Has anyone heard of this (incredible!) organization before?
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Yes, they do important work. Their director Stephen Corry has written a lot of important articles defending indigenous people against the conscious or unconscious racial slurs made against them by western commentators, including intellectuals who should know better like Jared Diamond and Stephen Pinker. See:
http://www.survivalinternational.org/articles/3289
cheers,
Ian
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I actually read that article a few days before posting, & I canât help but wonder how Stephen Corry feels about the demise of the industrial world.
To me this reinforces the double-bind we face as rewilders. If we miraculously succeed in giving up our computers & industrial-based livelihoods in exchange for the freedom of putting âprimitiveâ skills & (neo?)tribalism to the test, then who will give a voice to our tribal âfamilyâ around the globe? Surely these âsavagesâ are the best teachers of the sustainable living we want to ârecreateâ, as well as those with the best odds of surviving the collapse of our doomed societies.
The marrow in my bones screams for me to get out of the Civ, but am I not morally obligated to exploit the privileged position I was born with? Ten bags of flax to the wo/man who can devise a way to do both.
I think we are, yes. Donât know how Corry and SI feel about it though⌠On the other hand if the entire western world were to âput âprimitiveâ skills & (neo)tribalism to the testâ then other tribes wouldnât need anyone to speak up on their behalf (or help spread their message) because the west would no longer be exerting its genocidal pressure by stealing their lands & resources. But thatâs not going to happen any time soonâŚ
No easy answers as you say, Iâm afraid!
Iâve come to the conclusion that land is big bucks. No one cares about saving the rainforest, natural habitats, the Amazon, etc. If money can be made, great! F**k Mother NatureâŚRIGHT?
It really boils my blood the blindness, greed and avarice of the human race. I"m not proud to be part of it.
How about learning about cultures that did mind balancing their population size and ways of living with their surroundings? How about spreading their stories? Even if we donât know how to turn things around ourselves, at least we can bring stories of hope and good examples forward to the next generation. I find it a shame that many people have never get told about these different ways of living and still believe that âhumansâ âareâ the problem - rather than some (widespread) human cultures.
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While I tend to share your pessimism, this is sort of an oversimplified portrayal. Amazonian countries that have to give their entire GDP to the World Bank just to make the minimum payment on their loans donât have many options. The whole system is bunk, & plenty of greedy a$$holes are to blame (or simply making the problem worse). But I donât think we should let the selfish pricks who happen to be in charge at the moment define us as a species. Everyone here is human, no? 
An excellent point! I try to bring up the islander strategy of polyandry (one wife - many husbands) as often as I can just to show that not every âpopulation reduction strategyâ means exterminating people. Even the hippy chicks give me funny looks tho (perhaps theyâre thinking âone manâs bad enough, why would I want two!?â)
WellâŚAnnekeâŚI donât know where you live or how much you have traveled. I suspect you have not traveled much and that you are very young.
Humans ARE the problem. There is absolutely nothing humans can do that does not impact the health of the planet. Philip Shabecoff said in the 70âs:
âThe bulldozer and not the atomic bomb may turn out to be the most destructive invention of the 20th century.â - Philip Shabecoff.
His quote is dated as the bulldozer âISâ the most destructive. It is driving wildlife all over the planet to extinction not only by overdevelopment, but by increased global warming. Asphalt and Concrete absorb and retain heat fueling global warming-and this stuff is relished by bipartisan politics.
I think it can look like humans are the problem when all we ever look at is the agricultural societies that make up 99%+ of the current living humans, but if you also look at indigenous peoples of the past and present who were/are hunter gatherers and maybe some even part horticulturalists then you can absolutely see the same species of humans living in completely sustainable ways and often in ways that are/were deeply enriching for soil and plant and animal lives as well.
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I agree there are things humans can do for living in a much better way in this world, and can help to not be the problem. That there are so many humans now still is a great problem. So the many humans cannot live in the way humans did tens of thousands of years ago, to have a sustainable way. And while agriculture is bad for this world, animal agriculture is the worst. People should not continue using it, it is the worst to this world. None of us help for sustainability using anything from it. What are they all going to do for being sustainable in this world? They would have to have their population decrease in number. But then while that waits, they need a way to live. Staying with civilization with the demands involved with that still wonât be sustainable. So to help in not being a problem to this world they cannot remain with civilization, being a part of it which is the problem. People should leave it, and live in sustainable ways, with simplicity in living that would be like the ways of traditional living of indigenous people, which we should not lose from this world.