Beyond Civilization
Chapter One
From Part One: Closing In on the Problem
I heard this, naturally, from my grandfather, he from his grandfather, he from
his own grandfather, and so on, back many hundreds of years. That means this
tale is very old. But it won't disappear, because I offer it to my children,
and my children will tell it to their children, and so on.
-Gypsy storyteller Lazaros Harisiadis, quoted by Diane Tong in Gypsy Folk
Tales
A fable to start with
Once upon a time life evolved on a certain planet, bringing forth many
different social organizations-packs, pods, flocks, troops, herds, and so on.
One species whose members were unusually intelligent developed a unique social
organization called a tribe. Tribalism worked well for them for millions of
years, but there came a time when they decided to experiment with a new social
organization (called civilization) that was hierarchal rather than tribal.
Before long, those at the top of the hierarchy were living in great luxury,
enjoying perfect leisure and having the best of everything. A larger class of
people below them lived very well ... read full excerpt from: Beyond Civilization ebook
