-Caveat Lector- My old friend, W. David Kubiak, has started a website and discussion group (of which I am a co-moderator) called Big Medicine, whose stated purpose is "dissecting corporate pathology". The basic assumption is that corporations, or Big Bodies, can be understood as a (comparatively new) form of social organism which threaten to dominate humanity and the planet, and whose interests are by no means identical to, nor perhaps even consistent with, those of human organisms... Here is an excerpt from his script for one episode of an NPR radio program, which deals with the rise of the military class and the concomitant imposition of hierarchy: ****************************************** There are several instructive ways to look at Big Body evolution - one that compares their formation to so-called super-organisms in other species, one that envisions how they actually began to form in early human societies, and one that traces their increasing diversification and dominance in modern human culture. .... First we have to remember how really, really old we are as a species - by latest accounts at least 2 million years - and for 99% of that time we lived in hunting, gathering tribes. Now imagine the daily flow of tribal life and how authority or the command of attention was distributed in your group. Tribes lived a common life but faced a diversity of challenges and, depending on the moment, very different kinds of people were looked to for leadership and direction. When meat was scarce, the tribe looked to its most able hunters; when crops were needed, it looked to its savviest plant people; when feasts were to be prepared, the best cooks assumed authority; when construction was required, the deftest builders led the group; when illness struck, those with healing talents commanded attention; and when festivity was called for - as it very frequently was in this world - the most inspired musicians and dancers ruled. In other words, the spotlight of attention and the authority it conferred shone on many different members of the group, depending on the moment, the talents available and the organic needs of the day. Such societies not only did not invite centralized power, they actively resisted it with an antique social trait that anthropologists call counter-dominance. That is, when one member got too high on his horse or uppity, a few of the lads would briskly step in and deflate a few of his airs. It was a natural problem. Many people who finally get attention don't like to let the spotlight go. You perhaps know the feeling. When everyone's attention is upon you, they are intimately connected to you and expand your being, feeling of power and the reach of your will. When multitudes attend you, you fill all their minds and you are magnified. When they are diverted to another attraction, you once become again single, solitary and small. When the spotlight shifts, when your moment in the limelight ends, you fall back into a kind of social darkness - and impotence. Most people hate the feeling, but hey, that's life. Or at least it was life during 99% of our history. No matter how much our tribal ancestors wished to prolong their personal turn on the stage, it was obvious you could not extend a hunt, a harvest, a plague, or even a party forever. Thus to every person, like every biblical thing, there was a season that came and went in time. Problem is, there was an exception to this wisdom, a militant exception. Beside their regular need for food, shelter and boogie, tribes occasionally required defense. Nasty or expansive neighbors could suddenly burst on the scene demanding instant collective response. As in other times of specialized need, the group looked toward its best fighters - the strongest, the sly and the mean - and followed their lead until the danger was passed. Now these bully boys may also have felt a bit wistful when their brief taste of glory passed, but unlike other trades, the brutal types had recourse to a permanent solution. If your pre-eminent power and perks only last as long as your fellows feel threatened, why not prolong that threat forever? The deep irrefutable logic of this insight has gouged the bloody course of human history. In tribal days, warrior-necessitating jeopardy could be extended indefinitely simply by jabbing the neighbors occasionally - snatching a goat or wench or scalp whenever tranquillity got out of hand. Since the resulting retaliation usually fell on innocent heads, a spirit of fear and vengeance could build up in the tribe until they saw in the neighbors an implacable and relentless foe. Relentless threats are clearly the best, because by definition they never go away, and thus the anxious need for perpetual military authority is born. This brilliant ploy changed everything - it concretized hierarchy and centralized rule, finally making real Big Bodies possible. It forced neighbors into slavery or defensive tyrannies of their own, it subordinated all other skills and arts - most especially women's - to those of thuggish males. And finally it began to spin shiny new myths and creeds that exalted this bloody setup and made it seem noble, immutable and blessed. **************************************** [If you are interested in subscribing to the Big Medicine List, which will go public at the Spring Equinox, contact me at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> to have your name put on the invitation list. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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