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Giving up the car
Jeff Vail, rhizome
I just finished reading Noel Perrin’s Giving Up the Gun: Japan’s Reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879 for the second time.
… the book is really an in-depth exploration of the ability of society to effectively “turn back the clock,” to set aside an available and known technology due to a cultural preference. In the end, Japanese society consciously chose to set aside the gun in favor of a less “efficient” form of military killing that better suited their desire to maintain the class and cultural status quo. Specifically, samurai found that their heroic stature on the battlefield, their cultural significance, and their place in Japan’s feudal hierarchy were endangered by a weapon such as the gun that effectively leveled the playing field and allowed plebeian marksmen to mow them down at will. Because of their leverage within the Shogunate, and because of the prevailing desire to maintain cultural “harmony” by the elites, the gun was effectively marginalized.
… today my interest was in the ability of human society to set aside our energy-intensive culture for our own long-term benefit–whether that comes in the form of climate change, preparation for peaking of fossil fuel production, or simply maintaining a level of information processing and hierarchy that is compatible with the human genome. I still think that Perrin’s book has valuable insight to offer on this question–a question that I think is increasingly critical for the future of humanity.
Unfortunately, after re-reading Perrin, I am more pessimistic about the ability of modern society to set aside our current reliance on cheap and polluting energy in favor of some more sustainable economic basis for society.
… It’s a poor analogue, but “giving up the car” may be the close to the modern equivalent of giving up the gun. Absent a modern Shogunate to impose upon the masses what may (ultimately) be in our own best interest–preserving our environment, embarking on some form of oil depletion protocol, minimizing impact on climate–we likely won’t choose to do so on our own.
(28 April 2008)
Religion and tradition are two strategies by which a general good may prevail over an individual benefit. For example, we are admonished not to kill, steal or commit adultery – actions which may bring a personal advantage, but which harm society. -BA
Episode 88: Making a Living
KMO, C-Realm Podcast
In this episode, KMO sits down with Daniel Quinn, author of Ishmael, Beyond Civilization, and The Holy, to discuss animism, civilization, population, and tribal ways of making a living.
(16 April 2008)
