”Lermännen” Asaro från Papua Nya Guinea sminkade och uppklädda för att föreställa andarna av dödade krigare som återvänt för att hemsöka sina fiender.
Jared Diamond försöker i en ny bok se vad ursprungsbefolkningar och stamfolk kan erbjuda den moderna människan.
Nation states occasionally engage in vast, hellacious wars, but these are rare. Most people in nation states feel qualms about killing another human being and have been taught to restrain their lust for revenge. People in many tribal societies, Diamond writes, do not share these attitudes. Without central governments, they have trouble bringing wars to an end.
Inte mycket att lära oss på den fronten alltså. Utan att ha läst boken låter det som att livet i ”primitiva” eller ”ociviliserade” stamsamhällen är oerhört våldsamt när det väl brakar loss och att staten (om det ens är det som avses, kanske är det enbart en ”styrande faktor” som saknas) är ett verktyg för att hålla ner krigen till en acceptabel nivå.
Och å andra sidan, igen:
“Loneliness is not a problem in traditional societies,” Diamond observes. “People spend their lives in or near the place where they were born, and they remain surrounded by relatives and childhood companions.” Identity isn’t a problem either. Neither is moral confusion. Or boredom. Diamond says life is more vivid in tribal societies. “Being in New Guinea is like seeing the world briefly in vivid colors, when by comparison the world elsewhere is gray.”
Från New York Times, Tribal Lessons: The World Until Yesterday av Jared Diamond
Heat, Flood or Icy Cold, Extreme Weather Rages Worldwide
climate change is not just about rising temperatures, but also about intense, unpleasant, anomalous weather of all kinds.
Om klimatförändringarna, också i New York Times.
Inside a Greek Poet’s Work, a Reflection of Her Country’s Hard Times
She has professed an almost creative belief in pessimism. “Pessimism is an inner love for life,” she said. “The pessimist is one who cannot enjoy the joys of life and is very conscious that he has the passion of the unsatisfied and of the unsatisfiable.”
och
“I derive my themes from what’s happening in everyday life,” Ms. Dimoula had said earlier. “I don’t have visions. I am not a visionary poet.” The afternoon light poured in through high windows. Outside was Athens, a city pushed to the brink. “I want to transform reality into something less real,” she said.
Greklands ”nationalpoet” Kiki Dimoula i New York Times.
