Even if it isn’t “the one right way for people to live,” wouldn’t you agree that democracy is as close to the perfect way of living as we’re going to get?Categories: Here's My Opinion; What's Yours?, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject|Tags: Political Correctness, Revolution, Tribal (tribe)| Read More
I’m 14 years old, and i live in southeastern michigan. The main reason im writing you is because i cant get people to take anything involved with saving the earth seriously. when i say people i mean the kids in my class, but it scares me that if people take that attitude towards these kinds of issues then we’re pretty well doomed.its not that i want to tell them how they should live there lives, its that i want them to at least try to understand what were in for if we continue to treat our world this way. i am hoping that since most of them will have read Ishmael by the time i go back to school, that it will have had some kind of impact on them.i dont really know what kind of response im expecting or if im going to get one, but i just wanted to see if there’s any way i can get people to listen to me and you and all the others that seek freedom from the doom that is sure to come upon our world.Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I'd Like Some Advice|Tags: Ishmael, Political Correctness, Revolution| Read More
It’s been over a decade since Ishmael was published. My question is, how are we doing?You once described the potential for exponential growth of the ideas in Ishmael. Has this been the case, or do you think there may come a time when “Quinn-changed minds” are relegated to the ranks of cultish idealists?My friends and family have put me in such a category for years, and I’m starting to believe them.Categories: Here's My Opinion; What's Yours?, I Have a Question About Daniel Quinn, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject|Tags: Beyond Civilization, Education, Political Correctness, Revolution| Read More
I have been reading the book My Ishmael and was wondering if/when we save the world, after a while people might forget about this culture and start locking up their food again, starting a whole new “Mother Culture.” This whole saving the world will be essentially pointless if some one messes it up again. Would we have anything to keep us from doing that again?Categories: Here's My Opinion; What's Yours?, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Anthropology, Famine, Population Control, Revolution| Read More
How can people teach themselves to escape Mother Culture’s story and start creating a new one?Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I'd Like Some Advice|Tags: Beyond Civilization, Leavers & Takers, Revolution, Tribal (tribe)| Read More
How do you spot one of Mother Culture’s Big Lies? Are there patterns, clues, signs you look for?Categories: I'd Like Some Advice|Tags: Education, Political Correctness, Revolution| Read More
I am now fighting two distinct battles. One against the idea that people are supposed to rule the world, and the other against the notion that governments are supposed to rule people.Frankly, I’m surprised you’re not an anarchist. You’ve indicated that the “laws” that governments write are inferior to those that grow and evolve with cultures. But, in the answers to questions 502 and 592, you seem to concede the inborn right of you and your tribe to govern yourselves—to ignore old minds that are merely elected, and often critically opposed to your ideas.You contend that the problems of our culture developed systemically, yet you feed a failed, corrupt system (the U.S. government) with your vote. I find it difficult to believe that you can see the potential of walking away from civilization without ceasing the opportunity to walk away from corruption. Al Gore is a great alternative to George Bush for president, just as a clean knife is better that a rusty one for impaling oneself.Categories: Here's My Opinion; What's Yours?, I Have a Bone to Pick with You!|Tags: Quinn's Motivations, Revolution| Read More
You often mention the idea of a Learning Circus in which people of all ages can flock to learn and teach whatever they like. But when you mentioned it in Beyond Civilization, I got the feeling that you are actually thinking of starting one yourself. Am I right that you’re seriously considering founding such a circus? Because if you are, I want in!Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject|Tags: Beyond Civilization, Education, Revolution, Tribal (tribe)| Read More
How are you different from the prophets who tell people how to live thier lives? I know it is not your intention to do so, but I feel like through reading other questions and talking with other Ishmael readers, that your ideas revolutionize the way we think about the world.In turn, how we live is ultimately shaped by you. Gutting out our system of understanding and replacing it with that of Ishmael changes how we think and live, right?Categories: I Have a Question About Daniel Quinn, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Christian, Education, Political Correctness, Quinn's Motivations, Religion, Revolution| Read More
You speak of Leavers having a sort of wealth that we lack and desperately need. What is that wealth (besides the obvious—the knack for living successfully for three million years)?Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Animism, Revolution, Tribal (tribe)| Read More
