[Note: The following is some new and updated material from my rough draft of Wild, Free, & Happy. It will be included in the revised Human Web section, which was originally released as samples 52 and 53. The other samples of this rough draft can be accessed HERE. If you prefer audiobooks, Michael Dowd has been reading and recording my book HERE.]
Magical
Thinking
Imagine living in an era when bubonic plague epidemics were
common and horrific. Geoffrey Marks
noted that the Black Death arrived in England in 1348, and was followed by
epidemics in 1349, 1361, 1363, 1365, 1369, 1371, 1373, 1375, 1378-1382, 1390,
1399-1400 …and on and on… until the Great Plague of London in 1665-1666. Over the course of several months, the Great
Plague killed about 100,000, almost a quarter of London’s population.
In 1772, Daniel Defoe (author of “Robinson Crusoe”) published
“A Journal of the Plague Year.” He was a
young boy during the Great Plague, and had a front row seat on the horror show. As an adult, he interviewed a number of
survivors. His uncle kept diaries during
the nightmare.
The city was a fantastically
filthy nightmare. Sewage was dumped in
ditches along the streets. Horseshit and
garbage everywhere. Everyone had lice, bathing
was rare, and great mobs of rats enjoyed a wonderful life.
When folks heard news
of an approaching contagion, anyone who had options (nobility, clergy,
physicians, officers, etc.) fled London in a great stampede. Poor folks were left behind to experience
what the fates would deliver.
Efforts were made to
slow the spread of disease. When someone
was known to be infected (or so suspected), a red cross was painted on the
door, and the dwelling was guarded day and night by a watchman, to prevent escapes,
and to provide necessities. Thus, the
entire family was condemned to die.
Folks were infuriated, and there were riots.
Bell ringers moved
through the streets, shouting “bring out your dead.” They were followed by buriers or bearers who
loaded the dead carts. Large pits were
dug in which to dump the corpses. Defoe
wrote, “It is impossible to describe the most horrible cries and noise that the
poor people would make at their bringing the dead bodies of their children and
friends out of the cart.”
Doctors had no cures,
and prayers got no response. Johannes
Nohl reported that during plague years, a number of communities in Europe
engaged in ceremonial dances, hoping to drive away the evil spirits. Hundreds danced until they collapsed from
exhaustion. Folks were overwhelmed with
despair. People rolled in filth, begging
others to beat them. “Otherwise modest
maidens and matrons lost all sense of shame, sighed, howled, made indecent
gestures, and uncovered obscene parts of their bodies.”
It was obvious to everyone that the plague was killing the
clergy at especially high rates (it was their job to visit the dying). Why did God have no interest in protecting
his own special agents? Many priests
lived with concubines, an abominable sin.
Did this mean that the baptisms they performed were worthless? Many lost their faith. While large crowds danced, the churches sat
empty. A furious mob of Germans went to
Liège, determined to massacre all clergy.
One tradition noted that in 1424, a lad named Maccaber
arrived in Paris, and took residence in an ancient tower next to a
cemetery. Folks believed he had
supernatural powers. He initiated an
ecclesiastic procession. Every day, for
months, crowds of men and women danced in the cemetery. Folks wore scary masks to drive away the evil
spirits.
Over time, in many places, during many plagues, folks
experimented with a wide variety of rituals.
Despite good intentions, their efforts failed. The rats and fleas remained alive and well,
and the grim reaper worked overtime. Blind
faith in rituals is called magical thinking.
Unfortunately, beautiful wishes don’t always come true.
Today, of course, global telecommunication systems and the
internet allow magical beliefs and assorted conspiracy theories to spread
through large populations at astonishing speeds. Societies become fiercely polarized, echo
chambers roar, intolerance punches, courtesy vaporizes, bullets fly, and daily
life becomes a surreal tragicomedy.
Elections no longer have losers — every candidate claims victory!
Humanism
Many humans imagine that our species enjoys a superior status
in the family of life. Indeed, many hiss
and snarl at the notion that humans are animals (!!). We are obviously smarter, stronger, and
greater in every way! A number of
religious traditions assert that humans are something like the glorious crown
of creation, the managers of the world.
Earth is our playground.
These beliefs typically emerged in cultures that became
addicted to the exploitation of domesticated plants and/or animals — turbulent
societies that cleared forests, planted fields, raised birds and herds, and
radically altered (and damaged) the ecosystems they inhabited.
Our wild ancestors were far more humble. They were hunters and foragers, not planet
smashing thunder beings. Peter Ungar
wrote that when an anthropologist in Tanzania asked some Hazda hunters how
humans were different from other animals, they were completely baffled. There is no difference. What a stupid question! We all eat, drink, breathe, excrete, wander,
and reproduce. Many carnivores think
we’re absolutely delicious, and they eagerly enjoy every opportunity for having
us for lunch.
Richard
Nelson spent time (1976-77) with the Koyukon people of Alaska. Their often quoted proverb is: “Every animal
knows way more than you do.” They
believe that animals can understand everything we say, regardless of
distance. The Koyukon were not a culture
of motor vehicles and glowing screens.
They were a hunting culture that had an amazingly deep understanding of
nature, and absolute respect for it.
Modern folks have lost this intimate wild connection to home. Nelson wrote, “We live alone in an uncaring
world of our own creation.”
David Ehrenfeld wrote The
Arrogance of Humanism. It
was an aggressive critique of the widespread belief in human supremacy. He wrote that humanism was “the dominant
religion of our time.” It’s essentially
the air we breathe. Humans are absolute
geniuses, and our technology is amazing.
There is no problem we cannot solve.
We have no limits. As resources
become depleted, we’ll readily develop excellent alternatives. Our children will enjoy even better lives
than our own, and the best is yet to come.
Yippee!
Ehrenfeld wrote back in 1978, when pollution controls, if
any, were weak, and the air and waters were heavily contaminated with noxious
substances. The entire city of Gary
Indiana was hidden in a stinky orange fog of steel mill filth. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught on fire.
In the ’70s, numerous eco-disasters were occurring around the
world, but the general mob paid little attention to stuff happening elsewhere —
out of sight, out of mind. Network
television avoided the yucky stuff, and hypnotized folks with generous servings
of sports, entertainment, and happy news.
School systems tirelessly preached the holy gospel of humanism, and
celebrated the age of miracles that students were so lucky to enjoy.
While the thundering human juggernaut was beating the living
shit out of the planet, the mob barely noticed.
They were busy polishing their new cars.
Most remained zombie-like cheerleaders of the wonders of modernity, and
the beautiful future that laid ahead.
This baffled Ehrenfeld.
Nobody <bleeping> cares! The
poor lad apparently suffered from a devastating incurable mental disorder known
as critical thinking. He was a sick
pariah. Humanist culture has zero
respect for hopeless nutjobs, defeatists, misanthropes, oddballs, and doom
perverts.
Ehrenfeld shrugged. “Evidence
is growing that the religion of humanity is self-destructive and foolish. But the more it fails, the greater our faith
in it. We imagine that what we want to
happen is actually happening.”
He was not a misanthrope.
He didn’t hate, distrust, and avoid humans. Actually, he was an “anti-humanist.” He detested the ridiculous mass hallucinations
— the enthusiastic celebrations of human genius, and the wondrous technological
utopia that we have brilliantly created.
We are so lucky to live in the spectacular gushing orgasm of the entire
human experience!
Ehrenfeld noted that pure anti-humanists were rare. Most folks who know how to read have spent
their entire lives in fanatical humanist cultures. We’ve been constantly absorbing humanist
ideas for years. They have deep roots in
our minds, and a strong influence on how we think. It’s sort of pleasant to imagine that we’re
on the path to a better tomorrow.
Progress will wash away the pain.
On the other hand, having read a pile of anthropology books,
it’s clear that wild folks who lived undisturbed in their traditional way, in
their ancestral land, tended to be enthusiastic and shameless
anti-humanists. They seemed to be nearly
unanimous in perceiving civilized folks as being absolutely batshit crazy! How could people be so stupid? How can they have no respect and reverence
for the natural world? Why are they so
aggressive and selfish?
Ehrenfeld wrote that a general rejection of humanism is now long
overdue. It won’t be easy. Blind faith in humanist hopes and dreams
remains strong, and the insanely furious war on the family of life rages on,
and on, and on.
