18 August 2004
Dear Friends,
It has been previously noted in this series that "The challenge today is to survive the collapse of civilization, and to pioneer a path that leads beyond civilization."1 It has been further observed that the "post-civilized" tribe is the only available "lifeboat" for surviving the collapse of civilization; and that
The Titanic was equipped with a woefully indadequate contingent of lifeboats, in relation to her passenger manifest, and in the event, even these were lanuched only partially filled. Today the situation is significantly different, for tribes are not physical things, like lifeboats, existing in inflexible numbers. The tribe is a formula, a pattern for cooperative human interaction, which may be duplicated in endless variety by humans of any description – provided we are able to attain an appropriate state of mind.
The "appropriate state of mind" for making use of a "tribal lifeboat" in which to escape collapsing civilization is the mentality of the culture Daniel Quinn calls the Leavers. The "state of mind" which condemns its possessors to "go down with the ship" is that of the culture of the Takers. The difference between Leavers and Takers is simple yet profound: the Takers are those who have elected to take the Law of Life into their own hands. The Leavers have chosen instead to leave the Law of Life in the hands of the gods.2
What does it mean to "leave the Law of Life in the hands of the gods," or to "live in the hands of the gods?" These are the questions we shall explore here.
My youngest son Dillon objects to the terminology, "living in the hands of the gods," on the grounds that it may imply a kind of complacency, or fatalism in the conduct of life. Believing that we "live in the hands of the gods," we may be tempted not to take responsibility or initiative in exercising our innate freedom of choice in navigating our individual lives.
Dillon's point is well taken. One may even speculate that, "in the hands of the gods," the very "purpose" of the past ten-thousand-year episode with Taker civilization has been to jar us out of our complacency, and nudge us into a trajectory beyond civilization upon which we do not ever again repeat the fatal error of allowing anyone the priviledge of pre-empting our individual sovereign free choice.
So what does that mean? How might one at once participate in a "post-civilized" tribe, "live in the hands of the gods," and effectively defend one's individual sovereign free choice from pre-emption by anyone or anything? It seems a tall order. Can it be done? and if so, how?
I believe it can be done, and must be done, if we are to survive as a species; on the grounds that every living species on this planet, including "uncivilized" humans, have been doing exactly this, or its equivalent, for millions of years. It must be possible for us to learn to do it too.
There is an additional complication to this issue which should be addressed, introduced by another reader of these essays: The Parable of the Tribes.3 The parable of the tribes is a theory which poses the following problem:
Imagine a group of several neighboring tribes which, initially, are all at peace with one another and on amicable terms. Then at some point one of these tribes turns hostile and aggressive, and commences a campaign of conquest among its neighbors. According to this theory, the outcome for any of the non-aggressive tribes can be one of four, and only four, alternatives:
- The tribe is conquered, and all its inhabitants are annihilated;
- The tribe is conquered, and its surviving inhabitants are forced to subordinate their wills to the will of the conquering tribe;
- The tribe flees to an inaccessible or inhospitable region, abandoning its territory, which is appropriated by the conquering tribe;
- The tribe resists conquest, and defeats its would-be conquerer.
The point of the parable of the tribes is that all four possible outcomes to this situation result in the expansion of the ways of power (as opposed to authentic power)4 among humans, at the expense of the ways of peace. In order for the fourth option to take effect, the conquest-resisting tribe is forced to adopt at least some of the ways of power initiated by the would-be conquering tribe, for power can only be countered with power.
The parable of the tribes [Schmookler writes] is a theory of social evolution which shows that power is like a contaminant, a disease, which once introduced will gradually yet inexorably become universal in the system of competing societies. More important than the inevitability of the struggle for power is the profound social evolutionary consequence of that struggle once it begins. A selection for power among civilized societies is inevitable.5
In other words, according to theory, any tribe at any time opting for the ways of power thereby imposes this one-way evolutionary path, sooner or later, upon all others, and the fate of the human race is thereby sealed.
Moreover, Schmookler argues that, once introduced, not only do the ways of power gradually foreclose upon the ways of peace, they also progressively foreclose upon the freedom of choice. Someone coercively accosted, for example, by a pistol muzzle in his ribs with the choice, "Your money or your life," cannot be said to have the option of exercising his free choice, which would otherwise probably have been to go on about his business unmolested. At a larger scale, yet in the same way, the imposition of tyranny upon a people, by its very nature forecloses their freedom of choice. Choices are literally taken away from them by the coercive power of the state.
From where I stand, I would call Schmookler's argument an example of an "inside-the-box" analysis, and it is persuasive only from that perspective. For one thing, I do not believe that there are four and only four possible outcomes to the dilemma posed by the parable of the tribes.
Of greatest importance is the fact, or principle, that energetic resistance to aggression does not imply or necessitate pre-emptive aggression in return.6 Pre-emptive exercise of force, in response to pre-emptive exercise of force, is but one – and not a very likely one at that – of an infinite smorgasbord of possible responses. Porcupines, for instance, do not initiate quarrels with mountain lions; yet if a mountain lion attacks a porcupine, you may rely upon it that the porcupine will account well for itself, even if it perishes in the struggle. This is why lions, their "overwhelming power" notwithstanding, do not habitually attack porcupines, and their "ways of power" do not proliferate out of control throughout the biological community.
Therefore, Schmookler's statement that "A selection for power among civilized societies is inevitable" requires further elaboration – in a different direction than Schmookler takes it. It agrees quite closely, in fact, with the point I am making about civilized societies in general – i.e. that "Actually, pre-emptive use of force is the defining mark of civilization!"7 Yet Schmookler's statement has no compelling applicability to the options available to "uncivilized" societies. Its perspective is entirely "inside the box" created by civilization.
In "option 2" of the parable of the warring tribes, even when conquered, and no matter how sorely oppressed, the surviving individuals may unite, if they choose, in various forms of highly creative and innovative resistance, sorely taxing, and eventually defeating the agenda of their oppressors. In recent decades this choice has been or is being exercised with significant effect by residents in Vietam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Pre-emptive attack, conquest, and tyranny do impose upon people circumstances not of their own choosing, and in this sense rob them of their freedom of choice. Accidents and various exigencies encountered in life frequently do the same. These circumstances, however, do not alter the fundamental human capacity for making creative choices under any and all circumstances.
Of the "four possible outcomes" to the parable of the tribes, only the first – total annihilation – may be said to be "final." And even that one may bear unpredictable consequences in the course of time. The rest are undeniably "ongoing stories," with any number of possible alternative or serial "outcomes." Once an individual, or a tribe, or a civilization "mounts the tiger" of pre-emptive force, their ceaseless challenge thence foreward is to remain mounted. It is an inherently unstable and unsustainable position. Even after ten thousand years, it can only end in catastrophe – for the "tiger-rider" certainly, and quite possibly for all planetary life, as is only too plainly evident today.
Conquest and oppression are made possible by the cooperation or acquiescense of individuals. This is the "secret of success" of the "divide and conquer" formula. Individuals may make the choice of cooperating with their oppressors in betrayal of their fellows... but what if they don't? What if they make a different choice instead? What if individuals, each for his or her individual reasons, reach the conclusion deep within themselves that conquest and oppression don't work, and decide not to acquiesce in it, or cooperate with it? decide to oppose it, hinder it, and sabotage it, in large and small ways, at every opportunity? What if there were to occur a change in consciousness among all strata of a conquered society, including among the soldiers, the police, and the administrators8 at every level of said society, and the individuals decided to "just say NO!" to conquest, tyranny, terror, and oppression? What then?
One thing only is certain: Those who continue to do what we've been doing for ten thousand years will continue to get what we've gotten for ten thousand years. Which is (do I really have to spell this out?): extravagant privilege for the "pharoahs," oppression, tyranny, and death for everyone else. So it has been, for ten thousand years. So shall it be – but not for very much longer. That system, the Taker system, which goes under the name "civilization," is now at an end, one way or another; for the inflexible biological reason, if for no other, that it is physically unsustainable, and its sustenance on this planet has come to an end. End of story. The time has come, if anyone survives, for a new story.
NOW, for those who are still with me, How might one at once participate in a "post-civilized" tribe, "live in the hands of the gods," and effectively defend one's individual sovereign free choice from pre-emption by anyone or anything? This is the question on the agenda paper before us, to which we must find a solution, or perish. Necessity, so it is said, is the mother of invention. It sharpens the wits, and stimulates native resourcefulness. We stand right now, you and I, at the point of necessity. Our very lives are at risk here, and the lives of all our children, and our children's children, forever. The stakes in this game could not possibly be raised any higher. Therefore, let us invent.
So-o-o... here we are, Folks, at the beginning of a "new millennium," with 6½ thousand million humans, predicted to double within the next generation; famine, plagues, war, grinding poverty for vast multitudes, juxtiposed with incalculable wealth and (inauthentic) power in the hands of a miniscule fraction of the population; airplanes, computers, global telecommunication,... and on, and on: the contemporary world – including a civilization in the insane final act of devouring itself whole.
If you have found agreement with the main thrust of what I have written so far in this essay, and / or in its predecessors in this series, then you may agree with me that there is a "viable exit" from the hazards we face in this world, and it lies not along the route of "more of the same," or "business as usual." Nor does it prescribe a return to our primitive past – although it does call forward a vital element from our most ancient past, for application in our present and our future. This of course is the pattern of the tribe, which has evolved over the course of millions of years to a high degree of sophistication and effectiveness in the "real world."
These things we may understand "in principle," yet part of our problem is, it is doubtful we know how to apply them in practice, right here, right now. Anyway I can't say with confidence that I know how to do it; do you? I, like my parents, and their parents, and so on back, am a child of civilization. I haven't been part of a tribe, and don't know how to go about creating one, or connecting with one, or if they'd even have me if I did, or how to act if they would. This is entirely new ground for me, as I imagine it is for most of those reading this. So where do we begin?
I don't know about you, but I already have begun; and I consider it a major step simply to have identified the tribe as the focal point of my striving, even if I have at the moment no more than a rudimentary notion of what a tribe is, or how it might work. This is a step forward, and it has been preceeded by many steps; and there are many more steps yet to follow. This is how every journey is conducted: a step at a time.
Also, it seems reasonable to me that if the tribe is the pattern that works for humans, because it has evolved through daily use over the course of millions of years in every part of the Earth inhabited by humans, then even artificial products of hothouse cultivation like me must have somewhere within us the "racial memory" of our tribal heritage. If we have it within us, then if we search, and dig, and delve, surely we must be able to find it there, and resuscitate it, and bring it to potent life in our present circumstances, whatever these may be.
And another thing: we're not exactly starting off with a completely empty slate. We've already learned a few very important things about where we're headed on this course; such as that the vital difference between Takers and Leavers is that Leavers live "in the hands of the gods," and Takers don't. So if we commence deliberately and intentionally "living in the hands of the gods" too, we're already moving into a tribal way of living, and are leaving the Taker way of life. That sounds like a pretty good step to me.
Then too, if we really do place our lives "in the hands of the gods," is it not reasonable to expect that the gods might bless us from time to time? Give us a bit of a "boost" along the way, when we point ourselves in directions that align with the Law of Life?9
As Dillon has already pointed out above, there lurks a hazard in this expectation, inasmuch as it may invite complacency, or fatalism in the conduct of our lives, with a possible eventual return to the abyss from which we are so desperately endeavoring to extricate ourselves. Yes, this is a hazard, and hazards can be, yet are not infallibly so, injurious or fatal: they can also be evaded, avoided, or otherwise carefully dealt with. In any case, there are hazards in the world, which realistically must be faced, and this is one of them.
Nevertheless, supposing we do successfully extricate ourselves, at least some of us, from our ten-thousand-year nightmare with civilization. Doesn't it seem likely that the survivors will have learned a lesson or two from the experience, and that among these lessons is the necessity of remaining vigilant never to allow anyone to pre-empt the freedom of choice that is the essential bedrock of human nature? I think we're going to have to place reliance upon the vigilance of the follow-on generations, if any, to adhere to the Law of Life, and not repeat the error of our Taker ancestors.
Then if we seek them, what, in actual practice, might "the blessing of the gods" be like? The gods evidently do not "bless" us by artificially blocking our path from falling into error – or the past ten thousand years would have been entirely different than they have been. The gods, in other words, have demonstrated that they in no way interfere with the exercise of our freedom of choice. Takers do this routinely; the gods, never, even when the consequences are calamitous. Thus again, it is unavoidably our responsibility, and no one else's, to husband our freedom, and allow it to be pre-empted or compromised by no one and nothing, ever, even if we must die defending it. Ah..., that is if this is our choice.
A corollary to this principle must be that the deliberate pre-emption of the freedom of choice of others is also contrary to the Law of Life. However, it cannot be quite so simple as this, for it is not possible to live without the taking of life, i.e. pre-empting something. This returns us to the legendary dilemma of the gods themselves, who must have the Knowledge of Good and Evil in order to decide equitably who shall live and who shall die.10
Okay, how about this?
Living in the hands of the gods, and in harmony with the Law of Life, one may take life to sustain life, and to defend freedom. Taking life, or any action, deliberately for the purpose of pre-empting freedom is out of harmony with the Law of Life, and has not the blessing of the gods.
"The blessing of the gods" emerges as of enormous importance to Leavers, who "live in the hands of the gods," for this is the compass by means of which one navigates Life effectively. When things are going well, when one "feels in rhythm with the pulse of Life," when "doors open" as one approaches them, one has the sense of having "the blessing of the gods," and of "living in harmony with the Law of Life." When "nothing is working right," and one feels "obstructed," "blocked in," "uncertain," "anxious," "out of sorts," etc., one may have the sense of not having "the blessing of the gods," and of being "out of harmony with the Law of Life."
At such times, perhaps, where a Taker might plow mindlessly forward, pushing by main force all obstructions out of his chosen path, a Leaver might pause in self-examination, and contemplate why this path "has not the blessing of the gods." It is a subtler, quieter, gentler, more patient approach to Life than we of the Taker heritage are accustomed to. It is like the path water takes down a mountainside to the sea; in contrast, for instance, to the path a railway takes across a continent.
It is important to understand explicitly that nothing is forbidden by the Law of Life, or by "the blessing of the gods." If anything were forbidden, this would be an obstruction to our freedom of choice, without which we cannot be entirely human. The Law of Life simply requires that every choice bears with it unavoidable consequences – and that is all. It is sufficient. Therefore, "the blessing of the gods" can be a very important factor in anticipating the consequences of particular choices; for the gods probably know many things that are hidden from us, and many consequences beyond our ken. It may therefore be highly prudent to develop a sesnitivity to the kinds of choices that have, and have not, "the blessing of the gods."
Ten thousand years ago, our Taker ancestors must not have developed this sensitivity, or lost it, and so made the choices they made, and reaped the consequences we see all around us today. Perhaps this time – presuming some of us are able to survive these consequences – we will have learned not to make the same mistake twice. If a dog can learn as much, surely we can too?11
While we're discussing them, what are "the gods?" What are they like? Who are they? Where do they live? How many gods are there? What are their names? Where did they come from? How ought we to communicate with them? How do they communicate with us?
I doubt that most of these questions are essential, or require explicit answers; for the reason that they have never had explicit answers, even during the three million years of Leaver culture, before the Takers launched the "civilization experiment." To me, it seems sufficient to know that "the gods," whoever / whatever / wherever they are, are benign, purposeful, and potent. And they are present, everywhere, always, without exception.12 I suppose these things may be known only through consultation deep within one's own Self. You may engage in such a consultation at any time, and then the opinions of others, including those of "the authorities," will be of little importance to you.
As disclosed by my personal self-search, one communicates with the gods with every thought, word, and deed in one's life; and they communicate with us by means of every thing and event and circumstance we encounter in Life. We communicate with the gods by means of what we are, and they communicate with us by means of All That Is. We may pay attention, or not, to what we communicate to the gods, and to what they communicate to us. In any case, our messages flow both ways, always, without interruption, unvarnished and unedited. This is a constant flow, into which we may tap at will anywhere, any time, under any circumstances – simply by paying attention.
This too may be an unaccustomed habit for we who have been cultivated by the Takers. For the Takers have taught us for the past ten thousand years to consult only "the authorities" with any questions we may have about anything; and never, never, never to consult the gods, or our own inmost selves. To do so has been universally condemned as "evil" in Taker cultures, or as "heresy," or "blasphemy," or "witchcraft," or "sorcery," or "primitive," or "pagan," or "superstitious," or "irrational," or "unscientific," or "mystical," or "psychotic," or "hallucination."
For the Takers have themselves – or think they have – "eaten the food of the gods," and have thereby gained the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and know not only who should live and who should die under every imaginable circumstance, but have knowledge as well of the answers to all questions, and so insist that everybody come to them for "all the answers."
In the past, over the generations, centuries, and millennia, many, many, many of us have naïvely taken "the authorities" at their word, and accepted their "authority" without question or doubt – only to discover again, and again, and again that they either didn't know the answers to our questions after all, and fabricated fairy-tales instead, or deliberately and maliciously lied to us, or gave us misleading information adventageous to their ends, and destructive of ours, or all of the above, and more, in the way of grevous fraud, nondisclosure, and malicious abuse of "authority."
In the end, it has become clear to at least some of us that uncritical acceptance of the "authority" of "the authorities" is simply one more way of abdicating responsibility for husbanding and defending our sovereign, sacred freedom of choice; which alone furnishes us with the integrity of being human.
Again, and again, I find myself returning to, or orbiting around, an idea I have alluded to elsewhere,13 as well as several times in this essay. It seems to me inescapable that the essential condition that makes our human qualities possible is the condition of freedom of choice. We humans are, it seems to me, creators, inventors, innovators; and without unbridled and unfettered freedom of choice, these essentially human qualities cannot be fully exercised.
Every species and creature has its place, and makes its contribution to the vast panoply we sometimes call Life. Bees make honey and pollinate flowers; predators keep herbivorous populations in balance; plants produce oxygen for animals to breathe; animals fertalize the plants.... Humans, so it seems to me, create. And for this we require freedom. We have been given freedom by the gods; yet being free, it is our responsibility, not theirs, to maintain our freedom. Our episode with civilization has demonstrated that it is possible for us to lose our freedom, if some among us take it upon themselves to pre-empt it. Such a course, although not prohibited, obviously "has not the blessing of the gods," and is ultimately not sustainable. It cannot go on forever, yet during its growth an entire life-bearing planet can evidently be rendered sterile.
Therefore, it seems to me probable that the survivors of civilization, if any, who pioneer the onward sweep of human evolution beyond civilization, will by their experience have "written into" the Law of Life a "clause" to the effect that "it is not okay to pre-empt the freedom of choice of one's fellow humans." I have often expressed this idea in the following terms:
a) Do... whatever you like.
[If your choice is for peace, life, and endless evolution,]
b) Allow... all others the same liberty.
Of course, these imperfect renderings in human language are not very much like the Law of Life to which they refer; for the Law of Life is "written" not in any human language, or in the language of any species, but exclusively in the "Cosmic language" of What Is, and what works. Nevertheless, a post-civilized tribe might articulate among its tribal laws a principle along the lines of what I proposed earlier as the "tribal ideal," thus:
A tribe that adheres to the "tribal ideal" is one whose members adhere to it; and a member who adheres to the "tribal ideal" is one who in no way imposes, or attempts to impose his or her unsolicited will upon that of another. Defensive responses to the unsolicited imposition of will do not violate the "tribal ideal." Pre-emptive use of force is the only action contrary to the "tribal ideal," and is the defining mark of savagery, barbarism, and civilization.14
In this rendering, the tribal ideal does not pretend to encompass the entire scope of tribal law for a post-civilized tribe. Tribal law evolves as something unique and particular to each tribe, and to the extent that it works, is consistent with the Law of Life. The tribal ideal simply makes explicit a hard lesson learned from the ten-thousand-year "civilization experiment" about what works, and what does not.
A corollary to the tribal ideal would be to the effect that it is approprate to resist pre-emptive force swiftly and decisively, by any and all available means, wherever, whenever it is encountered, under any and all circumstances. Any attempt to pre-empt the will of a fellow human is to threaten his or her humanity; and failure to resist, evade, or otherwise nutralize pre-emptive force constitutes acquiescense in a potential threat to the humanity of the entire human race. The loss of our essential humanity is in turn threatening to the entire fabric of Life on the planet.
Such is the hard lesson of the "civilization experiment," and I suggest that it well behooves any post-civilized tribe aspiring to carry the torch of human evolution beyond civilization to weave it securely into the tapestry of their tribal law – with the caveat, as observed elsewhere, that "Any 'Commandment' or human 'Law' to the effect that 'Thou shalt not exercise pre-emptive force.' is itself the exercise of pre-emptive force."15
Schmookler is correct, in the work cited above, where he writes,
What is viable in a world beset by the struggle for power [i.e. beset by civilization] is what can prevail. What prevails may not be what best meets the needs of mankind. The continuous selection for power has thus continually closed off many humane cultural options that people might otherwise have preferred.16
Civilization has indeed robbed us of our freedom of choice, hence of our humanity; has brought forth upon this planet circumstances not of the choosing of most of its inhabitants, and today severely threatens the fabric of Life on planet Earth. What civilization has not robbed us of, because it cannot, is our innate creative capacity to make individual choices in any and all circumstances, including even those under which we live today. If one's choice is to "go along to get along," so be it; that is a choice to "do what you did; get what you got." It is not the only choice available to us, however, and herein lies the authentic power17 native to each Sovereign Individual; and the solution, if there is one,18 to the human predicament.
Earlier I expressed the opinion that
...the most appropriate strategy an individual can pursue, who wishes to "stand from under" the collapse of civilization, is to abandon the Takers, and join the Leavers, eftsoons, or ASAP – as a matter of personal survival; and as a matter of taking the most effective possible action towards a solution to the human predicament on Earth.19
Now I will attempt to compile a list of essential elements that clarify what it means to "abandon the Takers, and join the Leavers," and commence living in the hands of the gods. This will necessarily be a fragmentary list, subject to expansion, contraction, consolidation, revision, and refinement as exploration for a route beyond civilization continues; and I invite and encourage the participation of any with an interest in it. We will start with elements already suggested, in this work and in others.
- New memes for old: "The strategy of adopting the 'tribal ideal,' or something like it, as a means 'keeping the peace' without resorting to civilization, amounts to replacing old memes with new ones; such as:
- "Our way is the only right way to live, and all people should live as we do.
...may be replaced by
There is no one right way to live, or to do anything; therefore, do whatever you like; and if you value peace, allow all others the same liberty.
- "Civilization is the greatest and final achievement of humanity.
...may be replaced by
There is no final, highest, or greatest achievement for anything, because life is an unending spiral of becomiong.
- "Civilization must not be lost or abandoned under any circumstances.
...may be replaced by
There is nothing that may not be abandoned, if it is found not to work.
- "Humanity was destined from our earliest beginnings to create civilization.
...may be replaced by
Nothing has ever been destined, beyond that we create what we choose, and we live (or die) with the consequences.
- "The earth was created for humanity, and humanity was created to conquer and rule the earth.
...may be replaced by
Nothing that exists is any more important or wonderful than anything else that exists. The least and the greatest are alike sacred."20- "Absent mutual understanding and agreement among all persons concerned, no human has priority over another: for the reason that All are One, and each of us springs from a singular and common Source; making all natural persons peers in the realm of Being. No peer can make a legitimate claim upon another, absent mutual understanding and agreement."21
- "You may compete to the full extent of your capabilities, but you may not hunt down your competitors or destroy their food or deny them access to food. In other words, you may compete but you may not wage war on your competitors."22
- "A tribe that adheres to the 'tribal ideal' is one whose members adhere to it; and a member who adheres to the 'tribal ideal' is one who in no way imposes, or attempts to impose his or her unsolicited will upon that of another. Defensive responses to the unsolicited imposition of will do not violate the 'tribal ideal.' Pre-emptive use of force is the only action contrary to the 'tribal ideal,' and is the defining mark of savagery, barbarism, and civilization."23
- "Living in the hands of the gods, and in harmony with the Law of Life, one may take life to sustain life, and to defend freedom. Taking life, or any action, deliberately for the purpose of pre-empting freedom is out of harmony with the Law of Life, and has not the blessing of the gods."24
- "[I]t is not okay to pre-empt the freedom of choice of one's fellow humans. [Therefore:]
"a) Do... whatever you like.
[If your choice is for peace, life,
and endless evolution,]
"b) Allow... all others the same liberty."25- "A corollary to the tribal ideal would be to the effect that it is approprate to resist pre-emptive force swiftly and decisively, by any and all available means, wherever, whenever it is encountered, under any and all circumstances. Any attempt to pre-empt the will of a fellow human is to threaten his or her humanity; and failure to resist, evade, or otherwise nutralize pre-emptive force constitutes acquiescense in a potential threat to the humanity of the entire human race. The loss of our essential humanity is in turn threatening to the entire fabric of Life on the planet."26
All of the above are proposals. There will probably be others, and some of them may be consolodated and further refined. What they are proposals for are articulations of what I am suggesting are essential elements of the Law of Life applicable to post-civilized tribes. I am suggesting that, in their eventual expanded, contracted, consolidated, revised, and / or refined form, they be incorporated into the tribal law of tribes with aspirations of pioneering human evolution beyond civilization; in which case they will be tested, sifted, discarded or refined further in the crucible of time in exactly the same way every other element of the Law of Life is tested, sifted, and refined. If it works, it remains for further evolution and refinement; if it doesn't work, it goes away. This has nothing to do do with what I or anyone else may think of as "a good idea," or simply "nice." It is, in other words, in the hands of the gods, where (in my opinion) it belongs.
This essay is followed by a sequel, The Gods & the Law of Life, "Dear Friends," 9/9/04 edition.
- Civilization and Savagery – 5/25/04;
- Beyond Civilization or The Killer Meme – 6/20/04;
- The Tribal Ideal – 7/2/04;
- Leavers and Takers – 8/6/04;
- In the Hands of the Gods – 8/18/04.
- The Gods & the Law of Life – 9/9/04.
- The Metaconsciousness Myth – 9/22/04.
- A Pact With the Devil – 10/14/04.
- A Metaconscious Mosaic – 10/27/04.
- More About Metaconsciousness, Part I – 2/5/05.
- More About Metaconsciousness, Part II – 3/20/05.
_____________________________________
1. In Leavers and Takers, footnote 5.
3. Andrew Bard Schmookler, The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem of Power in Social Evolution, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1984.
4. Schmookler defines the ways of power as "...power is a coercive capacity. Power may also be defined as the ability to restrict the range of another's choices. It is thus differentiated from the kind of persuasive power that changes how others decide to exercise choice (except to the extent that, as, for example, in brainwashing, and less obviously in many other forms of indoctrination, coercive power creates the situation in which persuasion becomes possible)," ibid., p. 20, footnote 4.
Authentic power, in contrast, a term coined by Gary Zukav, has nothing to do with coercion or restricting the choices available to another, is inalienably inherent to each sovereign individual, and is discussed at some length in my essay, "Creating Reality," 7/11/01.
5. Schmookler, 1984, p. 22, emphasis in the original.
6. Well, "pre-emptive aggression in return" is a bit ambiguous in this connection, because "in return" implies it is not pre-emptive, but a response to pre-emption. The point being made here is that pre-emptive aggression can, but does not necessarily have to, degenerate into a kind of interminable "blood feud" which only terminates upon annihilation of one, or both, or all parties to the feud, or "unconditional surrender" of the "vanquished" to the "victor." This is the general formula for "civilization," but there are other alternatives.
7. Beyond Civilization or The Killer Meme, emphasis in the original.
8. It souldn't be necessary to mention, but I will anyway, that soldiers, policemen, and administrators are individual human beings, just like anyone else, before they are "soldiers," "policemen," or "administrators." And just like anyone and everyone else who resides on this planet right now, their life, and the survival of their species, is on the line. Either we – all of us, or some of us – survive the collapse of civilization, or none of us do; yet while each of us draws breath, each of us is armed with the unalienable power of choice as to what we will and will not do. Either this is sufficient, or it is not. It is what it is.
9. See footnote 2, or specifically, Leavers and Takers for a description of the Law of Life.
10. See Daniel Quinn, Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit, A Bantam / Turner Book, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1992, for a disussion of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. See also Leavers and Takers.
12. See The Gods & the Law of Life for further development of these mythological speculations.
13. Among others, in Civilization and Savagery, and again in The Tribal Ideal.
14. Beyond Civilization or The Killer Meme. See also "Dear Friends," 12/15/03, "Dear Friends," 2/15/04, Beyond Civilization or The Killer Meme, The Tribal Ideal, and Toward the Sovereign Integral, for discussions of pre-emptive force.
16. Schmookler, 1984, p. 23.
17. See footnote 4, second paragraph.
18. Repeatedly throughout this essay I have explicitly left room for the possibility that we may not succeed in our endeavor to pioneer a path beyond civilization. We may, Takers, Leavers, and all Life on planet Earth "go down with the ship," leaving in our wake nothing more than the smoking ruin of another lifeless world. This is a possibility which cannot be ruled out, so long as civilization continues to tyrannize the planet. I mention this, not to dwell in morbidity, but to emphasize the incalculable stakes at issue.
Under the extremities of desperate circumstances, people have been observed to extend themselves to extraordinary lengths, to accomplishments beyond imagination under "ordinary circumstances." Many people seem not to be aware of it, or to have been numbed into a state of somnambulance; yet aware of it or not, there is today not a human resident of this planet who is not facing the most desperate circumstances ever encountered by anyone in three million years: total, utter, and irrevocable extinction. Your life, my life, and the lives of all our children and descendents, stand upon the precipice of possibly being wiped out, and rendered as if we had never been. This goes for our long departed ancestors, no less than for ourselves and our children; for if we perish today, then all the struggles and accomplishments, all the victories and defeats, and discoveries and glorious, heroic achievements of all our ancestors... will have come to nothing; and genus Homo may as well never have set foot upon the Earth.
Therefore, if there ever was a time to extend ourselves to extraordinary lengths, to accomplishments beyond imagination under "ordinary circumstances," that time is NOW. It is a time for "thinking the unthinkable," and "doing the impossible." What I am suggesting, i.e. abandoning civilization, may – under "ordinary circumstances" – be exactly described in many minds and hearts as "unthinkable" and "impossible." Yet today, nobody on Earth lives under "ordinary circumstances."
So what'll it be? Do what you did; get what you got. The fate of humanity is not only "in the hands of the gods." It is also in the hands of humanity – which means in your hands, and in mine. In order to do other than we did, we must think other than we thought, and feel other than we felt. These are the challenges that face each of us today.
Fortunately, these are challenges that each of us can face, entirely within the quiet sanctuary of our own hearts and minds. We are not called upon to "leap over tall buildings at a single bound," or to answer to anyone other than ourselves. We are called upon only to think other than we thought, and feel other than we felt, so that we can do other than we did, and get other than we got. For me, this is reason for exuberant optimism. How about you?
19. Leavers and Takers, emphasis in original.
21. FDL Draft Vision Statement, paragraph 4.1.
22. Daniel Quinn, The Story of B, Bantam Books, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1996, p. 252.
23. Beyond Civilization or The Killer Meme. See also, above.
"In the Hands of the Gods" copyright 2004 by J. Harmon Grahn. Copying and redistribution, in whole or in part, are permitted in any medium provided this notice is included.
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