, of course, also central, but the quote mostly makes it sound as though this was it. There is also the possibility that Abbey was in fact only talking about males, in which case I suppose the assumption is still that males did most of the hunting and women the gathering, and would therefore make the above quote problematic for its complete elimination of women as visible, viable, and equal (in fact, vital, and certainly not just for reproductive purposes) participants in pre-civilized society.
The invention of agriculture was indeed a dicey thing - yet, it is more valuable I think to point out that it was the invention of what Daniel Quinn calls “totalitarian” agriculture that was the basis for empire. Many indigenous cultures participated in agricultural pursuits, a hybrid of foraging and cultivated plants, that never led to the degradation of the landscape and surplus-driven empire we know as agriculture in early civilization and today. It may be a trickly fine line or slippery slope between the cultivation of some plants and totalitarian agriculture, but I think it benefits us, and resists the urge to stereotype an enormous collection of extremely diverse indigenous communities worldwide, to acknowledge it.
We have indeed degraded ourselves, and others, from what we were to what we are today.
Just some thoughts. Thanks for the quote! I’m very interested in anarcho-primitivist writing and theory, so I enjoy seeing it around the net. I’m a particular fan of Chellis Glendinning, Derrick Jensen, Stanley Diamond and Daniel Quinn.
-S
January 14th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Thank you for your very valuable comments, Susan. I didn’t think anyone was really reading this anymore, since I’ve been silent for so long, but I’m glad I was wrong.
Yes, the qote is a gross over-simplification, but it gets forcefully to the point. The quote itself is not about women and men, it is about men. Being one myself, it resonates profoundly with our sense of being “robbed of our manhood” that Susan Faludi describes so well in “Stiffed,” but is deeper and more far reaching that even Faludi ever imagined.
So, yes, I agree completely with your assessment, and if Abbey had not been pretty much just writing to men, and wrote to people in general, he might have said something similar. …but it wouldn’t have been as pithy.
January 24th, 2007 at 6:20 am
Yes many, many years ago men was hunting meat - it was his main job. It was great time…
January 26th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
I dunno, man.
I agree with the premise that agriculture was a giant step down the road to the poop pot we find ourselves in today.
But…
I don’t think we took that step with the majority of the people– or even the minority–thinking about setting up dominion over their fellow man. If I had to guess, I’d guess we took it with people thinking, “We can produce for ourselves! We will have more! We will be able to store food! We will not starve so easily if the winter is hard!”
I’m torn. I’m not so sure it was in the Plan for the Earth to support so huge a population. In fact, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t. But I don’t want myself or my loved ones to be on the losing end of the process of attrition, either.
The bastard is out of the bottle. Can we learn to use it better??
March 13th, 2007 at 5:20 am
Welcome to Hunting Advice
Hunting game for food, clothing and shelter is a big part of the story of the human race. It predates the human civilization we know today in many ways.
May 12th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Cool site! Your website is a powerful tool for the visitors!
May 12th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Let em have it !
May 12th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
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