A Language Older Than Words

What Hacker News says

1. evanlivingstonDec 2017
   After the Special Period in Cuba which began in 1989 with the collapse of the soviet union Cuba was forced to become substantially more self-sustaining. Previously they were able to farm in much more extractive ways and offset their agrictultural output from trade with the USSR. Once the USSR disappeared it was extremely difficult to import agricultural chemicals and import food. Food in Cuba isn't great today, but it's pretty sustainably created.

   I would argue that an economic system that concentrates power has the ability to create and enforce a monopoly on land usage. Political or economic systems that allow for a minority control of usable land are much more inclined to use that land for the benefit of the controlling minority, and so far that seems maximizing profits in the short term. When we speak of land management what do we mean? The best "returns"? What is being returned to us? I'm inclined to agree that the values used inland management _can_ be independent of economic system, but an economic system that brings with it a predefined value-set based around extracting profit via exploitation is going to manage the land according to those values. Until we have values that supersede the values of the economic system then the econmic's system's values with be the dominating ones.

   While I find his philosophy a bit lacking, Derrick Jensen has some great writing on how we value and manage land. https://www.amazon.com/Language-Older-Than-Words/dp/19314985...

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2. ebcodeJun 2017
   Sure, though it's hard to find words. Something most people can relate to is the feeling of being watched. I think this is a type of ESP. Sometimes you might feel you're being watched from a specific direction, and turn your head and you do indeed find someone there looking at you. So, without going into too much detail, I'll just say that I've had a similar feeling around trees.

   As for books, I highly recommend "A Language Older Than Words" by Derrick Jensen.

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3. maryrosecookOct 2009
   For more from the wonderful Jensen on how abusive our culture is, read A Language Older Than Words (http://www.amazon.com/Language-Older-Than-Words/dp/189395603...). If you can look past the absurd stuff about talking to animals, there is a lot to be learnt from it.
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4. SystemsThinkerMay 2008
   This article is brilliant. Lies play an enormous role in this culture. I could go on and on about the topic, but I think one quote from A Language Older than Words by Derrick Jensen says it best:

   "In order for us to maintain our way of living, we must, in a broad sense, tell lies to each other, and especially to ourselves. It is not necessary that the lies be particularly believable. The lies act as barriers to truth. These barriers to truth are necessary because without them many deplorable acts would become impossibilities."

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5. hindsightbiasAug 2019
   Derrick Jensen touches on this in A Language Older Than Words with his experiences running a farm.
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