Witches just love to toss “eye of newt” into their bubbling cauldrons, but the docile critters did nothing do deserve such a sinister association. For me, newts have opened a window of appreciation into the broader community of life.
I find solace in asking a newt what it thinks of our politics, our technology, our schemes. The act of asking such questions out loud in the presence of a newt is as silly as it sounds, but only because the subject matter is silly. Conversing with a newt is just basic politeness. The newt is a genius in that it doesn’t waste a single moment caught up in such trivialities. The newt is fully engaged in Life, which is incomprehensibly more amazing, rich, complex, and bad-ass than anything humans have ever—or could ever—create.
In this post, I will explore what a newt’s-eye view can tell us about ourselves and our obsessions.
The colors blue and red are used in the U.S. to represent political left and right, which at the extremes might be said to run from communism to fascism., Yet even that’s a tiny slice of the whole. (Image by Philip Ronan, Gringer; Wikimedia Commons)
We are accustomed to a left–right political spectrum. But said spectrum is only a tiny corner of the whole space of possibilities, even though practically everyone you know is wedged into it. Similarly, we use the word “light” to implicitly mean the narrow range of radiant energy that’s visible to human eyes, despite its being only a thin sliver of the full electromagnetic spectrum. All modern political schools share and support the context of an aberrant, exploitative modernity, making them real “birds of a feather.”
One window into political leanings is to elucidate an honest assessment of what one cherishes the most. But be careful about taking at face-value what people say they care most about. Sometimes they might even fool themselves. Below is a list whose scope (number of beneficiaries) increases as one moves down, and which might imperfectly map onto political leanings.
Self/Ego
Power
Corporations
Market economy
Small businesses
Families
Welfare of all people
That’s usually where it stops, in terms of scope. Some might also care for the environment, but only insofar as people have access to clean air, water, food, and don’t suffer health maladies from pollution. The first item on the list doesn’t map cleanly onto left–right (no shortage of self-centered leftists!), but belonged on a list of what people care most about. One form that self-prioritization can take is personal salvation in a religious context.
Megalomaniacs, dictators, oligarchs, and authoritarians populate the top of the scale. Fascists also lean toward that upper end, as do—I would say—many MAGA Republicans in the U.S. Traditional Republicans occupy more of the middle range, while Democrats tilt toward the lower end. Marxists might be said to be all the way down. Yet, the demarcations are not clean, allowing funky mixtures. The overwhelming majority of political parties, for instance, work to support a vibrant market economy.
Ralph Nader ran for president of the U.S. in 2000, far enough to the left of George W. Bush and Al Gore that he characterized the two as “Tweedledum and Tweedledee”—implying a nearly inseparable twinness to the two. From far enough away, that’s what it looks like. A radical leftist or rightist will see all establishment politicians as muddled enablers of a dysfunctional system.
Where do I fall on this spectrum—or am I even on it? I’m going to make you wait for a short bit.
Illustration by Tom Murphy (CC-BY-NC), 98% heritage from Mystify Me.
This is part of a series of posts representing ideas from the book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. I view the ideas explored in Ishmael to be so important to the world that it seems everyone should have a chance to be exposed. I hope this treatment inspires you to read the original.
Chapter THIRTEEN contains no more lessons, focusing instead on a failed rescue attempt. Its brevity allows room for my own overall assessment at the end. This chapter is presented in four numbered subsections, beginning on page 255 of the original printing and page 275 of the 25th anniversary printing. The sections below mirror this arrangement in the book. See the launch post for notes on conventions I have adopted for this series.
In the hands of the gods (by urbanbushido; CC-BY-NC-ND).
This is part of a series of posts representing ideas from the book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. I view the ideas explored in Ishmael to be so important to the world that it seems everyone should have a chance to be exposed. I hope this treatment inspires you to read the original.
In Chapter TWELVE, Alan uncovers the Leaver Premise and wraps up discussions with Ishmael about what it means and where we go from here. This chapter is presented in 12 numbered subsections, beginning on page 231 of the original printing and page 249 of the 25th anniversary printing. The sections below mirror this arrangement in the book. See the launch post for notes on conventions I have adopted for this series.
Hungry Hunter, Himself Hunted: Taker Take on Leaver Life (my amateur illustration of life on the knife-edge ridge line)
This is part of a series of posts representing ideas from the book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. I view the ideas explored in Ishmael to be so important to the world that it seems everyone should have a chance to be exposed. I hope this treatment inspires you to read the original.
Chapter ELEVEN contains my favorite section (#4) of the book, exposing Taker biases on Leaver life: a huge hurdle in knocking loose Taker mythology. This chapter is presented in six numbered subsections, beginning on page 209 of the original printing and page 225 of the 25th anniversary printing. The sections below mirror this arrangement in the book. Section 4 is packed with incredible content, so receives a bit more attention. See the launch post for notes on conventions I have adopted for this series.
A Bonobo expresses culture; passed down from old to young. Photo by Mike Richey, (Wikimedia Commons).
This is part of a series of posts representing ideas from the book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. I view the ideas explored in Ishmael to be so important to the world that it seems everyone should have a chance to be exposed. I hope this treatment inspires you to read the original.
In Chapter TEN, events in Alan’s life disrupt the lessons, and the book takes on the familiar feel of a novel for a bit. I won’t spend much time on the storyline, since that’s not why I’m making this effort. The chapter is presented in 9 numbered subsections, beginning on page 185 of the original printing and page 199 of the 25th anniversary printing. The sections below mirror this arrangement in the book. See the launch post for notes on conventions I have adopted for this series.
This is part of a series of posts representing ideas from the book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. I view the ideas explored in Ishmael to be so important to the world that it seems everyone should have a chance to be exposed. I hope this treatment inspires you to read the original.
In the Foreword to the 25th anniversary printing, starting on page xxiv, Daniel Quinn offers seven pages of additional material that he suggests could be appended to what is already the longest chapter in the book. The audiobook I listened to rolls right into this material at the end of Chapter 9 without pausing to indicate that it was not in the original.
Rather than making the Chapter 9 post even longer than it already is, I decided to make a separate entry for this material (also inserted into the schedule so-as not to disrupt the normal cadence of two “real” chapters per week).
Unlike the original content, this addendum is not split into numbered sections. I create section headings all the same just to break things up a bit.
This is part of a series of posts representing ideas from the book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. I view the ideas explored in Ishmael to be so important to the world that it seems everyone should have a chance to be exposed. I hope this treatment inspires you to read the original.
In Chapter NINE, Quinn offers an intriguing and compelling take on the Garden of Eden story in the bible. This long chapter is presented in 17 numbered subsections, beginning on page 149 of the original printing and page 159 of the 25th anniversary printing. The sections below mirror this arrangement in the book. See the launch post for notes on conventions I have adopted for this series.
This is part of a series of posts representing ideas from the book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. I view the ideas explored in Ishmael to be so important to the world that it seems everyone should have a chance to be exposed. I hope this treatment inspires you to read the original.
In Chapter EIGHT, Alan finally works out the Law of Life and explores its implications. This chapter is presented in 10 numbered subsections, beginning on page 123 of the original printing and page 129 of the 25th anniversary printing. The sections below mirror this arrangement in the book. See the launch post for notes on conventions I have adopted for this series.
This is part of a series of posts representing ideas from the book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. I view the ideas explored in Ishmael to be so important to the world that it seems everyone should have a chance to be exposed. I hope this treatment inspires you to read the original.
In Chapter SEVEN, Alan continues to have difficulty identifying the Law of Life. This short chapter is presented in four numbered subsections, beginning on page 111 of the original printing and page 117 of the 25th anniversary printing. The sections below mirror this arrangement in the book. See the launch post for notes on conventions I have adopted for this series.
