John Zerzan

Sono rimasto piuttosto deluso, per quanto trovi interessante il punto di vista di molti anprim e per quanto provo altrettanto interesse per argomentazioni critiche sociologico/antropologiche, dalla pesantezza della scrittura di Zerzan. Il linguaggio tecnico non è neanche il problema principale, anche se non favorisce la scorrevolezza, quanto invece lo è la assoluta indisponibilità di approfondire le citazioni filosofiche buttate qui e là. Le tesi le ho apprezzate per la maggior parte, a tratti l'autore prende posizioni un po' campate in aria, ma in tutta sincerità questo non accade abbastanza spesso da diventare un problema: il lavoro di ricerca è solido.
Nel complesso è stata una lettura difficoltosa da digerire che credo non ripeterò però che mi ha lasciato qualcosa soprattutto nel capitolo che parla del tempo che a mio parere è il più interessante.
3 stelle appena appena.… (meer)

A collection of excerpted writings, critiques of civilization by the eminently civilized. Therefore a sadness pervades - the alternative they seek is only a dream or a concept, or an anthropological hypothesis. None of these writers knows what it is like to live in a time or social group that is outside of civilization. So overall, I was reminded of that TS Eliot line (paraphrasing): "each in his cell thinking of the key/ thinking of the key, each confirms the lock."

Here's a particularly sad thought from Richard Heinberg - we have domesticated ourselves - "We are to primitive [sic] peoples as cows and sheep are to bears and eagles."

So those who dream of a human life without civilization are like sheep or cows who dream of being bears and eagles.… (meer)

Zerzan has got good ideas, but not a very captivating manner of presenting them. Most of the stuff he says here was said more elegantly or with better supporting data by Derrick Jensen, Pierre Clastres, Marshal Sahlins, and even guys like Edward Abbey and Aldo Leopold.

Either way, we are treated to the now-predictable argument that progress and civilization are corrupting our human spirit (actually, a short essay on "Technology" at the end of the book is one of the highlights as he briefly discusses the insidious harm that the inevitable march of computers and robotics perpetrates). What is unfortunately missing is any sort of solution.

Perhaps the most interesting essay, "Tonality and Totality" is little more than an indulgent aside, where Zerzan discusses the subtle control that all Western music exerts over us. According to him, the major/minor key dichotomy with its eight notes actually conditions our brains to accept our culture's paradigm of domination and subjugation. Just as minor or atonal notes must be subjugated to the majors for the sake of the melody, just as every "off-note" must resolve itself toward the harmony or key, we must sacrifice our individual autonomy for the sake of society. Whether or not you agree, this is by far the most provocative position Zerzan endorses in the entire book.… (meer)