First ramble

So now that I've invited a bunch of people onto the blog I thought I should write something, hopefully that inspires comment....

The first thought that comes to mind (as in how a blog might be useful) is the idea of clan and how we have lost this ancient and profound social structure. Annie and I have been developing a training course that looks to integrate stone age (ala San/Bushmen) culture into a modern world. Within a framework of NLP which focuses on things like behaviours, beliefs and values, we can explore what our ancient hunter gatherer ancestors had to offer by way of cultural systems that made for happiness in their lives. It has become especially apparent to me since moving the UK how meaningless our existence in the modern world has become. The most profound image of this is the London underground with the seething mass of humanity mindlessly rushing around in their black trenchcoats. These images brought two things to my mind - one, of an ant colony with unmated, mindless ants like robots bidding the will of the queen and her soldiers - how apt. In stone age clans everything is shared, indeed the sharing system among the San is central to their entire cultural ethos. They have ellaborate systems for gift giving and sharing (especially meat) to ensure that all benefit. The "great" hunter is indeed belittled so that he doesn't rise up to a position of arrogance but accepts that everyone has their part to play. Capitalism is a far cry from this ideal. The fat cats and the government take by far the greatest share of the kill with the workers allocated a tiny portion. Of the G8 countries only one was honest enough to reflect the percentage of GDP that is actually paid out in wages (Japan). It was less than 1%! So humanity is cursed to work half their lives in order to fatten the fat cat and actually pay for the staggeringly complex power machine (the government) that keeps them in slavery. Which leads me to the second image the underground elicited - the hamster's wheel. We trudge along mindlessly in a state of trance somehow vaguely aware of the meaninglessness of our lives but unable to break free. It is terribly sad. Do you know how much time the Kalahari San spend making a living? On average 3 1/2 hours a day, Australian Aborigines are even better at under 3 hours (in a purely "wild" state). Agriculture and industrialisation have enslaved us - let us at least be aware of this fact and not perpetuate the myth that we are better off. We are profoundly successful predators who - wherever we still exist as hunter-gatherers - spend most of our time lazing under trees telling stories - and at night we dance.....

I better go do a bit of the Easter thing......

Lotsa love

Greg

Let the rambling begin

Hey Cuz, we're on.