Richard asked three dynamite questions: "What would a Goddess country be like? What do you think the laws and the culture of a modern nation that modeled itself after the Goddess would be like? How do you think it would be perceived by the wider world?"
Fab questions, Richard. First let me say I'm not absolutely certain that a Goddess country could survive alone in today's world. That's why I've always stressed that the world needs to move together toward understanding and diluting what I call "starvation culture"* (which affects most of the world today, mostly through starvation-god religions such as the Abrahamaic religions and Hinduism but also through the older, outlawed starvation-god religions in places like China and Russia).
At the same time we're bashing the toxic old starvation gods, we must begin bringing back the old Guiding Goddess** ways of life. What would a Goddess country look like in the world today?
Social Equality. First, there'd be no social inequality. Everyone would be considered as equally valuable as the next person. Just as a healthy mother sees all her kids as equally lovable and valuable, so the people in a Goddess country would see everyone -- despite anyone's IQ, abilities, age, looks, skin color, or what have you.
Financial equality. Second, there'd be no poor people. Everyone would be rich. The Goddess-centered Minoans and Indus Valley people were some of the wealthiest in the world -- but everyone in these civilizations was equally wealthy. For example, in the large Indus Valley cities of 4000 years ago, everyone had the same high-quality stuff -- including indoor bathrooms. Indoor bathrooms for everyone was never again to happen until the 20th century -- when most in the West at least gave up their outhouses and turned to indoor plumbing.
Playful, creative, sensual. Third, compared to the people in most countries today, everyone in a Goddess country would be extremely playful, creative and sensual. There'd be a premium placed on one's abilities in these areas, so instead of considering them sinful or a waste of time, everyone would be totally lauded and praised for how well and often they showed playfulness, creativity and sensuality.
Economics. Fourth, I think a Goddess country would operate on the basis of a gift economy. The person most highly honored would be the person who could give away the most. For a great look at a modern-day gift economy, read Leaving Mother Lake, about the Goddess-centered (until recently at least) Moso of the Chinese-Tibetan borderland. The big problem in any economic system is how do you urge people to produce when we'd all rather sit back with our feet propped up sipping fine wine. In a gift economy, everyone works hard to produce so they can give the most away, and thereby win the praise of all their countrypeople.
Risk-Taking. Fifth, I think the people in a Goddess country would place an extremely high premium on risk-taking, pioneering, knowledge seeking, curiosity of all kinds, and adventure seeking. The Minoans had their bull-leaping and their wide-ranging mariners. Likewise the Indus Valley people had wide-ranging, curious, adventure-seeking mariners. Moso men go on long, adventurous trading journeys.
Government & Politics. The interesting thing about both the Goddess-centered Minoans and Indus Valley peoples was that we can't see any signs of their leaders. The Egyptian pharaohs (who lived at the same time) plastered pictures of themselves everywhere. But not the leaders of the Minoans and the Indus Valley. I wonder if the Minoans and the IVC weren't governed by councils with rotating, elected "moderators" to "lead" each council? In a society in which everyone is equal, why would a council moderator be any more "important" than anyone else? I'm envisioning the kind of direct democracy the North American Iroquois Indians had.
Law enforcement. In a mature Goddess country, there'd be no such thing as a police force. The archaeologist Jane McIntosh says that the up to 80,000-large Indus Valley Civilization cities had no police forces. Apparently there was no need for them.
Laws. I'm not sure a Goddess country would have "laws" as we know them. "Laws" are needed only when cultural morays no longer work. Laws were probably invented by the state (starvation culture).
War. If you don't even have a need for a police force, you're certainly not going to need armies (unless there are still starvation-culture countries left on the planet -- which we all need to work to get rid of ASAP). There's absolutely no indication whatsoever that the quarter-of-a-million-square-mile Indus Valley Civ. had armies or made war anywhere at any time (See Jane McIntosh's A Peaceful Realm).
__________
*For an explanation of Starvation Culture, plug the term into this blog's search box below.
**A "Guiding Goddess" is a goddess who births everyone and everything in the universe; who has no violence-prone, warlike god hanging over her right shoulder; and who isn't abused in any way by any possible gods in Her pantheon. The Moso, Basques and Hopi are three modern societies who, until recently anyway, had such Goddesses. I believe that many societies in the Neolithic and early Bronze Ages revolved around Guiding Goddesses. For more on this, see Studebaker's Switching to Goddess: Humanity's Ticket to the Future.
____________
Thnx go to Dirk Borchers for the foto of the Moso girl above (Dirk gave me permission to use this photo in Switching to Goddess, and hopefully he won't mind if I use it here too)
Fab questions, Richard. First let me say I'm not absolutely certain that a Goddess country could survive alone in today's world. That's why I've always stressed that the world needs to move together toward understanding and diluting what I call "starvation culture"* (which affects most of the world today, mostly through starvation-god religions such as the Abrahamaic religions and Hinduism but also through the older, outlawed starvation-god religions in places like China and Russia).
At the same time we're bashing the toxic old starvation gods, we must begin bringing back the old Guiding Goddess** ways of life. What would a Goddess country look like in the world today?
Social Equality. First, there'd be no social inequality. Everyone would be considered as equally valuable as the next person. Just as a healthy mother sees all her kids as equally lovable and valuable, so the people in a Goddess country would see everyone -- despite anyone's IQ, abilities, age, looks, skin color, or what have you.
Financial equality. Second, there'd be no poor people. Everyone would be rich. The Goddess-centered Minoans and Indus Valley people were some of the wealthiest in the world -- but everyone in these civilizations was equally wealthy. For example, in the large Indus Valley cities of 4000 years ago, everyone had the same high-quality stuff -- including indoor bathrooms. Indoor bathrooms for everyone was never again to happen until the 20th century -- when most in the West at least gave up their outhouses and turned to indoor plumbing.
Playful, creative, sensual. Third, compared to the people in most countries today, everyone in a Goddess country would be extremely playful, creative and sensual. There'd be a premium placed on one's abilities in these areas, so instead of considering them sinful or a waste of time, everyone would be totally lauded and praised for how well and often they showed playfulness, creativity and sensuality.
Economics. Fourth, I think a Goddess country would operate on the basis of a gift economy. The person most highly honored would be the person who could give away the most. For a great look at a modern-day gift economy, read Leaving Mother Lake, about the Goddess-centered (until recently at least) Moso of the Chinese-Tibetan borderland. The big problem in any economic system is how do you urge people to produce when we'd all rather sit back with our feet propped up sipping fine wine. In a gift economy, everyone works hard to produce so they can give the most away, and thereby win the praise of all their countrypeople.
Risk-Taking. Fifth, I think the people in a Goddess country would place an extremely high premium on risk-taking, pioneering, knowledge seeking, curiosity of all kinds, and adventure seeking. The Minoans had their bull-leaping and their wide-ranging mariners. Likewise the Indus Valley people had wide-ranging, curious, adventure-seeking mariners. Moso men go on long, adventurous trading journeys.
Government & Politics. The interesting thing about both the Goddess-centered Minoans and Indus Valley peoples was that we can't see any signs of their leaders. The Egyptian pharaohs (who lived at the same time) plastered pictures of themselves everywhere. But not the leaders of the Minoans and the Indus Valley. I wonder if the Minoans and the IVC weren't governed by councils with rotating, elected "moderators" to "lead" each council? In a society in which everyone is equal, why would a council moderator be any more "important" than anyone else? I'm envisioning the kind of direct democracy the North American Iroquois Indians had.
Law enforcement. In a mature Goddess country, there'd be no such thing as a police force. The archaeologist Jane McIntosh says that the up to 80,000-large Indus Valley Civilization cities had no police forces. Apparently there was no need for them.
Laws. I'm not sure a Goddess country would have "laws" as we know them. "Laws" are needed only when cultural morays no longer work. Laws were probably invented by the state (starvation culture).
War. If you don't even have a need for a police force, you're certainly not going to need armies (unless there are still starvation-culture countries left on the planet -- which we all need to work to get rid of ASAP). There's absolutely no indication whatsoever that the quarter-of-a-million-square-mile Indus Valley Civ. had armies or made war anywhere at any time (See Jane McIntosh's A Peaceful Realm).
__________
*For an explanation of Starvation Culture, plug the term into this blog's search box below.
**A "Guiding Goddess" is a goddess who births everyone and everything in the universe; who has no violence-prone, warlike god hanging over her right shoulder; and who isn't abused in any way by any possible gods in Her pantheon. The Moso, Basques and Hopi are three modern societies who, until recently anyway, had such Goddesses. I believe that many societies in the Neolithic and early Bronze Ages revolved around Guiding Goddesses. For more on this, see Studebaker's Switching to Goddess: Humanity's Ticket to the Future.
____________
Thnx go to Dirk Borchers for the foto of the Moso girl above (Dirk gave me permission to use this photo in Switching to Goddess, and hopefully he won't mind if I use it here too)
[NOTE: this is a repost from Feb. 10, 2009]
No comments:
Post a Comment