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Zac Goldsmith, ecologist - YOU Magazine
"The book that has had the greatest influence on my life is Ancient Futures by Helen Norberg-Hodge"
Book Description
Revised edition of the inspirational Rider classic about the culture and religion of Ladakh and what can be learned from it
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh, by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Rider, 1992; 2nd edn. 2000, 240 ff.
How capitalism is preventing us from learning from history
By Howard A. Jones
How many times have we read in our history books of societies or civilizations over-reaching themselves to environmental disaster or extinction? We have seen it in the fall of the Roman Empire and, more recently, with the Easter Islanders, creation of the Dust Bowl in America, Soviet Communism, the Peruvian fishing industry . . . and so on. Still, capitalist greed and the quest for ever more power and control drives western businesses to try to `improve' life within `primitive' societies by introducing western technology. But, as the author points out in the Introduction, `the Western development model, far from being "the answer", is culturally, psychologically and environmentally unsustainable.'
Ladakh is one of the latest victims of the onward march of globalization. Ladakh is a formerly isolated Himalayan territory of two districts, one primarily Buddhist, the other mostly Muslim. This book focuses on the Buddhist community and how their lives have been blighted by this attempt at westernization. We might view this attempt more kindly if we believed it was genuinely directed at improving the welfare of local residents, but capitalist philosophy being what it is, it is almost certain that the prime concern was exploitation to increase profits.
The author lived amongst the Ladakhis for many years and saw the society change from one that involved days of arduous work amongst a happy, cooperative and essentially contented people to one involving equally arduous but alien work with `labour-saving technology' within a highly competitive society that has now become plagued with drugs and internecine squabbles. Where once friends and neighbours would help one another to build their homes, and exchange services, food and other commodities, where children respected their elders and the community cared for the weak and elderly, now supplies must be purchased from western conglomerates, formerly recycled resources are discarded so that new commodities can be bought, and within the society it's every man for himself.
This is a sad and salutary tale from which those who would listen would learn much. It is a prime example of what not to do to try to bring indigenous peoples into a western twenty-first century lifestyle. The story is engagingly told by an environmentalist with first-hand knowledge gained from the people themselves by living amongst them. The book is highly recommended.
Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, UK.
The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: Waking Up to Personal and Global Transformation
Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth
How capitalism is preventing us from learning from history
By Howard A. Jones
How many times have we read in our history books of societies or civilizations over-reaching themselves to environmental disaster or extinction? We have seen it in the fall of the Roman Empire and, more recently, with the Easter Islanders, creation of the Dust Bowl in America, Soviet Communism, the Peruvian fishing industry . . . and so on. Still, capitalist greed and the quest for ever more power and control drives western businesses to try to `improve' life within `primitive' societies by introducing western technology. But, as the author points out in the Introduction, `the Western development model, far from being "the answer", is culturally, psychologically and environmentally unsustainable.'
Ladakh is one of the latest victims of the onward march of globalization. Ladakh is a formerly isolated Himalayan territory of two districts, one primarily Buddhist, the other mostly Muslim. This book focuses on the Buddhist community and how their lives have been blighted by this attempt at westernization. We might view this attempt more kindly if we believed it was genuinely directed at improving the welfare of local residents, but capitalist philosophy being what it is, it is almost certain that the prime concern was exploitation to increase profits.
The author lived amongst the Ladakhis for many years and saw the society change from one that involved days of arduous work amongst a happy, cooperative and essentially contented people to one involving equally arduous but alien work with `labour-saving technology' within a highly competitive society that has now become plagued with drugs and internecine squabbles. Where once friends and neighbours would help one another to build their homes, and exchange services, food and other commodities, where children respected their elders and the community cared for the weak and elderly, now supplies must be purchased from western conglomerates, formerly recycled resources are discarded so that new commodities can be bought, and within the society it's every man for himself.
This is a sad and salutary tale from which those who would listen would learn much. It is a prime example of what not to do to try to bring indigenous peoples into a western twenty-first century lifestyle. The story is engagingly told by an environmentalist with first-hand knowledge gained from the people themselves by living amongst them. The book is highly recommended.
Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, UK.
The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: Waking Up to Personal and Global Transformation
Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderful and well readable book. The writer has lived in Ladakh and speaks Ladakhi and she really knows what she's talking about. The book mainly covers the differences between modern and traditioinal lifestyles, the impacts they have on people and the environment, and what we, especially westerners can learn from the knowledge and experience of Ladakhis. I only wish she'd written more.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The book is very interesting because it provides a first hand account of life in Ladakh by a passionate writer who loves her subject and spares no effort to understand reality in depth. Helena Norberg-Hodge spent many years going back to Ladakh and has produced a thorough study of how the land is changing under the impact of modernity.
While I appreciate her investigations, and recommend the book, I don't agree with her main thesis, that Ladakh was a happy land where people coexisted in harmony and is now going down the drain because of globalization and modern technology.
Ladakh in the past was a very hard place to live in: there were many wars, religious internecine and not infrequent famines because of natural events such as draught and plagues because of locusts swarming. In 2006 I have witnessed one myself in the Zanskar valley, where millions of locusts, who can eat the equivalent of their own body mass of 2 grams each day in wheat or barley, were destroying the local crop. Illiteracy was extremely widespread and the average life span was shortened by the lack of medicine and hospital care.
I also find it difficult to understand that the "old Ladakh" model could be applicable to modern Western society, as the author suggests. Yes we could certainly learn how to respect our elders and share our resources, but it seems to me rather far fetched that we could in any way replicate that lifestyle.
The author has also produced a movie on this subject that you can find on Youtube.
While I appreciate her investigations, and recommend the book, I don't agree with her main thesis, that Ladakh was a happy land where people coexisted in harmony and is now going down the drain because of globalization and modern technology.
Ladakh in the past was a very hard place to live in: there were many wars, religious internecine and not infrequent famines because of natural events such as draught and plagues because of locusts swarming. In 2006 I have witnessed one myself in the Zanskar valley, where millions of locusts, who can eat the equivalent of their own body mass of 2 grams each day in wheat or barley, were destroying the local crop. Illiteracy was extremely widespread and the average life span was shortened by the lack of medicine and hospital care.
I also find it difficult to understand that the "old Ladakh" model could be applicable to modern Western society, as the author suggests. Yes we could certainly learn how to respect our elders and share our resources, but it seems to me rather far fetched that we could in any way replicate that lifestyle.
The author has also produced a movie on this subject that you can find on Youtube.
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