Martin Schoeller, National GeographicNo War
A four to six hour work day
No famine
A varied diet
Plenty of leisure time
Barely leave a foot print on the land
Very few possessions
Individual autonomy
No authority
Equal distribution of 'wealth'
No religion
No social obligations
No forced subservience for women
Sounds like the sanest way to live. In fact, our species spent most of its existence living like that. For most of, we'll never get a taste of life without the interference and horrors of civilization. but just knowing there are still tiny packs of people living this way, even though its probably for not much longer, is profound. Of course its not all roses, apparently nearly half of Hazda children don't make it to fifteen and a fifth of all babies die within their first year. But how much of that might be due to the encroaching pressures of civilization and how bad is that relative to the suffering agriculture, domesticated life, industry, technology, religion, science and culture have thrust upon is, so very rapidly and recently in our collective history?
Forget green policies, technology and innovation, we already know what we need to do and how to do it.
"The days I spent with the Hadza altered my perception of the world. They instilled in me something I call the "Hazda effect"- they made me feel calmer, more attuned to the moment, more self-sufficeint, a little braver, and in less of a constant rush..."
-"The Hazda" by Michael Finkel. National Geographic December 2009
