Daniel Quinn, Ishmael, Saving the World, and Moving Beyond Civilization
Today, I finished reading the fourth Daniel Quinn book of this summer. I started with Ishmael, followed a couple weeks later by My Ishmael, then Beyond Civilization, and wrapping up with Providence. He has other works, most notably The Story of B, which is quite good, but this may be it for me for this reading season.
For anyone who doesn't know of Quinn's work, I'll provide a general overview.
Quinn spent about a decade working on the first book, Ishmael, which won a half a million dollar prize for offering up significant new ideas. His interest was in the way the world works, how things came to be this way, why it is that this civilization is eating the world, and why history, as taught in school, ignores millions of years of human experience.
Quinn explains that the culture of civilization is different and unique. The cultural stories include things such as:
* There is only one right way to live.
* The world was made for us.
* We were made to dominate and subdue the world.
* Civilization is the best possible future for humans.
* We are flawed, and so we will always fail.
Our culture, he explains, is easy to identify. Anytime one sees that the food is under lock and key, that is our culture. More specifically, our culture grows most of our own food, and then quickly locks it away, and then pretty much everyone has to do something required (or desired) by civilization in order to have access to food. This was distinctly different from all other cultures in that they did not lock up food, and due to that, tended to be much more egalitarian, since there was very little need for specialization.
Quinn talks about education, and how in all other cultures, the adults simply have the children with them all the time, and so the children learn everything that there is to know from hands-on experience, at the point in time that it interests them.
Quinn contrasts this with this civilization's system of schooling, where children as young as 5-years old are basically locked inside little rooms for a good part of the day, with mostly other children, and with few adults, and are presented with things to learn that they are not necessarily interested in, and that, in many cases, are irrelevant to anyone's lives. In fact, he points out, that the schooling system itself has to resist improvement in preparing people to be cogs in the great machine of civilization, otherwise, the grandparents and parents of those children would be out of work, as the more well educated children entered the workforce. Thus, one function of schools is to keep children out of the workforce, and then allow them to trickle in at a rate so that they can take up whatever jobs are unable to be filled by the current workforce, or are basically undesirable jobs.
[FYI - I'm adding some of my own reflections in here as well, so this is not all word-for-word from Quinn.]
To save the world, Quinn suggests that we need to abandon civilization, since it is clearly a failed cultural model, that is leading to the destruction of not only the earth, but of the our very ability to survive here... basically making earth uninhabitable for humans. To abandon civilization does not necessarily mean to separate from it immediately, and all at once, but to do as much as we can, and to invite others along, and to work together as equals to make a living, as much as possible, beyond civilization.
Quinn doesn't spell this out in great detail, primarily, he says, because it is an impossible task, just like if we were the inventor of the first bicycle, and were attempting to imagine what it would look like in the distant future. How would we know what technology, machining, etc. would be available? How would we know to think about a bike chain? Or spokes? Or petals? Or equal sized wheels? Etc. Basically, since we are not yet in the future, beyond civilization, we can not really imagine it, and really, what we can imagine is only really the first step towards this better future.
What are some of the take away messages?
* There is no one right way to live.
* There is something BETTER waiting for us.
* We need to present this better story so that people have something to aspire to; rather than giving something up.
* We belong to the world. (Not the other way around.)
What does all of this mean to me?
Well, it means that the future is likely to be very different from what most people imagine, and even different from how I imagine it.
When I am alone, outside my home, I think about the future beyond civilization, and how I might be standing in the exact same spot, living in the exact same house, but that things would be very different.
I would be making my living a different way, probably as one member of a group of people that were making their living together; making a living meaning obtaining food and all the essentials of existence together.
Would I be doing this with family, or friends, or neighbors, or "my people" (those that see think of the world in the same way as me)? I don't know.
When thinking of how to save the world, I think of how we need to continue to have programs to hold the line against the onslaught of civilization. We need the Sea Shepherds and the Rain Forest Action Networks and all of the non-profits, organizations, and programs that are protecting things from extinction, destruction, pollution, devastation, etc. We also need people to be moving beyond civilization, so that civilization itself diminishes in its ability to chew up the world. And, I can understand those, such as perhaps some of the readers of Derrick Jensen, that would act in such a way to hinder or sabotage the great machine.
More practically, when thinking of what I'm going to do with my life, I am trying to keep these ideas in mind. For example, with my 4-year old son, we are already talking, due to his curiosity and just seeing things happen in the world, about life and death, and how we are part of the world, and how we came from the world, and will return to the world, and are all here together, and are all successful since "behold, we are here".
I'm also thinking of how to help people to save the earth, and of course, the great biodiversity, and prevent mass extinction, and ensure the survival of as many species, especially our own, which, once succeeding, will have the ability to provide a model, if and when other species evolve into a similar level of intellect as our own. How do I help these people? Is sharing some visions of the future useful? Is getting them together in one place, so that they can connect, and share, and learn, and work together towards a brighter future, is that useful? What is it that I am specially able to do to advance this social evolution? What is my path of "biggest bang for the buck"?
So, there you go. A bit of a summary of some of Quinn's main themes and thoughts, and some of my personal reflections.
Of all the books I've read, I think that Ishmael has had the greatest resonance with my life. It may not have resulted in as major of a change as reading Animal Liberation, not yet anyway, but I never really needed to re-read Animal Liberation to become vegan again. For Quinn's books, I want to reread them so that I can remember, and re-examine the stories that I am living, as a part of this culture in this civilization, and which stories I aspire to be living. Each time, I feel that I'm moving closer to harmony with that which I already believe and feel about life.
So, for anyone who has not read Ishmael, I do recommend it, and once done, if one is hungry for more, do continue with Quinn's other works, which complement and expand in Ishmael in any number of ways. Perhaps you will find, as I did, why these ideas are some of the most influential that you'll encounter.
Enjoy, and good luck on your journey.
For anyone who doesn't know of Quinn's work, I'll provide a general overview.
Quinn spent about a decade working on the first book, Ishmael, which won a half a million dollar prize for offering up significant new ideas. His interest was in the way the world works, how things came to be this way, why it is that this civilization is eating the world, and why history, as taught in school, ignores millions of years of human experience.
Quinn explains that the culture of civilization is different and unique. The cultural stories include things such as:
* There is only one right way to live.
* The world was made for us.
* We were made to dominate and subdue the world.
* Civilization is the best possible future for humans.
* We are flawed, and so we will always fail.
Our culture, he explains, is easy to identify. Anytime one sees that the food is under lock and key, that is our culture. More specifically, our culture grows most of our own food, and then quickly locks it away, and then pretty much everyone has to do something required (or desired) by civilization in order to have access to food. This was distinctly different from all other cultures in that they did not lock up food, and due to that, tended to be much more egalitarian, since there was very little need for specialization.
Quinn talks about education, and how in all other cultures, the adults simply have the children with them all the time, and so the children learn everything that there is to know from hands-on experience, at the point in time that it interests them.
Quinn contrasts this with this civilization's system of schooling, where children as young as 5-years old are basically locked inside little rooms for a good part of the day, with mostly other children, and with few adults, and are presented with things to learn that they are not necessarily interested in, and that, in many cases, are irrelevant to anyone's lives. In fact, he points out, that the schooling system itself has to resist improvement in preparing people to be cogs in the great machine of civilization, otherwise, the grandparents and parents of those children would be out of work, as the more well educated children entered the workforce. Thus, one function of schools is to keep children out of the workforce, and then allow them to trickle in at a rate so that they can take up whatever jobs are unable to be filled by the current workforce, or are basically undesirable jobs.
[FYI - I'm adding some of my own reflections in here as well, so this is not all word-for-word from Quinn.]
To save the world, Quinn suggests that we need to abandon civilization, since it is clearly a failed cultural model, that is leading to the destruction of not only the earth, but of the our very ability to survive here... basically making earth uninhabitable for humans. To abandon civilization does not necessarily mean to separate from it immediately, and all at once, but to do as much as we can, and to invite others along, and to work together as equals to make a living, as much as possible, beyond civilization.
Quinn doesn't spell this out in great detail, primarily, he says, because it is an impossible task, just like if we were the inventor of the first bicycle, and were attempting to imagine what it would look like in the distant future. How would we know what technology, machining, etc. would be available? How would we know to think about a bike chain? Or spokes? Or petals? Or equal sized wheels? Etc. Basically, since we are not yet in the future, beyond civilization, we can not really imagine it, and really, what we can imagine is only really the first step towards this better future.
What are some of the take away messages?
* There is no one right way to live.
* There is something BETTER waiting for us.
* We need to present this better story so that people have something to aspire to; rather than giving something up.
* We belong to the world. (Not the other way around.)
What does all of this mean to me?
Well, it means that the future is likely to be very different from what most people imagine, and even different from how I imagine it.
When I am alone, outside my home, I think about the future beyond civilization, and how I might be standing in the exact same spot, living in the exact same house, but that things would be very different.
I would be making my living a different way, probably as one member of a group of people that were making their living together; making a living meaning obtaining food and all the essentials of existence together.
Would I be doing this with family, or friends, or neighbors, or "my people" (those that see think of the world in the same way as me)? I don't know.
When thinking of how to save the world, I think of how we need to continue to have programs to hold the line against the onslaught of civilization. We need the Sea Shepherds and the Rain Forest Action Networks and all of the non-profits, organizations, and programs that are protecting things from extinction, destruction, pollution, devastation, etc. We also need people to be moving beyond civilization, so that civilization itself diminishes in its ability to chew up the world. And, I can understand those, such as perhaps some of the readers of Derrick Jensen, that would act in such a way to hinder or sabotage the great machine.
More practically, when thinking of what I'm going to do with my life, I am trying to keep these ideas in mind. For example, with my 4-year old son, we are already talking, due to his curiosity and just seeing things happen in the world, about life and death, and how we are part of the world, and how we came from the world, and will return to the world, and are all here together, and are all successful since "behold, we are here".
I'm also thinking of how to help people to save the earth, and of course, the great biodiversity, and prevent mass extinction, and ensure the survival of as many species, especially our own, which, once succeeding, will have the ability to provide a model, if and when other species evolve into a similar level of intellect as our own. How do I help these people? Is sharing some visions of the future useful? Is getting them together in one place, so that they can connect, and share, and learn, and work together towards a brighter future, is that useful? What is it that I am specially able to do to advance this social evolution? What is my path of "biggest bang for the buck"?
So, there you go. A bit of a summary of some of Quinn's main themes and thoughts, and some of my personal reflections.
Of all the books I've read, I think that Ishmael has had the greatest resonance with my life. It may not have resulted in as major of a change as reading Animal Liberation, not yet anyway, but I never really needed to re-read Animal Liberation to become vegan again. For Quinn's books, I want to reread them so that I can remember, and re-examine the stories that I am living, as a part of this culture in this civilization, and which stories I aspire to be living. Each time, I feel that I'm moving closer to harmony with that which I already believe and feel about life.
So, for anyone who has not read Ishmael, I do recommend it, and once done, if one is hungry for more, do continue with Quinn's other works, which complement and expand in Ishmael in any number of ways. Perhaps you will find, as I did, why these ideas are some of the most influential that you'll encounter.
Enjoy, and good luck on your journey.