Savages!

I gotta admit, this is one of my favorite Disney movies. Maybe it's just because Pocahontas is a really good canoer, and I think that's pretty credible. But as I read the article on Bushmen the song from Pocahontas "Savages" kept popping into mind (I made sure to put up the video with the lyrics so that you could sing along if you would like).

Africans are often viewed as "savages" that the west often feels it needs to civilize, educate, and commercialize. Now, as Chris pointed out in his post, I am no stasist. I wholeheartedly agree that capitalism and markets are a phenomenal way of creating economic growth and social change. I think there are many people that are concerned we are "ruining these people's culture" by modernizing them. That when people join markets they loose something human. My response is that poverty is not a necessary condition to retain culture. I don't believe people live in mud huts because it's part of their culture, they do it because they have no other alternatives. They aren't necessarily Bushmen by choice, they're Bushmen by nature. And if being a bushman is keeping them in poverty, by all means they should be free to stop being a bushman.

The trouble I have is when the West determines that the bushman will be better off if he stops being a bushman. That the savage will be happier if he joins the market. While I agree that joining the market is typically beneficial, perhaps people don't want to join! Maybe they would prefer to live in the bush! I am not kidding when I say that I have a surprising number of friends and acquaintances who live as squatters in the woods just outside Salt Lake City. They have no power, no light, and often eat plants and animals. Are they savages? Probably. But do they have a right to be like that (aside from squatting on public land)? You bet.

If people want to change, let them change. If they don't, then let them stay the same.

I should also add that this post has less to do with the article and more to do with thoughts spurred by it. I agree with the author of the artcile (Who wrote this? they're from Utah?) on issues of property rights, animal migration, etc.