In a wonderful Beyond the Bookshelf piece about about Willa Cather (which I referred to recently in this post), Matthew Long writes that she was concerned that
“…dominant cultures try to mold their time's values and moral norms while subordinate cultures attempt to assert their reality.”
Very astute insight, and so clear and obvious once its been framed for you. Look around at the world and we see it literally everywhere. Perhaps this is what writers do, try to show this in action. And perhaps this is why dominant cultures so often fear and persecute writers. There is a great threat to the dominant culture if the subordinate cultures are allowed a voice or a recognition through finding words for the world through their own eyes, which might lead to more voices and more actions.
This is more than one line, but I love it:
‘A rabbi was asked by one of his students “Why did God create atheists?” After a long pause, the rabbi finally responded with a soft but sincere voice. “God created atheists” he said, “to teach us the most important lesson of them all – the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that God commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his actions are based on his sense of morality. Look at the kindness he bestows on others simply because he feels it to be right. When someone reaches out to you for help. You should never say ‘I’ll pray that God will help you.’ Instead, for that moment, you should become an atheist – imagine there is no God who could help, and say ‘I will help you’.”’
— Martin Buber, “Tales of the Hasidim”
(This is alot more than one line )
Related to the quote above about dominant and subordinate cultures, we modern humans think we are so highly evolved, so smart, the pinnacle of Life on Earth. It’s the old story of the dominant culture defining value, success, the rules. Self-congratulatory, myopic, navel-gazing, having decided ourselves on the definition of value, certain that there actually is none anywhere outside of our current, human-centered understanding. Nature, being relegated to “subordinate” in our eyes (though in fact we are Nature), is doing its best to assert its reality.
So every one of these passages, from Racing to Extinction: Why Humanity Will Soon Vanish, by Lyle Lewis, chosen by my friend Elisabeth Robson, calls us to break out from those walls of ignorance we are so confined by:
"Individual men and women in hunter-gatherer societies immediately prior to the Agricultural Revolution represent the pinnacle of human evolutionary development. Their athleticism was similar to modern-day decathletes with one notable difference. Instead of retiring when they were 30 or 35 years old, as do contemporary professional athletes, hunter-gatherers maintained most of their athleticism into their forties, fifties, and sixties.
...
Modern humans have no appreciation for the incredible amount of knowledge our hunter-gatherer ancestors retained to survive in what was often hostile environments. Within the area they wandered, every individual likely knew all the different birds, their calls, and when and where they nested. They would have known when fish spawned, where reptiles and amphibians congregated, and what insects were palatable. They knew more about wildlife than any modern-day biologist, more about plants than any botanist, and more about the uses of plants than herbalists. They almost certainly understood basic first aid.
...
They knew where to acquire basalt and flint in order to flake points, needles, and knife blades and had the fine-motor skills necessary to do so quickly. Their powers of observation and ability to use not only their eyes but their hearing, smell, touch, and taste far exceed our own. They could endure temperature swings that would leave most modern humans either hypo- or hyperthermic.
They had mastered the internal world of their own bodies and senses. They listened to all the bird and animal sounds that advertise the presence of a lurking dangerous predator. They carefully observed the foliage of trees to discover fruits, beehives, and bird nests. They moved with minimum effort and noise and knew how to sit, walk, and run in the most agile and efficient manner. The inability to have all these skills and knowledge at their disposal usually meant them being quickly swept out of the gene pool. Nature rarely gave our early ancestors a second chance to make a first impression.
Their understanding of personal place among their animal and plant neighbors and the terrain, was just as acute. ... They knew the haunts of nearly every large predator and herbivore within the area they roamed. Rarely did they not know the risk of death when hunting or gathering in any given area. ... People equate our opulent lifestyle as proof of supreme intelligence. But our hunter-gatherer ancestors were tougher, more athletic, and more knowledgeable than we are today.
...
The evolutionary adaptation of our shoulder [and our ability to throw] may have been the threshold that began the sixth extinction on the planet. The demise of hundreds of thousands of species became inevitable. Their tipping point is ours, and ours is theirs. A lack of extinction synchronicity doesn't mean they weren't set in motion by the same evolutionary event.
...
Humans are chronicling an unfolding drama of our own making where we are both protagonists and victims. The script has already resulted in the demise of many species, with many more to follow, including the lead character. The nearly 2-million-year-old sixth extinction is now nearing its conclusion."