Peter Suderman and Daniel Larison pick up on this brief statement:
The themes about how the industrial needs of a civilization, even a primitive one - lay the groundwork for moral, societal and physical decay really begin to come out.Looks like it might be a good illustration of what neo-tribalists and anarcho-primitivists claim: hunting-gathering cultures are the best and happiest, and those that cultures that are more complex are ultimately stratified and unjust.
I must admit that the ideal seems very egalitarian. There is very little differentiation of function, if everyone is doing the same things. What differentiation there is, I suspect, will be based on sex differences and division of labor between men and women. The men will be hunters and warriors; perhaps there will be some distinctions made for those in leadership roles, which may be reserved for those who are older and/or deemed wiser. (Sounds like the Sioux, doesn't it? Too much Dances with Wolves for me.)
Is it possible though to have a hunter-gatherer society with high material culture? What of the Jesuit reductions of South America? Would they not be a good counter-example? The Guarani learned European music, built mission churches, and yet owned their property in common.
John Moore's primer
primitivism.com
Running on Emptiness
Plus:
Audio file: Q&A session with Mel Gibson at Fantastic Fest (or click here)
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