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How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby btu2012 » Sat 07 Jun 2008, 19:10:54

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', '.')...


There certainly some new posters here who play thread politics instead of bringing forth arguments, probably because they don't have any.

You can notice that from the fact that they never address any point, nor the person who makes that point, but instead try to sway the casual observer.

Nice try, anyway.

By the way, pUnk, you seem to be unable to discuss anything except with people who agree with you. You better get ready to have your opinions challenged when you put out all-encompassing theories of human history and society.

And you better be ready to present some empirical evidence in support of your beliefs.
Last edited by btu2012 on Sat 07 Jun 2008, 19:21:49, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby Homesteader » Sat 07 Jun 2008, 19:21:26

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', 'H')i folks-

You know, I have only been a member of this forum for about a week. But. It really appears that people like to fight here. Is this true? It reallyseems trollish in that people don't wanna lose face so they just keep pushing rather than consider. They seem to be trying for a reaction. It's appears somewhat juvenile. There is a lot of name calling (which I might add is a luxury due to anonymity and/or distance). There appears to be little drive for dialogue. More like monologue. This looks like people just kinda taking shots at each other, talking at, or over each other. If I wanted that, I'd just get cable and watch Jerry Springer. Is this really why folks are here, to bicker, insult, try and get the last word, be clever, and witty(which admittedly I have regressed into but it leaves me feeling queasy)? So it seems that the point of discussion is nil. There is almost no courtesy or respect. The usual culprits of cheating at discourse are rampant.

I came here to participate in discussion, particularly on or about peak oil, and the effects it likely will have on all of us, and how we might deal better with it, especially after a collapse type situation. But there appears to be little to no basic foundation for actual discussion here at all. This is too bad, for these are important discussion to be having.

-punk


punk,

I hear what you are saying, and your points have validity. Unfortunately the people on this site have a wide spectrum of viewpoints just like the rest of the world. I'd advise you to hang around, get an idea what the more useful threads are for you and what posters appear more grounded and which ones are either attempting to derail the discourse or just plain jerks.

One thing, the mods allow wide latitude for freedom of speech and some take that and run with it.

There are a lot of extremely knowledgeable posters and you will be the better for the time you spend here.

This is an incomplete list but look for posts by the following:

Dantes Peak
shortonoil
Twilight
pstarr
Montequest
pstarr
cube
Ludi
Shannymara
dohboi
Tanada

and many more. . ..

While I was typing this it occurred to me that it is to long a list to do justice to the many I will forget. It is a much shorter list of who to put on the ignore button but you will figure that out pretty quickly.

Rule of thumb look for number of posts over 1000 and membership for two years or more. There are some great folks who have joined in the past few months also.
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby pUnk » Sat 07 Jun 2008, 20:26:37

Dear Homesteader-

Thank you for your note. I had gathered that what you address to be the case, with the board having a wide spectrum of viewpoints.

I appreciate those like you who have reached out to let me know that there are good folks here too.

Thank you.
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby Ferretlover » Sat 07 Jun 2008, 20:29:11

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', 'Y')ou know, I have only been a member of this forum for about a week. But. It really appears that people like to fight here. Is this true?

Well, punk, we have all types of posters here: smart, silly, funny, analytical, philosophical, those who like to push to see if someone is willing to stick-to-their-guns, and yes, even trolls and bullies.
And everyone who posts here has their good days and their bad ones.
Although this website is not nearly as bad as many of the public blogoshperes, it is an active one, with some posters getting rather excited.
You should remember that many of the posters have been dealing with PO for years; even those who have not been here as long, also feel the stress, stress that has been increasing rapidly recently.
So, you have three choices: leave, interact or push that Ignore button (you certainly won't be the first or the last! :) ).
"Open the gates of hell!" ~Morgan Freeman's character in the movie, Olympus Has Fallen.
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby pUnk » Sat 07 Jun 2008, 20:32:40

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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby btu2012 » Sat 07 Jun 2008, 21:07:35

It's really wonderful to argue with new age thinkers. :-D

As soon as their ideas are challenged they give up and claim that they are being mistreated. Crybabies.

I mean, it doesn't really matter whether what we believe is correct or not, even when we propose a complete deconstruction of civilization. Why would we care about science (it's nothing but propaganda), academic opinion (they have no clue), evidence (it's all hand-picked), reason (it's authoritarian) or logic (it's one-dimensional). None of this matters. True freedom of thought ! :-D
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby pUnk » Sat 07 Jun 2008, 21:24:23

btu-

speaking of challenging ideas-

Why don't ya read the links I posted? I believe every argument you have posted (besides the grade-school insults ("crybabies"? good one! )) is trotted out and consequently debunked in the articles contained therein.

Anything new to add? It's awfully repetitive.....as you are so fond of saying,
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')Yawn."


Yeah brother, new age. I'll have yis know that I'm a 100% old school "kill the hippies" punk rocker from back in the day. Does the term DR. Marten dental work mean anything to you? There ain't anything new age within a thousand miles of where I'm comin' from.

How's that for a bit of testosterone driven posturing? I guess I still got some kick (no pun intended) in me.

Is this really why you're here? How boring.

So. We all know yis can type. Can ya read?

-pUnk
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby btu2012 » Sat 07 Jun 2008, 21:30:35

Great, you stand for your ideas !

Now let's repeat my point:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'J')ust to state this clearly, I am not arguing that primitive societies are more violent, but that on average they are about as violent as civilized ones once violence is "measured" correctly. That's well supported by anthropological data.

The source of violence is human nature, and the solution to violence is education of that nature, also known as virtue. This has little to do with the form of social organization.


Thus I am not saying that civilized cultures are better than tribal cultures, but that they both have advantages and disadvantages and that neither of them should be idealized.

It really isn't clear that returning to a tribal state would provide a resolution of our inner conflicts and unhappiness.

Ultimately primitivism is a belief , in that the evidence is way too mixed and inconclusive to allow us to produce a sweeping theory of that kind.

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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby threadbear » Sat 07 Jun 2008, 22:00:58

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', 'H')i folks-

You know, I have only been a member of this forum for about a week. But. It really appears that people like to fight here. Is this true? It reallyseems trollish in that people don't wanna lose face so they just keep pushing rather than consider. They seem to be trying for a reaction. It's appears somewhat juvenile. There is a lot of name calling (which I might add is a luxury due to anonymity and/or distance). There appears to be little drive for dialogue. More like monologue. This looks like people just kinda taking shots at each other, talking at, or over each other. If I wanted that, I'd just get cable and watch Jerry Springer. Is this really why folks are here, to bicker, insult, try and get the last word, be clever, and witty(which admittedly I have regressed into but it leaves me feeling queasy)? So it seems that the point of discussion is nil. There is almost no courtesy or respect. The usual culprits of cheating at discourse are rampant.

I came here to participate in discussion, particularly on or about peak oil, and the effects it likely will have on all of us, and how we might deal better with it, especially after a collapse type situation. But there appears to be little to no basic foundation for actual discussion here at all. This is too bad, for these are important discussion to be having.

-punk


I don't know if that many people actually like to "fight", or not. It seems to me that they are just up to the challenge of taking anyone on who waves a pedagogic finger in their face. You have to accept the fact that there are people as bright and brighter than you who simply don't agree with your point of view. You won't get them to change their minds by browbeating them, or applying peer pressure.
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby mercurygirl » Sun 08 Jun 2008, 01:48:30

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', 'H')i folks-
You know, I have only been a member of this forum for about a week. But. It really appears that people like to fight here. Is this true? It reallyseems trollish in that people don't wanna lose face so they just keep pushing rather than consider. They seem to be trying for a reaction. It's appears somewhat juvenile. There is a lot of name calling (which I might add is a luxury due to anonymity and/or distance). There appears to be little drive for dialogue. More like monologue. This looks like people just kinda taking shots at each other, talking at, or over each other. If I wanted that, I'd just get cable and watch Jerry Springer. Is this really why folks are here, to bicker, insult, try and get the last word, be clever, and witty(which admittedly I have regressed into but it leaves me feeling queasy)? So it seems that the point of discussion is nil. There is almost no courtesy or respect. The usual culprits of cheating at discourse are rampant.

I came here to participate in discussion, particularly on or about peak oil, and the effects it likely will have on all of us, and how we might deal better with it, especially after a collapse type situation. But there appears to be little to no basic foundation for actual discussion here at all. This is too bad, for these are important discussion to be having.
-punk

I don't know if that many people actually like to "fight", or not. It seems to me that they are just up to the challenge of taking anyone on who waves a pedagogic finger in their face. You have to accept the fact that there are people as bright and brighter than you who simply don't agree with your point of view. You won't get them to change their minds by browbeating them, or applying peer pressure.

Yes, and it's apparent that you haven't done your homework. You can find almost anything you'd like here, mentally, we've got a microcosm. I spent a long time just reading before I joined a couple years ago. It would be ignorant to say that there is no foundation for discussion. I suggest spending some time reading the incredibly comprehensive archives in PFTF or other fora, or use the search function for specific subjects.
Go read for two years, then get back to us. :)
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby btu2012 » Sun 08 Jun 2008, 07:42:41

Punk, Here are a few examples of your interventions in this thread, all of them addressed to threadbear:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', 'W')hoa.
Are you serious? This statement is absurd to begin with

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', 't')hreadbear-
I cannot seem to find where anyone on this thread said anything about...
Not only does it appear that you are using straw men arguments but when you say, no, shout...

NOTE: threadbear DID provide clear quotations of what she disagrees with
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', 'D')ear threadbare-
Did you actually read the article you linked to?
What? Did you do a quick google search, find an article with the tags you were looking for, and then post it w/o bothering to read it? All the while thinking, "I rest my case?" [...]
ps Haha. "Tarzan wannabes". I get it. (snort) Oh yes Edgar Rice Burroughs. I was so close with my Robert E Howard guess!

It is clear that you are quite willing to resort to irony and personal attacks so please don't posture as a victim when others respond in kind.
Now could you please present us with some arguments for your claims ?

It has been my experience that many primitivists simply declare any counter-argument to their claims to be "propaganda" put out by civilization. Once they throw around that rhetorical device, they conveniently keep dismissing any argument and evidence brought against their claims by labeling it as propaganda, hand picked data etc etc etc and finally by attacking reason itself (supposedly a product of civilization).

It is quite clear that such people are not interested in discussing or arguing their positions, but only in pushing a closed belief system in the same manner as some religious preachers.

Here is a great example from this very thread:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', 'T')hese are all the usual arguments I was referring to - Mega fauna, easer island, papau, mastodons. Blah, blah, blah. Yeah. We've heard this before. Actually I'd heard that crap and believed it way before ever even considering a different option. Remember- I was raised in this culture and have had to unlearn quite a few propaganda myths, some of which I still have relapses with because the indoctrination is that strong. Please don't tell me that y'all haven't considered the idea that scientists are propagandists as well. Science = monotheism.


Notice that these arguments are not being addressed, but dismissed as propaganda.

And finally the usual paranoid blood libel:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', 'T')his is an agenda that is being pushed and has been pushed since well before the genocide of native american peoples to say the least. This is the argument that allowed civilization to commit that genocide- they were evil, inferior, cannibalistic savages , our way of life is best. Obviously, or they'de have survived. Jaysis. Keep drinking the cool-aid.

Notice that no distinction is being made between the various civilizations. As if all civilizations equaled European colonialism.

And the race card:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Elias', 'I')n your posts following the one I've quoted, you sunk to all-out racism in your assessment of other cultures
And another great example:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BO', 'D')aniel Quinn explains your thinking quite well, you have "Mother Culture" whispering in your ear about how horrible it was to be a "primitive" person and how wonderful civilization is.
It is quite clear that BO has a ready-made explanation of what opponents to primitivism are all about, even though each of those opponents is a different human being with different ideas and critical positions. He then proceeds to attack this caricature opponent from within his closed belief system, setting up a straw man which has little to do with what that opponent says. You can see this from the first line of threadbear's reply:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'F')rankly Bo, Let me state this clearly and for the record, just one more time. I'm not anti-primitive, nor completely anti-civilization.
You can also see BOs breath-takingly ideological take on the matter:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BO', 'C')ivilization, as Stanley Diamond said starts with "Conquest abroad and repression at home" It is defined by unsustainable Cities that require the importation of resources in order to exist. [...]
The trotting out of the old dead horse, Papau New Guinea. I can't tell you how many arguments I have had with academics, etc. who always bring that up (CLEARLY ACADEMICS HAVE NO CLUE)
[...]
Civilization is Empire culture, nothing more,
Compassion has no place in civilization, period,
tribal life, despite its flaws was much better.
tribalism was, for a fact sustainable, and civilization is for a fact unsustainable.
to which threadbear quite correctly replies:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he rest of your post I consider ideologically naive rambling.
I would strongly suggest that the primitivists in this thread take a look at their own argumentation style before attacking that of their opponents.
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby Elias » Sun 08 Jun 2008, 10:56:02

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('btu2012', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Elias', 'Y')ou keep ignoring what I believe are the strongest points people put to you.

Could you please point out what important points I have been ignoring ?
Most of the points you made have been red herrings, and I pointed that out. You seem to have some ready-made caricature of "defenders of civilization" which you attack instead of addressing what I said.
I provided the scientific opinion of anthropologists that organized conflict is present in 90% of the tribal and "primitive" cultures studied. What is your answer to that ?

"Red herrings"?
What are you talking about? You mean questions YOUR civilized ideology can't answer.

I've cut nothing from any posts I've quoted you on, and I've aimed to answer as fully as possible - for the clarification and testing of my own thoughts, not for the sake of "winning" or demeaning other people.
I don't think you can say the same.

You asked:
"Could you please point out what important points I have been ignoring ?"
I think your playing stupid to be honest, but here are some:
(these are only the ones you didn't quote or answer at all, there are also loads of points you quoted then dismissed without answering)
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou're chosen example of Easter Island is hotly contended - the Little Ice Age has been held accountable anywhere from entirely responsible for mass extinction, to entirely unresponsible. Obviously people will always pick and chose facts to suit their own argument, but for me this is far too contentious to be considered a credible point either way.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') stable population is an important part of a primitive (non-totalitarian agriculture) existence - where unlimited growth is not possible without destroying the surroundings. In a hunter-gatherer existence there is no motive to destory the surroundings, because the surroundings are your food source. This is equivalent to an agriculturist going around tearing his own crops up. To be horribly simplistic, the forest is the supermarket and the stock, why cut it down?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'G')ranted, you can probably find examples of a primitive culture on the other side of the world, alien enough to me that I don't understand their customs and concept of morality. You may make me feel repulsion, and moral superiority over them. But then I'll stop, and assess the morality of my own culture; a culture in which our food is grown by slaves, our clothes are made by slaves, people die of famine and debt to statisfy some abstact idea of a global economy; a concept of numbers on paper, and figures on hard-drives in banks; a culture where our meat dies in factory farms. I'll glance from images of animals dieing knee-deep, in it's own feaces, having never known love or light - to images of an animal dieing under the sun, with dignity, with a spear-throw from a primitive hunter of the Hadsa, who then kneels to kiss his prey, and thank him as a "brother" who has provided food to feed his family. There is a universal morality - and every culture in the world practises it bar one. It is a morality that we should all be able to breathe clean, non-poisonous air, and clean, non-poisonous water. It is the civilized culture which obstains from this morality, which fails to recognise everything needs clean air and clean water. I'm sorry if you don't like scary painted faces, and the idea that human flesh is edible, but until civilization satisfies the most basic of moralities then you can get off your high-horse and tell me a better way to live than the Huaorani.
You also asked:
"I provided the scientific opinion of anthropologists that organized conflict is present in 90% of the tribal and "primitive" cultures studied. What is your answer to that?"

That violence is prevelant is 100% of civilized cultures. If there are primitive cultures who you've just highlighted as being without "organized conflict" why not learn from them? (Answer it!). But if you'd read my other posts you wouldn't have to keep asking the same questions.

You said in another post:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')t's really wonderful to argue with new age thinkers.
I'm not "new age". How new age are the Hadsa?
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')s soon as their ideas are challenged they give up and claim that they are being mistreated. Crybabies.
I'm still here actually. But at least your proving my point for me from my last post. This isn't about civilization and primitivism for you - this is about taking shots at people. I'm not new age, I'm not a crybaby.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') mean, it doesn't really matter whether what we believe is correct or not, even when we propose a complete deconstruction of civilization. Why would we care about science (it's nothing but propaganda), academic opinion (they have no clue), evidence (it's all hand-picked), reason (it's authoritarian) or logic (it's one-dimensional). None of this matters. True freedom of thought !
What your advocating is the scienece of civilization, the academic opinion of civilization, the "evidence" of civilization, the "reason" of civilization and the "logic" of civilization.

Does that not strike you as a bias source of "fact", when it's exactly everything I'm arguing against? Don't you understand that the religions, beliefs, education systems of any culture will always be geared to perpetuating that culture? This goes for primitive cultures too.

Over 99.9% of human history was "primitive". All of your civilized fact dismisses over 99.9% of human history as "pre-history".

ALL writers and academics are propagandists. Dicitonaries, encyclopeidas, and you and me on this forum. You give to much respect to the "authority" of academics. The view of a primitive person may be just as valid.

But I think I'm starting to see your agenda. You hate what you consider "lefties". Am I right?
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby btu2012 » Sun 08 Jun 2008, 12:35:00

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Elias', '"')Red herrings"?
What are you talking about? You mean questions YOUR civilized ideology can't answer.

Here is a list of red herrings which I have already pointed out:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Elias', 'Y')ou implied there was no reason for the cannibalism other than the savagery/ignorance of the people.
At best, you were demonstrating an enthocentric standpoint on a cultural norm very alien to your own.
You don't understand their culture, fair enough, doesn't make it wrong.
Surely, it differs between cultures?
I still don't understand why hunter-gatherers would deliberately want to destroy their own food-source.
I thought the way you portrayed primitive people as incapable of "progressing" to totalitarian agriculture was offensive - when it's only because they've chosen not to.

No need to get angry. Cognitive dissonance is tough. :)
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')'ve cut nothing from any posts I've quoted you on, and I've aimed to answer as fully as possible

I made no accusation of that type -- you did. I think that you simply assume that I hold to certain naive and Eurocentric positions and then you attack those positions, without trying to first see what I actually think. :)
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou're chosen example of Easter Island is hotly contended - the Little Ice Age has been held accountable anywhere from entirely responsible for mass extinction, to entirely unresponsible. Obviously people will always pick and chose facts to suit their own argument, but for me this is far too contentious to be considered a credible point either way.

Ok, why is this important ? I used Easter Island only as an illustration that primitive cultures can produce mass extinction. Do you debate that fact ?
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') stable population is an important part of a primitive (non-totalitarian agriculture) existence - where unlimited growth is not possible without destroying the surroundings. In a hunter-gatherer existence there is no motive to destory the surroundings, because the surroundings are your food source. This is equivalent to an agriculturist going around tearing his own crops up. To be horribly simplistic, the forest is the supermarket and the stock, why cut it down?
A hunter-gatherer doesn't cut down the forest, he just hunts down the animals. Sometime with "totalitarian" methods such as running them off a hill (well supported by the archaeological evidence) etc.

You can practice "totalitarian" or non-totalitarian hunter-gathering as well as "totalitarian" or non-totalitarian agriculture. What makes the difference is the attitude you have towards the natural bounty off which you feed yourself. That attitude differs markedly between various tribal cultures, that's why you have tribes who care deeply about keeping in balance and tribes who do not.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'G')ranted, you can probably find examples of a primitive culture on the other side of the world, alien enough to me that I don't understand their customs and concept of morality. You may make me feel repulsion, and moral superiority over them. But then I'll stop, and assess the morality of my own culture; a culture in which our food is grown by slaves, our clothes are made by slaves, people die of famine and debt to statisfy some abstact idea of a global economy; a concept of numbers on paper, and figures on hard-drives in banks; a culture where our meat dies in factory farms. I'll glance from images of animals dieing knee-deep, in it's own feaces, having never known love or light - to images of an animal dieing under the sun, with dignity, with a spear-throw from a primitive hunter of the Hadsa, who then kneels to kiss his prey, and thank him as a "brother" who has provided food to feed his family. There is a universal morality - and every culture in the world practises it bar one. It is a morality that we should all be able to breathe clean, non-poisonous air, and clean, non-poisonous water. It is the civilized culture which obstains from this morality, which fails to recognise everything needs clean air and clean water. I'm sorry if you don't like scary painted faces, and the idea that human flesh is edible, but until civilization satisfies the most basic of moralities then you can get off your high-horse and tell me a better way to live than the Huaorani.
First, I don't think that morality has anything to do with comfort or repulsion. Someone can be comfortable with something unethical and uncomfortable with something ethical. I do not believe that Ethics is culturally determined (I think that it's innate). I fully expect you to disagree with this, but this is what I believe. I also think that morals are a socially and culturally determined expression of Ethics.

Since Ethics is universal, we can make ethical judgments about various social groups, including tribes and civilizations. I agree with you that our current civilization is terribly out of balance with nature and doomed in its current form. But I believe that there are/were tribes which are as unethical as us, as well as tribes and civilizations which are/were vastly superior to us in terms of their expressions of ethics.

The point I am making is that the core issue is ethics rather than the particular form of social organization.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hat violence is prevelant is 100% of civilized cultures. If there are primitive cultures who you've just highlighted as being without "organized conflict" why not learn from them? (Answer it!).
Another red herring. When did I say that we shouldn't learn from them ?
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')'m not "new age". How new age are the Hadsa?
I was discussing "new age thinking", a sort of fuzzy thinking in which "all is equal". You can call it pomo if you prefer.
My remark concerned the attitude towards the Hadsa and not the Hadsa themselves. That is, we won't idealize the Hadsa and we won't demonize them. I like the old fashioned, non-postmodernist, striving for objectivity. I'm a boring person, really. :)
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')'m still here actually. But at least your proving my point for me from my last post. This isn't about civilization and primitivism for you - this is about taking shots at people. I'm not new age, I'm not a crybaby.
Touched a nerve, eh ? :twisted: That remark was for pUnk, he was complaining a bit too much. :cry:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hat your advocating is the scienece of civilization, the academic opinion of civilization, the "evidence" of civilization, the "reason" of civilization and the "logic" of civilization.

Does that not strike you as a bias source of "fact", when it's exactly everything I'm arguing against?
No. I respect those things, and I don't think that they are unique to civilized societies, but mere abilities of the human mind.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')on't you understand that the religions, beliefs, education systems of any culture will always be geared to perpetuating that culture? This goes for primitive cultures too.
I do. However I am not arguing from "religions, beliefs, and education systems" but from "evidence, reason and logic"
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'O')ver 99.9% of human history was "primitive". All of your civilized fact dismisses over 99.9% of human history as "pre-history".
Did I dismiss any of that ? What I dismissed was a childish, baseless idealization of prehistory and not prehistory itself.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')LL writers and academics are propagandists. Dicitonaries, encyclopeidas, and you and me on this forum. You give to much respect to the "authority" of academics. The view of a primitive person may be just as valid.
That depends very much on the matter at hand. For me, factual and ethical statements are true if they can be established through evidence, reason and logic.
Can you propose a better method ? Answer it !
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ut I think I'm starting to see your agenda. You hate what you consider "lefties". Am I right?
Not at all. You would be surprised that many of my political ideas come from the left. I just dislike ideologies, be they leftist, rightist, environmentalist, primitivist, dominionist, fundamentalist or of any other stripe.
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby pUnk » Mon 09 Jun 2008, 00:50:34

Dear btu-

You said:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')ow could you please present us with some arguments for your claims ?

Just in case you missed it, I did post some fairly cool links. I'd be happy to post them again if you're having trouble finding them.

You said:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')otice that no distinction is being made between the various civilizations. As if all civilizations equaled European colonialism.

No actually, I was referring to the definition quoted by jdumars back at the beginning of this thread:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')o if you look at the fundamental problems of civilization, you see they are not a western invention. They have been in play since the first city sprung up. Here's a great definition of civilization from author Derrick Jensen:

"as a culture­ - that is, a complex of stories, institutions, and artifacts­ - that both leads to and emerges from the growth of cities (civilization, see civil: from civis, meaning citizen, from latin civitatis, meaning city-state), with cities being defined ­so as to distinguish them from camps, villages, and so on ­as people living more or less permanently in one place in densities high enough to require the routine importation of food and other necessities of life."


Hope that helps.
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby btu2012 » Mon 09 Jun 2008, 03:13:18

Dear punk,
What is the point which you are trying to make through those links ?
That we have two equally baseless ideologies (endless growth and primitivism) taking childish shots at each other ?

Amazing how people manage to make politics out of what ought to be a scientific question. Ah, the lack of objectivity and common sense.
Why don't you start by taking a look at your obsessive hatred of civilization, and ask yourself where that comes from. I bet that you'll discover something in your personal life explaining all that.

It's actually quite obvious from your highly emotional and hyperbolic argumentation style (what jane called "passionate" above in this thread). This is a typical symptom that a meme has taken you over --- the "passion" is a sign that you express some inner subconscious conflict through that meme. As I mentioned before, this is a standard part of the True Believer Syndrome. You are being possessed.
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby pUnk » Mon 09 Jun 2008, 13:24:51

Dear btu-
It is obviously a false assumption to suggest that I don't know why I feel the way I do.
But. I actually am aware of why I hate civilization (as defined earlier). As though hating something that enslaves every living thing it can reach, poisoning the land, air water, and food, eliminating 200 species a day is something bad to hate. I hate that I am not free. Is this bad somehow? To hate that?

Thank you for recognizing my passionate style. And for recognizing that I am not constrained to scientific jargon (argument from authority), or the written word in order to make my own conclusions based on my experience, other senses, as well as thought. Just because "experts" say something, that does not negate my intuition and further investigation.
No I'd actually like to stop taking shots at each other as I have offered a few times. And as I felt was the spirit of my last post. And as I am again attemting here.

Actually the way I see it, primitivism is not an ideology at all. It's not theory. It is proven ways to exist. There is no one way to primitivism because one bioregion is different than another. What works for the Inuit will not work for the Hopi. What the inhabitants of Easter Island did works for nobody, apparently. So you cannot have one true way to live as a human in "tribal" life. Diversity is critical. Natural law is the only law, and whether one is tribal or civilized, to ignore this law is suicide (as we see in both cases). But civilization destroys diversity. Civilization seeks to eliminate diversity. Civilization presents one way to live only. "If your not with us you're against us". It ignores natural law and creates it's own abstract, written laws. I am in favor of natural law. And yes, I realize that I am not prepared for that - that I'd probably not survive if it smehow happened intantaneoulsy right now. But. I am not the most important thing to consider. I believe in the land-base. Now if somehow people wanna construe that as care bears and rainbows....well... I guess there's probably no talking to people like that. But, I don't see how one can argue that clean air, water, food, and land are not primary. And while the civilized may believe that they don't think those are secondary, the actions prove otherwise. When every body of water is polluted, when every mothers breastmilk contains dioxin, when a place gets recognized for having better air quality than most, the actions prove otherwise.

The points of those links were to show that virtually all the arguments that have been presented against primitivism in this thread, are standard, status quo, system serving, cliche. And it's my opinion that Jason Godeski does a nice job of taking them, one by one, and demystifying them, while citing many other sources as well.

I think the fallacy really is that somehow, folks who are identified with civilization are unable to understand that there cannot be a single way of life that one could construe as an ideological method called "primitivism".
But it seems all that those who are somehow offended by the very notion of primitivism, are also somehow hearing that the primitivist view is some utopian view of pacifistic bliss.

But. I must insist. Compared with constant genocide, and ecocide, (which is created by the constant importation of "resources" to maintain cities), mass exploitation..... I think I'd rather have a healthy landbase......planet wide.
The thing about my hate, is that it's not repressed. I am all too aware of where it comes from. Any system that enslaves not only anything it views as a resource (which includes me and my loved ones)is my enemy. Period.

I guess this is my last attempt at continuing any sort of dialogue with you. I think that I have adequately proven that I can be just as much a jerk as anyone - I rose to the bait( which shows I have some maturing to do). But I also feel that I have demonstrated another "style" that is more productive too. I prefer the ladder. If you continue to respond rudely please don't feel badly if you are ignored from here on out.
Thank you.
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby threadbear » Mon 09 Jun 2008, 13:50:15

Punk--You're young, aren't you?
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby yeahbut » Mon 09 Jun 2008, 16:19:24

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pUnk', 'S')ome interesting reading:
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.c ... d=10278703
http://anthropik.com/2008/01/noble-or-s ... th-part-1/
http://anthropik.com/2008/01/noble-or-s ... th-part-2/
for those who may not have read 'em yet.
Thank you.
-pUnk

I also read those links a few days back, punk, and I have to say I agree with btu on this one. They appear very different , but they're very similar in their emotive, ideological interpretations of anthropological research.

There is a vigorous and ongoing debate occurring on subjects like the megafauna extinctions, Easter Island et al. It's certainly not at a stage where it can be written off as crap.

New Zealand's example is dismissed in the article you link to, because it is a group of islands and therefore bears no resemblance to what happens on continents. This also seems a bit hasty to me. NZ isn't Tonga, it's a pretty decent size. Single slaughtering sites containing the remains of 90,000 of the giant flightless bird Moa are on the record here. At the very least it must give some insights into how fast human populations can increase when they encounter plenty(it seems likely that NZ was settled by only a few thousand people, possibly only a few hundred), and the damage hunter-gatherers can do when they encounter 'naive' species of animals that have not seen humans before.

The debate on climate change vs, humans re megafauna extinctions is a fascinating one, and has been going on at least since 1967 when Paul Martin proposed the overkill theory. If you approach it without too many preconceptions there is a lot to learn. There are problems with both arguments. Some problems with 'humans did it': there appear to be places around the world where large animals become extinct in the late Pleistocene before human arrival; some(controversial)evidence that Clovis peoples weren't the first humans in North America; Clovis spear tips so far found only in association with mammoth and mastodon remains. Some problems with climate change: there is little significant climate change in Australia when most of it's megafauna disappears, but humans are there; there had been many previous cycles of glacial and inter-glacial climate change just as extreme as this one without the megafauna becoming extinct; historical record of human-induced megafauna extinctions. There is a good range of articles that provide evidence for/against each of those points and many more here: link

I suspect that this one is the most likely scenario:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2004) — Berkeley - A University of California, Berkeley, paleobiologist and his colleagues warn that the future of the Earth's mammals could be as dire as it was between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, when a combination of climate change and human pressure resulted in the extinction of two-thirds of all large mammals on the planet.
Paleobiologist Anthony D. Barnosky and his colleagues reached this conclusion after review of studies of the extensive large mammal, or megafauna, extinctions that occurred in the late Pleistocene, when animals such as mammoths and mastodons, the saber-toothed cat, ground sloths and native American horses and camels went extinct.
But in a review appearing in the Oct. 1 issue of Science, Barnosky and his colleagues conclude that climate change also played a big role in driving these extinctions.
"There's been a lot of talk about people causing the extinction of the megafauna by killing everything they saw, like a blitzkrieg," said Barnosky. "But if you look at all the evidence, it's clear that while humans had a major role in these extinctions, in many cases climate change was a key part of the recipe.
"Humans and climate change were the one-two punch that drove extinction between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, and the same thing is happening in a major way today."

But who knows for sure? It's too early to say.This one's set to run and run; crap? I really don't think so. I think the reason some resist the idea of 'primitive' peoples causing extinctions is because it threatens the notion that these people were in balance with their environment, but it doesn't, actually. Even if it can one day be shown incontrovertibly that 'humans did it'(highly unlikely given the amount of time that has passed and evidence that has been lost), that would just show what happened when they first arrived. Yes they made mistakes, and yes they damaged ecosystems unprepared for them and which they did not yet fully understand. But that doesn't mean they didn't learn, and come to live in balance over time. Many 'primitive' peoples in Australia, the Americas and elsewhere seem to have arrived at very sustainable, respectful systems of living indeed. The notion of 'first-wave' extinctions does not undermine this.

Finally, I understand the despair you feel when you look at the world and see the terrible destruction our civilisation is wreaking upon it. A good rant is probably a very sane response, but it won't get you far without some facts to back it up Stick with that more even tone and try not to get riled by the wind-up attempts and insults dressed up as cod-psychological insights. btu has some infuriating tactics(altho as he rightly pointed out, and you acknowledge, you went there too) but if you ignore those and don't rise to them (speaking from personal experience!), he has many interesting and challenging ideas to address. Stick with it, you don't need to wait two years to post again IMHO, but be prepared to have your ideas, and in particular, sweeping statements with little evidential backup, to be vigorously challenged at every turn :)
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby BO » Mon 09 Jun 2008, 17:17:17

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('btu2012', 'A')nd another great example:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BO', 'D')aniel Quinn explains your thinking quite well, you have "Mother Culture" whispering in your ear about how horrible it was to be a "primitive" person and how wonderful civilization is.

It is quite clear that BO has a ready-made explanation of what opponents to primitivism are all about, even though each of those opponents is a different human being with different ideas and critical positions. He then proceeds to attack this caricature opponent from within his closed belief system, setting up a straw man which has little to do with what that opponent says. You can see this from the first line of threadbear's reply:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'F')rankly Bo, Let me state this clearly and for the record, just one more time. I'm not anti-primitive, nor completely anti-civilization.

You can also see BOs breath-takingly ideological take on the matter:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BO', 'C')ivilization, as Stanley Diamond said starts with "Conquest abroad and repression at home" It is defined by unsustainable Cities that require the importation of resources in order to exist. [...]
The trotting out of the old dead horse, Papau New Guinea. I can't tell you how many arguments I have had with academics, etc. who always bring that up (CLEARLY ACADEMICS HAVE NO CLUE)
[...]
Civilization is Empire culture, nothing more,
Compassion has no place in civilization, period,
tribal life, despite its flaws was much better.
tribalism was, for a fact sustainable, and civilization is for a fact unsustainable.

to which threadebar quite correctly replies:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he rest of your post I consider ideologically naive rambling.

I would strongly suggest that the primitivists in this thread take a look at their own argumentation style before attacking that of their opponents.
Perhaps you should take your own advice? No?
You spew ideology yet accuse others of it.
You insult people and than accuse others of insults, which is of course the basis of your entire argumentation style.

You sir, are a sad little man. I imagine of course you are a well fed middle/upper middle class white man or woman, probably man, since white women are a bit more coherent than white men, but I also imagine you have spent your lifetime reaping the benefits of your wonderful civilization and of course are the first to defend it.

Let me elaborate on my earlier point, I mentioned Papau New Guinea as an example because it is the absolute furthest possible example of primitive tribes from western culture in our world today, especially intact or semi-intact tribes, so thank you for so eloquently proving my point. Heres an idea braniac, why don't you criticize native american tribes, particularly northeastern tribes, like the five nations, lenape, etc, you know the ones from where most of us here in America were born, and the ones that our ancestors wiped out. And please use pre-columbian material since EVERYTHING post columbian is garbage, (contact with colonialists changed them significantly) Those tribes lived sustainably for tens of thousands of years without destroying each other or their environment, so I would really like to read the arguments about how they were cannibalizing woman beating false god worshipers, please.

And thanks for the introspective advice, I examined my hatred of civilization and found that you are right, I was damaged by it, and therefore hate it! I have lost three loved ones, two parents and one foster parent to civilization via industrial poisons in the water supply and consumer products, but I would hate civilization without those things, the real issue is that people like you are so cowardly and afraid of anything different than the insane world around you that you buy into ridiculous ideas about how things came to pass instead of looking at what is right under you nose.

Please keep me posted, and Threadbear, since you seem to have at least some capacity for original thought, please explain to me what someones age has to do with anything. Are you old? and therefore more intelligent and less naive? and also please explain how my opinions are "idealogical ramblings" and yours are not, I am very interested in how thats the case, is it because you are so wise? Is that why you spend an enormous amount of time on an online forum fake talking to fake people who would be completely different if you met them in real life?

Interestingly enough, the overwhelming counter attack to the informed, intelligent opinions on this forum have been predominantly labeled "ideological"...
I will quote an actual definition of Ideology instead of a made up one (BTU):
[quotethe body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides an individual, social movement, institution, class, or large group[/quote]
That certainly doesn't pertain to civilization does it? of course not, only to us silly, naive, young primitivists.
Honestly this is why I stopped posting here about two years ago, and this will probably be my last, signing off.
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.
-Edward Abbey

http://permanentlyindignant.wordpress.com/
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Re: How my own observations mirrored Peak Oil...

Unread postby btu2012 » Mon 09 Jun 2008, 17:39:26

Really pUnk, you don't have enough rational basis for your beliefs. Ain't it a tad extreme to embrace an ideology on such a controversial basis ?
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