"A child that is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth." - African proverb
The term "it takes a village" represents a belief that many caring individuals are required to raise children. When considering indigenous/tribal peoples, it conjures images of uncles, aunts, and wise elders who all play a role in teaching the youth of a tribe.
Daniel posits that for indigenous cultures, the number one priority is the wisdom transfer from elders of the tribe to the young. It's not a byproduct of many families living in close proximity, it's a fundamental feature or purpose for existence in the tribe.
He goes on to say that middle-aged people in the tribe have a secondary role of facilitating the transfer of wisdom from elders to youth.
This is a huge distinction and is counter to modern Western narratives.
Entire cultures orient towards a purpose of passing wisdom from the elder generation to youth, because it's incredibly complex to do it right.
For example, let's consider how to teach a child about a tree. One elder might hold wisdom about how to cut the tree, another how to care for a tree, a third how to pray with the spirit of the tree, and still another how to know when to harvest fruit from the tree.
The key to this example is that with so many elders passing unique, individualized, and highly context-specific wisdom, it is much easier for a child to have a holistic perspective with the tree (or any topic).
They may understand how to maximize survival from the tree, the utilitarian perspective of the tree, while still embracing the respect and gratitude that comes from an animist relationship to all living things.
Instead of 1 middle-aged teacher educating 20 children, indigenous people often have 20 wise elders educating 1 child.
Implementing this in the West would be a challenge for many reasons, namely because we prioritize GDP growth as a culture over human wisdom. Our older generations, while still full of wisdom, weren't exactly groomed to be the "wisdom keepers".
A question worth asking: who are the wisdom keepers in my life/extended community that I can ask to support the next generation?
- A note on tribalism
"The worst atrocities are always committed in the name of virtue."
In the hunting world, there is a lot of pressure to keep quiet about ethical and moral flaws. I've had numerous conflicts because my judgment of what is ethical differs from other hunters... and they don't want me to speak publicly/call them out about it.
I find the same true of the "Regenerative Agriculture" and "better meat" movement. I suspect (and see plenty of explicit confirmation) the narrative is such:
We meat eaters are under attack. Our way of life is under attack. We are vilified for hunting/eating meat. With so many external threats, we must stamp out internal dissent so it cannot be used against us.
Anyone paying attention has seen the terms "natural" or "organic" become green-washed. Unfortunately, my judgment is that "Regenerative" is too. By some of the biggest names leading the charge.
What's worse, the "Regenerative" greenwashing has employed the "sacred data" (invoked by all those who pray to the Gods of science) to ensure the narrative continues.
"The soil organic matter goes up and the cows are happy, see? It's all good!"
Not really.
If this seems harsh, I understand. It is.
It's harsh for me too. I used to (and still at times) pray to science/data as the arbiter of all. I still desire a tidy narrative about eating meat so I can put to rest my moral and ethical qualms.
The great Italian priest, Thomas Aquinas said, "Humility is truth". It is easy for me to see tribalism when it is in others (i.e: ardent veganism, covid vaccine mandates). It's much more humbling to see when tribalism is in me.
With love,
Mansal
P.S: I've intentionally not included details about Regenerative Agriculture movement/greenwashing because my intention was to speak about tribalism, not the details. I realize many of you are facing similar ethical questions about food. Hit "reply" and let me know if you want details.
May 23rd, 2024