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rmdcoiso 's review for:
The Dawn of Everything
by David Wengrow, David Graeber
Deserves all the praise it receives.
Only criticism is that it should be paired with a shorter, more accessible version of the key argument - and the text more clear on which key ideas correspond to each paragraph(s). But enough nitpicking, its relevance outweighs the rest.
Wikipedia provides a great summary: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dawn_of_Everything
What stands out to me is how it demonstrates that most of our ideas on how human societies are organized are extremely biased towards the form that exists now - of states and hierarchy.
This book provides a revolutionary insight into possible pasts and possible futures where humans organize in egalitarian ways. It disproves that large scales require domination and stable social arrangements around fixed agricultural production. Another world is possible, a message sorely needed.
It leaves us with some possibilities of the key elements towards these better worlds: to consider three core freedoms, the freedom to move (away from toxic systems), the freedom to disobey ("") and the freedom to create new social arrangements; the implications of these freedoms could include the obligation to provide for the basic needs of anyone, so they can be free to be full human beings.
They also elaborate on how violence and domination are a current intrinsic part of our societal model - and how amerindian communities provide another way, one that doesn't shy away from violence, but doesn't confuse care and violence.
Clearly this is a book that needs to be studied in schools and that I'll need to reread to process further. So hope this is enticing enough for now.
Only criticism is that it should be paired with a shorter, more accessible version of the key argument - and the text more clear on which key ideas correspond to each paragraph(s). But enough nitpicking, its relevance outweighs the rest.
Wikipedia provides a great summary: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dawn_of_Everything
What stands out to me is how it demonstrates that most of our ideas on how human societies are organized are extremely biased towards the form that exists now - of states and hierarchy.
This book provides a revolutionary insight into possible pasts and possible futures where humans organize in egalitarian ways. It disproves that large scales require domination and stable social arrangements around fixed agricultural production. Another world is possible, a message sorely needed.
It leaves us with some possibilities of the key elements towards these better worlds: to consider three core freedoms, the freedom to move (away from toxic systems), the freedom to disobey ("") and the freedom to create new social arrangements; the implications of these freedoms could include the obligation to provide for the basic needs of anyone, so they can be free to be full human beings.
They also elaborate on how violence and domination are a current intrinsic part of our societal model - and how amerindian communities provide another way, one that doesn't shy away from violence, but doesn't confuse care and violence.
Clearly this is a book that needs to be studied in schools and that I'll need to reread to process further. So hope this is enticing enough for now.