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A friend's blog post on tribe reminded me of a conversation I had with a boss. I thought I would reproduce it here for you. plz to be discussinz:
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Once upon a time...
My boss and myself were discussing a very wealthy client. This person had 350 acres in British Columbia Canada, on which she had a tiny ranch, and raised Thoroughbred horses. We were discussing her land at the time.
"Can you imagine having all that land?"
My boss asked me.
"Yeah, I wish I had that much"
I said.
"What would you do with it?"
My boss asked.
"I'd put people on it."
I replied.
"WHAT??! People would ruin it! Don't put people on it!"
She shouted at me, over my cubicle wall.
"Oh, well, I meant that I would put TRIBES on it."
I replied, cringing at her exasperation with me. She could not imagine people not being destructive to land. She thought I meant 'sell the land at a profit and destroy it for housing'. Oddly enough, when I said 'tribes' all the annoyance went away. 'tribes good. people bad' ... uhhhh... what, are tribes made of cheese creatures that science isn't aware of? ;)
Even the most liberal or conservative people in a civilized society cannot imagine people NOT being destructive.
After all, it is civilization's primary directive in life. They yawn and stretch and unconsciously 'know' that 'the world was made FOR US so what shall we do to it today?'
This is the primary problem that many people, such as in your post, are attempting to overcome.
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Have you experienced this sort of conversation before? How was it received?
What did (or would) you say to change their minds, if they could be changed?
------
Once upon a time...
My boss and myself were discussing a very wealthy client. This person had 350 acres in British Columbia Canada, on which she had a tiny ranch, and raised Thoroughbred horses. We were discussing her land at the time.
"Can you imagine having all that land?"
My boss asked me.
"Yeah, I wish I had that much"
I said.
"What would you do with it?"
My boss asked.
"I'd put people on it."
I replied.
"WHAT??! People would ruin it! Don't put people on it!"
She shouted at me, over my cubicle wall.
"Oh, well, I meant that I would put TRIBES on it."
I replied, cringing at her exasperation with me. She could not imagine people not being destructive to land. She thought I meant 'sell the land at a profit and destroy it for housing'. Oddly enough, when I said 'tribes' all the annoyance went away. 'tribes good. people bad' ... uhhhh... what, are tribes made of cheese creatures that science isn't aware of? ;)
Even the most liberal or conservative people in a civilized society cannot imagine people NOT being destructive.
After all, it is civilization's primary directive in life. They yawn and stretch and unconsciously 'know' that 'the world was made FOR US so what shall we do to it today?'
This is the primary problem that many people, such as in your post, are attempting to overcome.
-----
Have you experienced this sort of conversation before? How was it received?
What did (or would) you say to change their minds, if they could be changed?
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Re: A Story
Fri, September 25, 2009 - 7:50 PMWell you're right, there's no way around having an impact on the land you live on. Trying to make your living off the land itself you become more keenly aware of what you take from it though, and learn not to take more than it can give, and how to give back to it. If you don't have too many people trying to live off of too little, it makes for a more balanced, desirable way of life. ..at least that's what I imagine, not having tried it yet for any extended period of time. It's too late in the game for everyone to go back to living this way, however..
