Tribal Wisdom Essay, Research Paper

Tribal Wisdom Modernization has changed our thinking about every facet of our lives. Tribal Wisdom by David Maybury-Lewis is about the differences between tribal people and modern people. The article describes how modern aged people has moved away from the traditional ways of thinking and has become dependant on technology. There are many negatives in the way modern people think and the only solution is to reclaim the benefits of tribal living. Although technology makes life easier, the same technology is also destroying the social and ecological structure that we live in. The connection between man and nature seems lost in modern society. A hundred years ago science seemed to hold such promising possibilities. But the scientific advances were built on the notion that man would master nature and make it produce more easily and plentifully for them. As a result of our scientific advances, we may be gradually making the planet uninhabitable. The massive use of technology is polluting the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we walk on. Even the vast oceans of the Earth are being filled with garbage and our beautiful rainforests are being burned. The most alarming concern for humans is the fact that the ozone layer is being depleted at an alarming rate, which is the cause of more people to having skin cancer. Although technology has made life much easier for us, the land that we live in is becoming dirtier and more polluted. The children of the future might always indoors because of the amount of smog in the air or the amount of ultraviolet rays coming into the earth. In short modern people has taken Earth for granted. Tribal people respected the Earth. They treated Earth as if it was a gift to them. They carefully used the resources that Earth provided. They know that the resources is not only important to there own survival but to the survival of other creatures.

The 20th century has been the bloodiest in history, not only because of the wars between countries employing weapons of mass destruction, but also because modern technology has been used by ruthless leaders to cow their own subjects. Stalin and Hitler are examples of dictators who directed violence on their own people in the name of the state. It seems that human beings are trying to find the right balance between mob and dictator, between chaos and tyranny, and between individual and society (Maybury-Lewis 1). Industrial societies give a monopoly of power to the state in exchange for guaranteed peace. People need a government that they can believe in before they can support it. The unraveling of Eastern Europe is a good example of this. Once the heavy hand of communist dictatorship was lifted, old ethnic loyalties and rivalries surfaced. The failure of these states to create a government in which many diverse groups can live in was their downfall. Tribal people though are very politically sound and they know how to make the system work. An example of this is the League of the Iroquois. The League of the Iroquois created a constitution that had the force of a religion. They did not trample on the rights of the weak. People were willing and eager to adhere to it because they saw it as a source of peace. In the past they searched for the answers to political questions more vigorously. They were able to create a system where there was peace among their people. Serious consideration of tribal ways of life should lead us to think about our current actions in society. It is about time humans start to take care of their Earth and to restructure their social system in a way where people are treated equally everywhere. Modern ways of thinking has hurt society in many ways. Maybe learning from barbaric societies might bring back tranquility and harmony to this Earth.