/bmw/ - The Bureau of Memetic Warfare

alternative download:

http://wikisend.com/download/315900/UofCPress_CodedTerritories_2014.pdf

Thank you for this post, it is intriguing

I haven't a full opinion on indigenous peoples (and I suppose an undifferentiated one isn't), though i am inclined to agree with some leftist rhetoric on it - that they developed differently rather than the Africans which did not develop at all

I have respect for the Native Americans

For instance, their political arrangements were highly advance and informed the basis of the American government

Their agriculture was highly developed as well (relative to most all non whites) - corn cannot reproduce on its on but was instead selected for and intentionally bred to produce desired qualities

They weren't stupid people, I don't think that they were capable of the things that we were capable of, but they were quite capable in their own ways and I'd be interested in learning their esoteric wisdom

I'll give this a read

>>4279

Cool, just wrote a paper on this so feel to ask any questions. It's for sure quite liberal oriented such its rooted in critical theory that channels the decades of anger if many indigenous people. However, many indigenous societies are quite cool. Here we have the Coast Salish language family and while they are nothing like the Iriquois or Lakota, they did some awesome stuff. Their agroforestry was ridiculous and they were essentially super libertarian. Their society was generally composed of semi-familial corporate groups that formed and competed for specific resources then moved on. Leaders were people considered spiritually knowledgeable and skilled. They based their social ranking around who could afford to have the biggest block party!

This is just a quick summary of one region, but it may shed some light. It's a shame they hate Europeans (aka Americans). Their culture is pretty conservative tbh

>>4287

>>4286

Cool! Thanks

I've often considered different ways of living life, mostly in relation to the Amish but it applies to certain functional hippie communes and indigenous people as well

I believe that living in harmony with nature and enjoying its beauty through simple living is a perfectly valid way of living ones life

But the bit you mentioned about how advanced they became while developing independently is pretty intriguing

>>4288

>>4287

Yeah, the meso American tribes and even the mound builders were pretty 'advanced' in terms of Euro-centric discourses. I'm mainly experienced with Coast Salish groups who had a shitton of food from all the salmon, herring, and wild berries (legit there are like 5 common edible kinds here). Their society didn't even collapse until European diseases and colonialism. They built large wooden halls and family homes like Vikings. Unfortunately, they had a primarily oral society with only a few primitive pictographic displayed in Wampum (see chapter 7) so we don't know alot of stuff.

However they also had some amazing ideas about well ideas. Their system of understanding was fundamentally built around individual knowledge, geographic place, and familial structures. Equally.

>>4294

Can you link to anything on their "ideas on ideas" as you put it?

>>4295

Here's most of a good book on it - Be of Good Mind by Bruce Miller.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=bv8mLjJADw4C&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=be+of+good+mind+pdf&source=bl&ots=t1uVwd3C4Z&sig=iDJuTxlL8M5qvLJeftiuQ_Al0o8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTvaWbot3JAhXGdx4KHaCQA-MQ6AEIIzAD#v=onepage&q=be%20of%20good%20mind%20pdf&f=false

>>4296

And here's the missing section that happens to be one of my favorite chapters.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://web.uvic.ca/vv/stolo/2015/McHalsie.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjy9Jzoo93JAhVFmR4KHcO4D7UQFggcMAE&usg=AFQjCNGbNqrMlMxwvjc9-VoR0RGNoWAr-A&sig2=-7YtavH_DCxdvUCditIDjQ

>>4301

Not him but I see it like this:

Native americans are the closest example euro-americans have to a non-consumerist culture. Where white man landscapes and does all sorts of trade just to build a house, the red man erected a stick some animal hides and tied it all together and was just as happy with it.

It's the same reason modern reds love cowboy movies, they like the aspects missing from their own culture.

How much shit in your house do you need? Could you bear having a yard sale where everything was free? An anti-greed is something seen in many red societies, where social clout was held higher than bead collection.

>>4312

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P73REgj-3UE

I agree. The discourses that indigenous groups around the world have spent centuries creating are fundamentally different from those created by the West. The internet is particularly interesting in this situation because it is unlike the traditionally linear discourses of Western science and thought. Its episodic and intermingled nature is much more similar to many indigenous perceptions of the world.

If you read this:

Aboriginal Narratives in Cyberspace by Loretta Todd

https://books.google.ca/books?id=7FGTVGs64RsC&pg=PA179&lpg=PA179&dq=loretta+todd+aboriginal+narratives+in+cyberspace&source=bl&ots=AtYJmG6DN5&sig=X-hYL9lTpTRL6CQBic3O8b4UoUA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiy98urwN7JAhXrooMKHX21AJwQ6AEILzAC#v=onepage&q=loretta%20todd%20aboriginal%20narratives%20in%20cyberspace&f=false

You will see that many indigenous people/artists see the rise of virtual reality as a negative as it negates sense of land and self. HOWEVER, they are super into the idea of AUGMENTED reality. That is, using cyberspace to interact with different levels of reality overlaid in a physical space. This is essentially what they have been doing within a spiritual or religious sense for generations. In fact, many indigenous peoples see the internet as a CONVERGENT technology with indigenous belief systems and power relations.

Its like this. Imagine if you had a society that was based around making elaborate drawings with charcoal. Exploring ideas of form and shape and design. Mastering these concepts and internalizing them into the way they live and interact. Defining their very civilization on them. Then imagine they suddenly have access to Photoshop or CAD. Yeah it takes a while to adjust, but holy shit just you wait.

Let me know if you want links to any indigenous augmented reality projects - there are quite a few cool ones.

>>4318

>white indians

dafuq you talking about? Do you mean crossbreeds with Russian/French traders/trappers?

Or are you talking about people like the Cherokee who tried to integrate and were fully Christian and dressed in Western clothes?

>All the tools needed, so we can go to the moon?

So one person owns everything needed to go to the moon? There is a reason that NASA is a public organization and that we are only now getting some small private CORPORATIONS as the technology becomes cheaper/better understood.

Natives did the same thing. They formed corporate groups to compete with other groups over resources or to accomplish important cultural or religious tasks like building totem poles or community structure or holding important ceremonies.

It is not necessary nor healthy for individuals to possess so much. It is also far less efficient in a society with a political culture build around collaboration and shared stewardship of land, resources, and knowledge.