I… you know how there are books that you start and then become afraid to leave the house before finishing? Yeah. James C Scott’s “The Art of Not Being Governed”, about #Zomia, is one of those books. So much of the party line I ate up like tripe, that Scott shreds. https://octodon.social/media/jZaraloKf03ONz8dUlI https://octodon.social/media/gR2zLHsuKcnumZhKqzM
‘Once we entertain the possibility that the “barbarians” are not just “there” as a residue but may well have chosen their location, their subsistence practices, and their social structure to maintain their autonomy, the standard civilizational story of social evolution collapses utterly.’ —James C Scott, “The art of not being governed” 🔥 so much awesome, I’m afraid to stop reading lest I leave one unexamined stupid idea alive.
‘the standard story collapses utterly’—my favorite phrase.
“As late as 1740 it took no more time to sail from Southampton to the Cape of Good Hope than to travel by stagecoach from London to Edinburgh.” —James C Scott, “The art of not being governed”