“Freedom is neither a legal invention nor a philosophical conquest, the cherished possession of civilizations more valid than others because they alone have been able to create or preserve it. It is the outcome of an objective relationship between the individual and the space he occupies, between the consumer and the resources at his disposal.” Has BeensAbleIndividualSpaceCivilizationResourcesPhilosophicalPossessionInventionObjectivesConsumersPreservesOutcomesConquest Book:Tristes Tropiques Source: Tristes Tropiques
“In the old days, people used to risk their lives in India or in the Americas in order to bring back products which now seem to us to have been of comically little worth, such as brazilwood and pepper, which added a new range of sense experience to a civilization which had never suspected its own insipidity... From these same lands our modern Marco Polos now bring back the moral spices of which our society feels an increasing need as it is conscious of sinking further into boredom, but that this time they take the form of photographs, books, and travelers tales.” PeopleNeedsFeelsLittlesHas BeensBookSeemsFormUsedOrderMoralRiskModernLandProductsCivilizationConsciousIndiaPhotographTalesRangeBoredomOur SocietyTravelerSpicesOld DaysSinkingPeppersMarcosPoloMarco Polo Author:Claude Levi-Strauss
“Civilization has ceased to be that delicate flower which was preserved and painstakingly cultivated in one or two sheltered areas of a soil rich in wild species ... Mankind has opted for monoculture; it is in the process of creating a mass civilization, as beetroot is grown in the mass. Henceforth, man's daily bill of fare will consist only of this one item.” MenTwoProcessRichMankindFlowerCivilizationCreatingMassAreasBillsSpeciesComplexitySoilDelicateItemsBiodiversityMonocultureDelicate Flower Book:Tristes Tropiques Source: Tristes Tropiques
“Being human signifies, for each one of us, belonging to a class, a society, a country, a continent and a civilization; and for us European earth-dwellers, the adventure played out in the heart of the New World signifies in the first place that it was not our world and that we bear responsibility for the crime of its destruction.” WorldFirstsHumansHeartCountryEarthResponsibilityClassCrimeAdventureBearsCivilizationDiscoveryDestructionBelongingOur WorldNew WorldContinentsBeing HumanDwellers Author:Claude Levi-Strauss
