03-13-2010, 01:51 PM
Indoctrination and What's Mine Is Mine.
How did we, human beings, get from a culture in which a person worked for the betterment of the whole society to an attitude of what is mine is mine and what is yours is yours? There are cultures which still exist today in which there is no word for the concept of work, no concept of personal possession. In this culture, if a man goes out hunting and kills a wild pig, everyone in his group shares the bounty. He doesn't say "this pig is mine and you owe me something for it". That was probably the way humans lived for eons. How and why did we change? What forces effected that change? Why are we so accepting of the selfishness of a "what's mine is mine and what's yours is your's" attitude? If I'm not mistaken there have been studies on the social lives of rats that show they get into a self preservation and competition mode when living in crowded and stressful conditions.
We are indoctrinated to believe that this attitude is good, normal and worthy of defending. The American Indians understood the negative aspects of this way of life.
But how did we get to where we are now?
How did we, human beings, get from a culture in which a person worked for the betterment of the whole society to an attitude of what is mine is mine and what is yours is yours? There are cultures which still exist today in which there is no word for the concept of work, no concept of personal possession. In this culture, if a man goes out hunting and kills a wild pig, everyone in his group shares the bounty. He doesn't say "this pig is mine and you owe me something for it". That was probably the way humans lived for eons. How and why did we change? What forces effected that change? Why are we so accepting of the selfishness of a "what's mine is mine and what's yours is your's" attitude? If I'm not mistaken there have been studies on the social lives of rats that show they get into a self preservation and competition mode when living in crowded and stressful conditions.
We are indoctrinated to believe that this attitude is good, normal and worthy of defending. The American Indians understood the negative aspects of this way of life.
But how did we get to where we are now?