I hope all this worlds Abigails, unlike the films version, will be willing to serve the desperate masses when they escape the concrete jungles. And be eager to teach them their role in the nature and food system. Be it in my lifetime or not. Peace starts with sharing food. Peace among people, and with nature.
Oct 23, 2023·edited Oct 23, 2023Liked by Pella Thiel
"I think the main reason we are in this metacrisis is that we have forgotten the fundamental fact that humans are a part of the living world."
Be it metacrisis or polycrisis, or some of each....
Let us ask, just how have we "forgotten the fundamental fact that humans are part of the living world" And who is the we who has forgotten this?
Those who have mostly forgotten generally live in cities. And among those who live in cities (which is now more than half of the world's human population) some have "forgotten" more than others. Even some city and suburb (and exurb) dwellers retain some memory of the fact of where food, water, breathable air, etc., comes from. And some who live in rural areas commute great distances to work each day, and are just as oblivious as anyone.
And while all of this is interesting, as part of the story, I think the real significance of the story of our mass collective forgetting has more to do with media and schools / universities than it has to do with whether one lives rurally, in suburbia ... or in an urban environment. We live in cultures which are mediated by media, shaped by what we call "education". Our "forgetting" is bound up with these, as well as with churches ... and all of the institutions of "cultural reproduction," including what politicians and political parties are up to.
The concept of 'cultural reproduction' had one meaning at its introduction, but the idea is too useful to be subsumed under its original conceptual schema and use. It's a phrase which, as I see it, indicates the institutional spaces in which culture perpetuates itself. Cultures of "forgetting" perpetuate themselves. And cultures of 'remembering' (our relation to soil, animals, plants, insects...) perpetuates themselves. But how? Who and what shapes the stories / narratives we dwell within?
I won't be around a lot longer. I want a new story to emerge now, and after my disappearance from the world. So I want the folks who do remember to have a good long, hard look at 'cultural reproduction'. I want us -- and them -- to learn how to shape the discourse, the dialogue, the narrative... so that those who come after me and us will have half a chance of a good life.
If we don't change the 'story' we're living in, the future is pretty bleak. I want us to know this, to understand it. Before it's too late.
Exactly. The "we" is on a cultural level, in all the institutions and rituals (or lack of them) that hold a culture together. When our needs are massive and relationships are obscured, there has to be strong cultural reproduction to remember our place in the web of life. We have the opposite.
Adam often mentions longing, which he distinguishes from mere desire. His story is one of following his longing to belong within the living land as a member of the living community, rather than the owner of property. I think a lot of us are feeling this longing now, this calling to allow ourselves to be welcomed home into the living land as a community member rather than a possessor.
The future I hope for would be much more communal in this way, with the communities in question including all of the species which inhabit the living land, with their stories and our stories being intertwined.
Thank you Pella for sharing your insight and words, they resonate deeply. I am currently a member of Capital Institute's Regenerative Economics Class Cohort 4 and your words align with our lecture today that focused on the broken construct of civilization on our planet. Instead of having a relationship where the order is supporting life and looks like this:
*Planet
*Civilization
*Beloved Economy Serving Life
*Sustainable & Circular Industry based on a living systems framework that includes Finance but not Fossil Fuel energy/plastic/chemicals
Humans have built a system based on infinite extraction from finite resources that only works with infinite growth and only rewards those at the top where the order is
*Financial & Fossil Fuel Industries
*Tier 2 Industries
*The Economy
*Civilization
*Planet Earth rapidly depleting natural wealth and social wealth to provide higher returns for the F&F
While I agree there are many interconnected issues until we address this fundamental flaw it is difficult to realize a holistic solution for all life and to return to the conditions on Earth to support all life.
“Regenerative Ag” is not a new idea. Daryl Posey’s work with the Yanomami was the first of many scientific “discoveries” that humans can drive biodiversity in complex ecosystems but it was the passionate words and detailed land “management” story from an Indigenous Alaskan Native friend (Yukon) that convinced me that our rightful ecological niche is keystone. Aboriginal scholar Tyson Yunkaporta (Sand Talk) also underscores the point in his essay, “Humans as Custodial Species”.
I hope all this worlds Abigails, unlike the films version, will be willing to serve the desperate masses when they escape the concrete jungles. And be eager to teach them their role in the nature and food system. Be it in my lifetime or not. Peace starts with sharing food. Peace among people, and with nature.
Indeed. Like you do.
"I think the main reason we are in this metacrisis is that we have forgotten the fundamental fact that humans are a part of the living world."
Be it metacrisis or polycrisis, or some of each....
Let us ask, just how have we "forgotten the fundamental fact that humans are part of the living world" And who is the we who has forgotten this?
Those who have mostly forgotten generally live in cities. And among those who live in cities (which is now more than half of the world's human population) some have "forgotten" more than others. Even some city and suburb (and exurb) dwellers retain some memory of the fact of where food, water, breathable air, etc., comes from. And some who live in rural areas commute great distances to work each day, and are just as oblivious as anyone.
And while all of this is interesting, as part of the story, I think the real significance of the story of our mass collective forgetting has more to do with media and schools / universities than it has to do with whether one lives rurally, in suburbia ... or in an urban environment. We live in cultures which are mediated by media, shaped by what we call "education". Our "forgetting" is bound up with these, as well as with churches ... and all of the institutions of "cultural reproduction," including what politicians and political parties are up to.
The concept of 'cultural reproduction' had one meaning at its introduction, but the idea is too useful to be subsumed under its original conceptual schema and use. It's a phrase which, as I see it, indicates the institutional spaces in which culture perpetuates itself. Cultures of "forgetting" perpetuate themselves. And cultures of 'remembering' (our relation to soil, animals, plants, insects...) perpetuates themselves. But how? Who and what shapes the stories / narratives we dwell within?
I won't be around a lot longer. I want a new story to emerge now, and after my disappearance from the world. So I want the folks who do remember to have a good long, hard look at 'cultural reproduction'. I want us -- and them -- to learn how to shape the discourse, the dialogue, the narrative... so that those who come after me and us will have half a chance of a good life.
If we don't change the 'story' we're living in, the future is pretty bleak. I want us to know this, to understand it. Before it's too late.
Exactly. The "we" is on a cultural level, in all the institutions and rituals (or lack of them) that hold a culture together. When our needs are massive and relationships are obscured, there has to be strong cultural reproduction to remember our place in the web of life. We have the opposite.
Where do you see emergence of a new story?
I see new story / stories emerging from living land ... and living cultures rooted into living land. Adam Wilson is one voice of this emerging story.
https://peasantryschool.substack.com/
Adam often mentions longing, which he distinguishes from mere desire. His story is one of following his longing to belong within the living land as a member of the living community, rather than the owner of property. I think a lot of us are feeling this longing now, this calling to allow ourselves to be welcomed home into the living land as a community member rather than a possessor.
The future I hope for would be much more communal in this way, with the communities in question including all of the species which inhabit the living land, with their stories and our stories being intertwined.
Yes! Thank you! I like to talk about desire though 😇 Will think about that pair of words, longing and desire.
Good article.
Is "“Why would I care about nature – what has nature ever done for me?” a quote from someone else or of your own making, Pella?
I wrote that, with no wrapping at all, trying to make something clear. Glad you like it 😊
Thank you Pella for sharing your insight and words, they resonate deeply. I am currently a member of Capital Institute's Regenerative Economics Class Cohort 4 and your words align with our lecture today that focused on the broken construct of civilization on our planet. Instead of having a relationship where the order is supporting life and looks like this:
*Planet
*Civilization
*Beloved Economy Serving Life
*Sustainable & Circular Industry based on a living systems framework that includes Finance but not Fossil Fuel energy/plastic/chemicals
Humans have built a system based on infinite extraction from finite resources that only works with infinite growth and only rewards those at the top where the order is
*Financial & Fossil Fuel Industries
*Tier 2 Industries
*The Economy
*Civilization
*Planet Earth rapidly depleting natural wealth and social wealth to provide higher returns for the F&F
While I agree there are many interconnected issues until we address this fundamental flaw it is difficult to realize a holistic solution for all life and to return to the conditions on Earth to support all life.
Tracey
“Regenerative Ag” is not a new idea. Daryl Posey’s work with the Yanomami was the first of many scientific “discoveries” that humans can drive biodiversity in complex ecosystems but it was the passionate words and detailed land “management” story from an Indigenous Alaskan Native friend (Yukon) that convinced me that our rightful ecological niche is keystone. Aboriginal scholar Tyson Yunkaporta (Sand Talk) also underscores the point in his essay, “Humans as Custodial Species”.