The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race
By Jared Diamond
Discover Magazine, May 1987
To science we owe dramatic changes in our smug self-image. Astronomy taught us that our earth isn’t the center of the universe but merely one of billions of heavenly bodies. From biology we learned that we weren’t specially created by God but evolved along with millions of other species. Now archaeology is demolishing another sacred belief: that human history over the past million years has been a long tale of progress. In particular, recent discoveries suggest that the adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe from which we have never recovered. With agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism, that curse our existence.
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
September 10, 2010
September 5, 2010
The Primitivist Critique of Civilization
by Richard Heinberg
A paper presented at the 24th annual meeting of the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, June 15, 1995.
I. Prologue
Having been chosen--whether as devil's advocate or sacrificial lamb, I am not sure--to lead off this discussion on the question, "Was Civilization a Mistake?", I would like to offer some preliminary thoughts.
From the viewpoint of any non-civilized person, this consideration would appear to be steeped in irony. Here we are, after all, some of the most civilized people on the planet, discussing in the most civilized way imaginable whether civilization itself might be an error. Most of our fellow civilians would likely find our discussion, in addition to being ironic, also disturbing and pointless: after all, what person who has grown up with cars, electricity, and television would relish the idea of living without a house, and of surviving only on wild foods?
The Lessons of Easter Island
The Lessons of Easter Island
By Clive Ponting
Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited places on earth. Only some 150 square miles in area, it lies in the Pacific Ocean, 2,000 miles off the west coast of South America and 1250 miles from the nearest inhabitable land of Pitcairn Island. At its peak the population was only about 7,000. Yet despite its superficial insignificance, the history of Easter Island is a grim warning to the world.
The Dutch Admiral Roggeveen, on board the Arena was the first European to visit the island on Easter Sunday 1722. He found a society in a primitive state with about 3,000 people living in squalid reed huts or caves, engaged in almost perpetual warfare and resorting to cannibalism in a desperate attempt to supplement the meagre food supplies available on the island. During the next European visit in 1770 the Spanish nominally annexed the island but it was so remote, underpopulated and lacking in resources that no formal colonial occupation ever took place. There were a few more brief visits in the late eighteenth century, including one by Captain Cook in 1774. An American ship stayed long enough to carry off twenty-two inhabitants to work as slaves killing seals on Masafuera Island off the Chilean coast. The population continued to decline and conditions on the island worsened: in 1877 the Peruvians removed and enslaved all but 110 old people and children. Eventually the island was taken over by Chile and turned into a giant ranch for 40,000 sheep run by a British company, with the few remaining inhabitants confined to one small village.
June 11, 2010
Orlog
Orlog: The Procession of the Ages of the World
By Robin Artisson
A Suggested Schema for Understanding the Becoming, Perishing, and Re-Becoming of the Nine World System
Based on Voluspa and Gylfaginning
A Heathen Perspective on the History of the World and the Cosmos by Robin Artisson
Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved
The Perennial Wisdom of the World-Cycle
One of the most crucial functions of mythology, cosmology, and mytho-poetic history is to give a people a grasp on their place within the cosmos. It can situate people within a framework that can be understood in terms of both time and space, but also in terms of deeper meaning, as the various impelling, preserving, and destroying forces that are given names in any mythology can be realized and approached on more than one level.
November 14, 2009
Otto Rahn (1904-1939), described as a gifted young author and historian, was one of this century’s truly fascinating figures. Prior to his mysterious death, at age 35, he wrote two books about the Cathars of southern France: Kreuzzug gegen den Gral (“Crusade Against the Grail”) and Luzifers Hofgesind (“Lucifer’s Court”). Myth and legend continue to shroud both his life and tragic death. While his books influenced such authors as Trevor Ravenscroft and Jean-Michel Angebert, they were never translated into English. In the 1982 best selling book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Otto Rahn’s name appears in a small but intriguing footnote.
November 7, 2009
HIGH C's of TREASON
HIGH C's of TREASON
By Ron McVan
"The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and woman submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments."
......................William E. Borah
(Constantine) Today's Christians still venerate the Roman emperor Constantine to saintly status as the Great Christian liberator. In truth, Constantine was far from saintly throughout his life. The nature of Constantine's conversion to the Christian faith has long been a matter of dispute. Though he used the banner of Christianity to secure power and reek havoc and slaughter upon his pagan enemies, he refused to be baptised until he was on his death bed.
