A fable to start with
“Nothing can be beyond civilization. Civilization is a final, unsurpassable invention.” (p.3)
Is it because we relate everything back to the invention of civilization, in regards to envisioning the future, that we never are able to grasp an image of any truly alternative lifestyle or social invention? If the fundamental core meme of civilization is not understood and changed, we will reinvent the same thing but in a different package.
The core meme, Quinn asserts as the founding principle of civilization, is that surplus food created from a stationary agrarian culture is good. Or as he states: “One of these fundamental memes is Growing your own food is the best way to live.”
“Making food a commodity to be owned was one of the great innovations of our culture. No other culture in history has ever put food under lock and key - and putting it there is the cornerstone of our economy, for if the food wasn’t under lock and key, who would work?” (p.5)
