Modern Primitives...

It occurs to me that, even in this fully automated age, more people are starting to revert back to tradionally 'primitive' lifestyles- personal farming, dreads, tats, piercings, tribal affiliations. What do you think the reason for this is?

 

Well, In my opinion dreads, tats, and piercings aren't traditional or primitive lifestyles.

Also, I think it's a fad. Every generation has it's own fad that people take up because its perceptively not mainstream. Soon, tats (or tat styles), dreads, and piercings will become cliche and people will start wearing poodle skirts and call it counterculture, hip, fresh, kewl, happenin' and totally rad dood. Also the rhetoric will change.

Kind of like how calling cigs squares has become cool again.

 

primitive and tribal origins no less to some. I agree with him and what he says to a degree. Tattoos at one time, and still in some states, are illegal. To some they were the mark of a convict or even to mark the jews like livestock. They have many purposes not all are tribal but you can't deny the link between the two...doesn't make the wearer anymore primitive though. I would say people get less primitive everyday, but may revert back to some traditional lifestyle out of necessity...like not brushing our hair. I am no more primitive than I was before, but definitely simpler.

 

personally, I don't think its a matter of "reverting". People don't look at dreads, piercing, and tats as primitive, but rather as style. As far as farming... at least in the US, that's due to the economy... look at the period during the Great Depression and the exact same thing happened... families started growing their own food to save money.

 

Personally.. i think we're born feral and primitive.. then learn to "adapt". But for the most part, yeah for now.. lots of people are jumping on a bandwagon, living in the moment, doing what they perceived is cool.

For me, it's beyond the surface things like tats and piercings. I'm into a lot of those things/ Im not sure where it may lead me, but hey it whatever.

 

IMO, with modern farming practices become even more scientific there are group of individuals who are pushing for heirloom genetics with organic growing practices to product more fruits while positively contributing to the environments. Even though the "organic" foods thing in large is no more than a marketing trend, fact of the matter remains that more and more people are taking it upon themselves to get organic, home-grown, non-gmo foods. For some it money, but others it's a necessity to ensure quality control. I think reverting back to original growing techniques is actually a step a more sound direction, one that's harmonious with nature. 30-40-50 years ago, this was not the case. Enviro-science was big with the release of DDT, roundup-ready corn, and more that I can't think of off the top of my head.

 

They should take the next step and do natural farming...that's lazy organic. Or Forest gardens, which are even more beneficial. That's sort of what I do now.

Organic can simply means organic seeds, or maybe some organic compost. It only has to be a ratio of organic products, which sucks when you pay as this extra for organic products.

 

food supply = population control

that's basic knowledge. If you have a cage full of mice allowed to reproduce as much as they'd like, the population will even out to equal the food supply. That's the reason the world is so over-populated with humans as it is. We don't need more food in the world or a more efficient means to produce food... we need to let the population die down to equal the amount of food we can naturally produce.

 

That's true for buying "conventional" organic produce at say Wal-mart. The USDA has shit standards for organic food...that is correct.

But getting produce from trusted, local sources that are organic, you can be assured they have gone far beyond what the regulations actually obligate them to. Most small organic farmers use their own compost, mixed with sources of manure for nitrogen and potassium. Certified organic also ensure the seeds haven't been genetically modified (GMO) which is really bad. Europeans eat virtually 0 GMO's while american's consume the majority of them... American's as a whole have more gastrointestinal problems that most of the European countries combine...coincidence?

 

I can only speak for myself, but I def feel a pull towards a simpler, more primitive lifestyle. I just get so overstimulated most days, with phone calls, meetings, loud cars driving by, landlords, neighbours, tv, news etc.
My dream is to live in the mountains, in a home that I built myself with materials from my land, to grow a garden and have some poultry and maybe a fish pond, with as little electricity as my hubby can get by on.
Sometimes I dream of being able to be nomadic in the wilderness; to have a winter camp and roam the mountains in the summer, fishing, gathering herbs, roots and plants for food and medicine.

 

I have a cousin in Tennessee that lives by a very small spring fed stream. That's where he get's all his water, and down the way he damned it up and added a homemade water wheel rigged to a very simple power generator. It's in the woods, in the middle of nowhere with no rent(just taxes), and lives completely off the power grid while still using all the free carbon free electricity he wants. He runs any appliance with no problems. I think that's the shit. I wouldn't do any of that because it uses no carbon or anything dumb like that, and neither does he, but because it's free.

 

I think there is a definite trend in the psyche of modern man to get back to basics. I think the tats and dreads and piercings are an outward product of an inward revolution. While some may see it as a trend, or as merely fashion, I think the trendsetters are having a deeper understanding of what we are collectively going through.

 

Good thing I don't shop at Wal-Mart, eh?

But even with local merchants, how are they feeding their animals? What are they using for "pests"? Are they marketing towards a vegan population who wants absolutely no animal by products in their foods? Lots of questions, I personally ask myself. Some may not. So for the most part, I'm just like screw it, I'll gather my food myself.

Everything is a compromise in the end, I suppose.

 

my dream is to live in the matrix.

 

genetically modified seeds are not "bad" like you say, they're actually modified so that crops can grow more efficiently, counteracting things like pests and genetic weakness to the environment that causes plants to die before harvest. The purpose is so that the crop yields more when harvested. And some forms of genetic modification help make the plants more nutritious to humans. The scary part of genetic modification of plants is that the "patent" is owned by a single corporation and one of the traits they breed into these plants is the inability to reproduce. This keeps farmers dependent on buying seeds from them every year instead of once. The fear is that this trait will begin spreading through cross pollination and such to wild plants making them infertile. From what I understand, this trait in now restricted in the U.S.

 

I'm almost certain that Oklahoma was the last state to legalize tats and that happened in 2006. Correct me if i'm wrong.

 

I'm torn on the subject... part of me is attracted to the simpler primitive side, the other half of me is a technophile that loves to see things pushed to their limits and has a "what if" kind of attitude. I'd love to see man able to advance himself, either genetically or mechanically etc.

Ultimately, I think I'd be happy with either way of life... I consider myself to be very adaptable.

 

see now that's more in line with my dreams... utilizing science and technology in an enviromentally friendly manner... I'd love to have a place that's very technologically advanced, but that produces its own electricity from the environment. I actually enjoy the hustle and bustle of modern life but don't agree with the moronic destruction of the environment in the process... knowing that we're fucking things up, but more concerned with keeping our "way of life" than changing.

Has anyone seen the more advanced solar cells they have now, using a satellite array of mirrors focused on a sterling engine? Very power efficient, but expensive to produce apparently.

Also, has anyone ever read Ismael by Daniel Quinn?

 

I know Oklahoma did legalize Tattooing in 2007, but there are still areas where tattoo shops aren't legal, and not just in OK. City councils can still vote to keep them out, and the 'riff raff' that frequents them, even though I personally have tattooed doctors, judges and even a DA. So who's the primitive?

 

sainsburys fairtrade bananas dont have seeds. fact.

i read once about GM potatoes that were bred/designed to be resiliant to a particular virus, which is clearly a good thing,, but its not natural, which is what i dont like about the whole GM thing