There is an alternative to consumption and greed. There is a culture—the longest-lasting human culture on the planet—that successfully checks and limits greed. It is the people often referred to as the Bushmen of South Africa—residents of the austere Kalahari Desert of modern Namibia. The Bushmen consist of several different tribes—pretty much all of which have names that we Westerners find literally unpronounceable, due to their native tongue being what is often referred to as “click languages.”
Bushman society has endured for about 200,000 years—pretty much from when anatomically modern Homo sapiens first came upon the scene. They live extremely simply, in the manner of hunter-gatherers; foraging daily for what their tough environment offers them. It's a struggle for us high-tech, industrialized people to grasp what their culture is like. It's hard for us to grant that—just in terms of longevity—Bushmen societies are the most enduring, successful human civilization ever. Our more modern societies have survived for far less time.
We transformed from hunter-gatherers to being farmers and/or herders only about 12,000 years ago. We are the new and out-of-control kid on the block. When humans settled into farming communities, we began for the first time to accumulate things. (The Bushmen—frequently on the move—could not afford to stockpile; they had to travel light.) Rather than gather or hunt from nature's offerings as the Bushmen do, farmers planted, harvested, stored, and planted again. This style of existence brought much more food—hence the population grew and crops could be stored and used in trade. But people were now completely dependent on their crops; they were far more vulnerable than the hunter-gatherers, who did not specialize.
Fear and greed surfaced and flourished in farming societies. Fear of crop failures pervaded those societies—along with fear of wild animals that would destroy or consume those crops. In abundant years fear decreased and greed blossomed, as farmers stored their harvests and began to trade them for various material goods.
Bushmen took a different road. They never had an abundance or tried to store it for the future. It never even occurred to them. Nature provided for today and if not tomorrow, they'd simply move on. Their diet consisted of a wide variety of food, so if one thing did poorly, they simply switched to something else. Farmers instead literally had all their agricultural eggs in one basket.
In addition, however, the Bushmen knew that greed had a way of insinuating itself into society, whenever any individuals were able to feel superior to others. Any hint of inequality encourages greed. So the Bushmen developed rituals that kept inequality, and thus greed, in check. For example, when a particularly skillful hunter returned to camp with a generous hunk of meat, it would be shared equally—but the hunter had no hand in deciding the apportioning. Others took over and divided up the gift. They didn't stop there, however. From the minute that the successful hunter returned, through the division of his trophy, the band kept up a banter of derogatory comments. The meat was criticized and belittled, as if it was unsatisfactory. The hunter's skill was deprecated, as if the group was ashamed of him.
This good-natured ribbing
also occurred when any member of the band excelled in other ways, or
threatened to grow a larger head. It has been a very successful
technique to stifle greed and arrogance, and to promote equality
within the group. It's worked for some 200,000 years. It seems
doubtful that modern human culture—in which greed is
encouraged—will persevere anywhere near as long.
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