The Savage Life
Posted: April 3rd, 2016, 3:45 am
In another thread, Adama posted some information from Benjamin Franklin which I believe is worthy of discussion apart from the idiocy of the thread in which it appears. In the thread, he quotes Benjamin Franklin as follows:
As an adult, this boy discovered he had living relatives among the natives of the rainforest. He eventually went to live among. Living among the natives, he found that everyday he did absolutely nothing. He was amazed that the elders didn't pressure them to do any sort of work. They simply told him that one day you will find yourself. He tried a number of different things, But nothing seemed to stick. Eventually, he turned to gardening. After some time, yet found what he wanted to do and it created a beautiful garden and was contributing to feeding his people and growing medicinal plants. The elders told him that they always knew he would find his way. He was also free from his drinking problem and his troublemaking ways.
In another story, we hear about the western man who married a local native woman and took her back to England. At first, she was astounded by all the tall buildings in the supermarket stocked with more food than any number of people could eat. She was impressed with all the advanced technology modern society had to offer. After some time, however, even though they had children, she became disillusioned. She said that in that society everyone locked themselves in a box. Each person, or family, stayed in their little box alone and didn't interact with others. She couldn't stand this.
You see, in her village houses had roofs but no walls. Everything was built in a circle, and everyone could see everyone else at anytime. The very idea of privacy was completely foreign to her. Life in the modern western world was too fast-paced and lonely for her. Eventually, she took her children and return home to her native rainforest.
Anyone who knows the story of Mutiny on the Bounty, which involves the Cook Islands, can quickly see that it also relates to this issue. The men on that ship took local wives from among the Islanders and wanted to stay there. Life there provided much more happiness than finishing out their contracts working for the English.
I have a friend, who is a minister, went to the Cook Islands to do missionary work. He once told me the story of how he stood on a hill with a native looking down on the posh resort where the Americans were staying. The native asked him,"This is what makes you happy?" Looking down at this resort, with all of its amenities, the native simply couldn't understand it.
My friend also told me that the owners of these posh resorts always had trouble staffing them. The natives would work for a week or two and then suddenly disappear. The reason for this, my friend was told, was that on those islands the natives lacked nothing. Fruit trees were growing everywhere, and any child new how to go down to the nearest waterhole and catch fish and crab with a stick. When someone needed a house, their friends got together and they put up a hook for them. The materials needed to build it are everywhere. The only reason someone would work, is because they wanted a DVD player or video game or something like that. It would work just long enough to save up the money needed to buy the thing they want and then quit.
This type of thing was a huge problem for the British Empire during their maritime journeys. They would arrive on the island where the natives lived in perfect tropical weather. Food was friendly growing everywhere and fishing game were plentiful. The natives basically had no reason to do work for The English. They were not poor. The English would, then, mow down their trees and put a fence around their watering holes, saying that now they have to pay for that which had been free all of their lives. In this way, they forced the natives to work on their plantations. This type of thing is still happening in South America today. Now, however, it is large companies like Coke and Pepsi instead of the British Empire.
THE HAPPIER ABROAD CONNECTION
I've often wondered if this issue plays a part in why the Philippines is a great destination for those who wish to be happier abroad. Before civilization came to them, the people of the Philippines where Island natives living a lifestyle not much different than that of Native Americans. In fact, some tribes still live that way in the mountains to this day. The people are very welcoming, open and friendly. Poverty is not experienced in the same way as it will be in the west.
I have seen people living in the worst of squatter areas and yet make no effort to improve their lives. I once ventured into such area not far from Ayala Mall in Cebu city. In that area, I spoke with the number of able-bodied men, In the middle of the day, who were drinking rum and playing cards. These men were all perfectly capable of working if they have the inclination.
Like the native villages I described in the rain forest of South America, the houses in this area have no real walls. They might put up the sheet, Or some form of paneling, but for the most part things were pretty open. Small children were running around playing, Women or washing clothes or cooking, and the men were drinking, playing cards, and enjoying themselves. Just was their life. Perhaps, they saw no reason to try and change.
So my favorite such an area that is incredibly dangerous. To some extent, it probably is. Everyone there, however, was very friendly and they invited me to sit down, Drink and play cards with them.
WORK AND LIFE
I will freely admit that I don't like to work. Don't get me wrong, as an artist and animator I can do my craft for 12 hours a day and enjoy every minute of it. I made huge salaries doing this type of thing for companies such as EA, Warner Bros., Sony pictures and universal. It's not work to me. Still, for some reason I wanted to escape and find some form of freedom. As Benjamin Franklin spoke, the care of maintaining a certain life style was just too much trouble. That's one of the reasons I first went to the Philippines.
In the Philippines, doing my craft for myself, as opposed to using it to make someone else rich, I sometimes made only $300 or $400 per month. Still, I could survive there! I have my freedom. I would wake up and every hour of every day was mine to do with as I please. I did lots of different things to make money. Some of them I liked, and some of them I didn't. At least, I had choices. Living in Los Angeles, with a $1200 a month rent bearing down on me, and a huge car payment, and many other things I had no such choices.
I'm currently in China. There have been many discussions on here about the importance of the pursuit of money in this country, and I feel that, as a result, I got stuck in a grind not much different then what I escaped from in Los Angeles. I suppose this is why this particular topic currently appeals to me. I'm starting to think that, for those who can handle some of the Philippines more negative points, it may still be one of the best destinations for those who wish to be happier abroad, especially those who wish to escape the rat race and find some form of freedom in life.
I have read numerous articles on this very topic. I have even seen documentary films relating to this particular issue in our modern times. In these documentary films, they usually involve modern western man going to live among the natives of the rain forest in south America. In one such film, the story is told of the native boy who was raised since being an infant in the big city. I believe it was the capital of Venezuela. Growing up, this boy never fit in and often got into trouble. He also developed a serious drinking problem.Benjamin Franklin wrote: To those who remained behind, it was often rumored that those who had gone over to the Indians had been “captured.” While some captives were taken, more often the whites took up Indian life without compulsion. As Franklin wrote to Peter Collinson May 9, 1753:
The proneness of human Nature to a life of ease, of freedom from care and labour appear strongly in the heretofore little success that has attended every attempt to civilize our American Indians. . . . They visit us frequently and see the advantages that Arts, Science and compact Society procure us; they are not deficient in natural understanding and yet they have never strewn any inclination to change their manner of life for ours, or to learn any of our Arts.
While Indians did not seem to have much inclination to exchange their culture for the Euro-American, many Euro-Americans appeared more than willing to become Indians at this time:
When an Indian child has been brought up among us, taught our language and habituated to our customs, yet if he goes to see his relations and makes one Indian Ramble with them, there is no perswading him ever to return. And that this is not natural [only to Indians], but as men, is plain from this, that when white persons of either sex have been taken prisoners young by the Indians, and lived awhile among them, tho’ ransomed by their Friends, and treated with all imaginable tenderness to prevail with them to stay among the English, yet within a Short time they become disgusted with our manner of Life, and the care and pains that are necessary to support it, and take the first good Opportunity of escaping again into the Woods, from whence there is no reclaiming them.
Franklin followed with an example. He had heard of a person who had been “reclaimed” from the Indians and returned to a sizable estate. Tired of the care needed to maintain such a style of life, he had turned it over to his younger brother and, taking only a rifle and a matchcoat, “took his way again to the Wilderness.” Franklin used this story to illustrate his point that “No European who has tasted Savage Life can afterwards bear to live in our societies. Such societies provided their members with greater opportunities for happiness than European cultures.
The Care and Labour of providing for Artificial and fashionable Wants, the sight of so many Rich wallowing in superfluous plenty, whereby so many are kept poor and distress’d for Want, the Insolence of Office . . . the restraints of Custom, all contrive to disgust them with what we call civil Society.
As an adult, this boy discovered he had living relatives among the natives of the rainforest. He eventually went to live among. Living among the natives, he found that everyday he did absolutely nothing. He was amazed that the elders didn't pressure them to do any sort of work. They simply told him that one day you will find yourself. He tried a number of different things, But nothing seemed to stick. Eventually, he turned to gardening. After some time, yet found what he wanted to do and it created a beautiful garden and was contributing to feeding his people and growing medicinal plants. The elders told him that they always knew he would find his way. He was also free from his drinking problem and his troublemaking ways.
In another story, we hear about the western man who married a local native woman and took her back to England. At first, she was astounded by all the tall buildings in the supermarket stocked with more food than any number of people could eat. She was impressed with all the advanced technology modern society had to offer. After some time, however, even though they had children, she became disillusioned. She said that in that society everyone locked themselves in a box. Each person, or family, stayed in their little box alone and didn't interact with others. She couldn't stand this.
You see, in her village houses had roofs but no walls. Everything was built in a circle, and everyone could see everyone else at anytime. The very idea of privacy was completely foreign to her. Life in the modern western world was too fast-paced and lonely for her. Eventually, she took her children and return home to her native rainforest.
Anyone who knows the story of Mutiny on the Bounty, which involves the Cook Islands, can quickly see that it also relates to this issue. The men on that ship took local wives from among the Islanders and wanted to stay there. Life there provided much more happiness than finishing out their contracts working for the English.
I have a friend, who is a minister, went to the Cook Islands to do missionary work. He once told me the story of how he stood on a hill with a native looking down on the posh resort where the Americans were staying. The native asked him,"This is what makes you happy?" Looking down at this resort, with all of its amenities, the native simply couldn't understand it.
My friend also told me that the owners of these posh resorts always had trouble staffing them. The natives would work for a week or two and then suddenly disappear. The reason for this, my friend was told, was that on those islands the natives lacked nothing. Fruit trees were growing everywhere, and any child new how to go down to the nearest waterhole and catch fish and crab with a stick. When someone needed a house, their friends got together and they put up a hook for them. The materials needed to build it are everywhere. The only reason someone would work, is because they wanted a DVD player or video game or something like that. It would work just long enough to save up the money needed to buy the thing they want and then quit.
This type of thing was a huge problem for the British Empire during their maritime journeys. They would arrive on the island where the natives lived in perfect tropical weather. Food was friendly growing everywhere and fishing game were plentiful. The natives basically had no reason to do work for The English. They were not poor. The English would, then, mow down their trees and put a fence around their watering holes, saying that now they have to pay for that which had been free all of their lives. In this way, they forced the natives to work on their plantations. This type of thing is still happening in South America today. Now, however, it is large companies like Coke and Pepsi instead of the British Empire.
THE HAPPIER ABROAD CONNECTION
I've often wondered if this issue plays a part in why the Philippines is a great destination for those who wish to be happier abroad. Before civilization came to them, the people of the Philippines where Island natives living a lifestyle not much different than that of Native Americans. In fact, some tribes still live that way in the mountains to this day. The people are very welcoming, open and friendly. Poverty is not experienced in the same way as it will be in the west.
I have seen people living in the worst of squatter areas and yet make no effort to improve their lives. I once ventured into such area not far from Ayala Mall in Cebu city. In that area, I spoke with the number of able-bodied men, In the middle of the day, who were drinking rum and playing cards. These men were all perfectly capable of working if they have the inclination.
Like the native villages I described in the rain forest of South America, the houses in this area have no real walls. They might put up the sheet, Or some form of paneling, but for the most part things were pretty open. Small children were running around playing, Women or washing clothes or cooking, and the men were drinking, playing cards, and enjoying themselves. Just was their life. Perhaps, they saw no reason to try and change.
So my favorite such an area that is incredibly dangerous. To some extent, it probably is. Everyone there, however, was very friendly and they invited me to sit down, Drink and play cards with them.
WORK AND LIFE
I will freely admit that I don't like to work. Don't get me wrong, as an artist and animator I can do my craft for 12 hours a day and enjoy every minute of it. I made huge salaries doing this type of thing for companies such as EA, Warner Bros., Sony pictures and universal. It's not work to me. Still, for some reason I wanted to escape and find some form of freedom. As Benjamin Franklin spoke, the care of maintaining a certain life style was just too much trouble. That's one of the reasons I first went to the Philippines.
In the Philippines, doing my craft for myself, as opposed to using it to make someone else rich, I sometimes made only $300 or $400 per month. Still, I could survive there! I have my freedom. I would wake up and every hour of every day was mine to do with as I please. I did lots of different things to make money. Some of them I liked, and some of them I didn't. At least, I had choices. Living in Los Angeles, with a $1200 a month rent bearing down on me, and a huge car payment, and many other things I had no such choices.
I'm currently in China. There have been many discussions on here about the importance of the pursuit of money in this country, and I feel that, as a result, I got stuck in a grind not much different then what I escaped from in Los Angeles. I suppose this is why this particular topic currently appeals to me. I'm starting to think that, for those who can handle some of the Philippines more negative points, it may still be one of the best destinations for those who wish to be happier abroad, especially those who wish to escape the rat race and find some form of freedom in life.