[Green-Activist] "Ishmael"; Daniel Quinn

[frank]

Dear Anne,

watch out, or u'll be accused of  looking upon hunter gatherer civilizations 
as, "noble savages".

Not one of my terms; one i was accused of when i had the effrontery to 
suggest that Murris farmed Australia.

Once humans became "civilized", i.e. "takers", we became arrogant, believing 
we could bend nature to our will.  Religions evolved that reinforced this 
belief.  Now here we are on the brink of extinction as a result of all that. 
Anyone who listens to the wild knows this.  Trouble is, the wild scares the 
hell out of the vast majority of the humans alive today and they demand to 
see it tamed.

E.G., shark nets, killing any wild animals which devour humans,or their 
crops, destruction of the forests and so on.  Humans are preoccupied with 
making everything safe.  This has led, not only to the environmental 
degradation we see today, but the dictatorial laws curtailing our individual 
liberties.

I have always loved the wild and have had a communication with the animals, 
both domestic and wild, but people like me are the exception rather than the 
rule.  That's why humans are rushing headlong into extinction.  I just wish 
they weren't taking everything else with them!

frank brown

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Anne Goddard" <anne at globalclimatechangeaction.org>
To: <GreenLocalNews at yahoogroups.com>; 
<GreenLeft_Discussion at yahoogroups.com>; 
<green-activist at lists.altnews.com.au>
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2007 3:05 PM
Subject: [Green-Activist] "Ishmael"; Daniel Quinn


> Hiya list members :-)
>
> Highly recommended reading:
> Daniel Quinn's "Ishmael"
>
> visit http://ishmael.org to get it online, join the friends of Ishmael
> community, start a local group, etc, or get it from your local bookstore,
> it's not out of print. If you can't afford to purchase a copy of your own,
> visit your local library and request a copy asap, you won't be 
> disappointed.
>
> What's the book about? My clumsy summary:
>
> It's a novel about an incredibly wonderful captive gorilla who becomes the
> teacher of a human.
> Ishmael (the gorilla) teaches about humanity and our cultures. 
> Specifically
> it's about the "taker" and "leaver" cultures. Civilisation (as we 
> currently
> know it) is of the taker culture, this culture evolved around 5000 years 
> ago
> and has spread very quickly across the globe (in line with the human
> population explosion). Leaver cultures pre-dated the taker culture and 
> have
> been around for a lot longer than this particular culture, which now rules
> the planet and all that live upon her.
>
> The book has shown me that human evolution has not stopped (and never will
> while a few humans survive) and human cultures continue to evolve 
> with/from
> humans. It also identifies the Law.
>
> The book identifies the prison that is the taker culture, opens the mind 
> and
> shines a light on the evolution of new cultures.
> It clearly identifies the bars of the prison of the taker culture.
> :-)
> It's totally awsum!
>
> There are more books by Daniel Quinn... the next is "the story of B"... i 
> am
> devouring it now which (so far) is a re-run of Ishmael, though clearer...
> Sorry if i wreck the book for you, but in Ishmael the gorilla dies... 
> :-( I
> was quite devastated! The human that Ishmael taught (B) teaches his words 
> to
> other humans in the following book (The story of B). From there Daniel 
> Quinn
> wrote another "My Ishmael" which is via a 12 year old girl who was also
> taught by Ishmael (I have to get a copy of this one). Then he wrote a 
> little
> book called "Beyond Civilisation" - i am also reading this one now. So far
> this book appears to be a concise summary of them all. The books have 
> taken
> me on an emotional roller coaster.
>
> I have been lucky enough to find these books through a very good friend.
> They have opened up deeply disturbing feelings inside me that have always
> been there... though in the same breath have given me a very positive new
> mindframe. I have begun exchanging emails with others who have read these
> books... there is a whole community of mind altered people out there right
> across the globe, there are little groups all over the world... I have an
> itch to start a local group myself!
> His books make me feel like there is a new culture ... a better culture...
> which has always been and always was, and it is quietly and peacefully ...
> waiting to happen...?
>
> If you get a chance, devour one for yourself, i am positive you won't be
> disappointed.
> oh, btw, i get no commission/monetary rewards from the promotion of these
> wonderful books.
>
> Warm regards and big fat hugz to all
> Anne
>
>
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