Riders on the storm Riders on the storm Into this house we’re born Into this world we’re thrown Like a dog without a bone An actor out on loan Riders on the stormi – Jim Morrison, Riders on the Storm In the lines above, Jim Morrison lyrically presents an ‘existentialist’ take on human existence. We’re ‘thrown’ into the world. It’s a fundamentally absurd situation: we seek meaning, but the cold universe revealed by science offers no meaning. We’re ‘riders on the storm’, trying to create values for ourselves and use them to make some sense of life, but there are no safety nets: live on the highwire as best you may; the abyss opens beneath you.
"If you’re fortunate enough to not be familiar with such things as campus codes of sexual behavior, look it up. I’m certainly not advocating horrible behavior. But could we be a little nuanced in our thinking about how people actually interact?"
More great stuff! This series could work as the curriculum for an entire semester... Kudos...
As to: “In many pre-modern, traditional societies it is through his or her membership in a variety of social groups that the individual identifies himself or herself and is identified by others.”
This describes 'tribal' societies; thus, my interest in handling 'Indigenous' issues as 'human' issues. Your writing here encourages me along lines that I feel emerging about my own writing....
I’ve been ruminating on that indigenous issues as human issues comment the past couple of days. Of course that indigenous folks are humans is true. I was thinking that wasn’t really what you meant though. I think you were meaning something like indigenous ways of living are more/most human ways of living, ie indigenous ways should be seen as paradigmatic or something. If that’s what you meant, I’m really liking that idea. Correct me if I went off track.
Most, if not all, Indigenous Peoples' names for themselves translate to "the people", in the sense of "the humans".
As John Trudell put it, "We’re too busy trying to protect the idea of a Native American or an Indian—but we’re not Indians and we’re not Native Americans. We’re older than both concepts. We’re the people. We’re the human beings.” {Reel Injun, Rezolution Pictures Inc., Film Board of Canada National, Newsworld CBC, and Films (Firm) Lorber. Videorecording. Edited by Neil Dia- mond, Catherine Bainbridge, Jeremiah Hayes, et al. Letterboxed. New York: Lorber Films, 2010.} [quoted in my book, p 16]
another comment:
"If you’re fortunate enough to not be familiar with such things as campus codes of sexual behavior, look it up. I’m certainly not advocating horrible behavior. But could we be a little nuanced in our thinking about how people actually interact?"
'wokism' is antithetical to nuanced thinking....
More great stuff! This series could work as the curriculum for an entire semester... Kudos...
As to: “In many pre-modern, traditional societies it is through his or her membership in a variety of social groups that the individual identifies himself or herself and is identified by others.”
This describes 'tribal' societies; thus, my interest in handling 'Indigenous' issues as 'human' issues. Your writing here encourages me along lines that I feel emerging about my own writing....
I’ve been ruminating on that indigenous issues as human issues comment the past couple of days. Of course that indigenous folks are humans is true. I was thinking that wasn’t really what you meant though. I think you were meaning something like indigenous ways of living are more/most human ways of living, ie indigenous ways should be seen as paradigmatic or something. If that’s what you meant, I’m really liking that idea. Correct me if I went off track.
Yes... paradigmatic...
Most, if not all, Indigenous Peoples' names for themselves translate to "the people", in the sense of "the humans".
As John Trudell put it, "We’re too busy trying to protect the idea of a Native American or an Indian—but we’re not Indians and we’re not Native Americans. We’re older than both concepts. We’re the people. We’re the human beings.” {Reel Injun, Rezolution Pictures Inc., Film Board of Canada National, Newsworld CBC, and Films (Firm) Lorber. Videorecording. Edited by Neil Dia- mond, Catherine Bainbridge, Jeremiah Hayes, et al. Letterboxed. New York: Lorber Films, 2010.} [quoted in my book, p 16]
Ah, great! Glad you're finding things to connect with.
It would be a super fun class to teach.
I am homeschooling a few of my kids next year and have a binder set aside to print your essays for my reference. Keep them coming!
Wow, that is awesome! Hopefully future ones are useful. This makes me happy and humbled.