How Do You Explain This? Part II
Part I of this three-part series set the stage like this – – –
Our distant ancestors would all have been diagnosed with O.D.D. (Oppositional Defiant Disorder). For example, Utku Inuits (Eskimos) resisted standing on cue for church services. To the !Kung of the Kalihari, even just the arrogance of leadership amounts to a crime. This makes both groups egualitarian and thus seriously resistant to hierarchy and being told what to do.
On the other hand, they would co-operate when appropriate.
Further, such egalitarian “acephalous” groups — that is, groups without hierarchical heads “…were found in a bewildering array of ecological niches, so environmental influences did not seem to be a major determinant: egalitarians foraged, farmed, and herded animals. They also used many different residence and descent rules and a variety of kin terms.” (Boehm 1999:30)
And to nail it down, this acephalous condition existed for several million years and “…Indeed the bulk of ethnographic descriptions on record today are of tribal societies whose egalitarianism extends back to the acquisition of domestication, and farther back into the Paleolithic era.” (Boehm 1999:90&91)
Barbara tells of her daughter, Karen, who put “don’t tell me what to do” into practice as a baby. Asserting her independence at the age of four months, her first words weren’t “Mama” or “Dada,” but, resisting being fed by her mother and insisting on feeding herself by reaching for the spoon, her first words were “Me. Ido. Self.”
So keep in mind that our instincts for freedom such as drapetomania/O.D.D. — and particularly our resistance to hierarchy and being told what to do, as proven by Karen and several million years of successful egalitarianism — is genetic and so was built-in as a natural — and essential — part of human culture. And it’s still in force today – – –
Do you like to be told what to do?
But the question posed in Part I is how do we explain that folks who wouldn’t even stand on cue for a ch
Article from LewRockwell
LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.