The nature of humanity is change. We adapt to our surroundings, to our own cultures and social pressures. Thousands of years ago we moved from a primarily hunter-gatherer people to agrarian societies. We developed towns, cities, markets and the concept of land ownership. Where once a tribe had to go where the food was, we made our own food, we put down roots.

The concept of roots wasn't new of course, roots in a tribal society were important but they were different from family roots. The tribe fractured, it became smaller and more manageable. For many societies there was a head of house, usually a man, there were generations under one roof caring for one another. You might have grown up on a farm knowing that; as an adult it would fall to you to keep it going. Then in old age it would fall to you to care for the next generation of your lineage.

Who took over next began to matter, this land was in your name, this land belonged to your unbroken linage. The concept of a bastard, or marriage became very important to some societies. Who would head the next generation and who would be considered expendable. Wars were fought over land owned by the very rich. Solders died for their liege lord to protect that family's line.

For many centuries this form of society, this emphasis upon lineage continued unbroken until the modern era. During the industrial revolution mechanization changed everything. Food became plentiful, cheap goods became the norm. Society blossomed with millions upon millions of un-landed citizens. People still tried to put down roots, they had small families, they owned poorly built shelters on small plots of land. Instead of farming, instead of surviving via the products of their own land they began to work elsewhere, in factories, in merchants, in support mechanisms for the modern city.

This was the beginning of a great change. Once you owned land because it was useful to you, it was something you could exploit, something you could draw resources from. Even a baker or black smith used their land to express their personal trade. The miller down the stream used the water on their property to turn their millstone. The land baron used the land they subletted as a source of income while meting out justice and order.

Today we are again becoming a nomadic society. A society of hunter-gatherers. Most of us will never even own a home let alone draw our living directly from the land. Agriculture that started us down this path became corporate, conglomerate. Where once a family worked just the land they owned and brought their supplies to market, now thousands of individual families work jobs to bring the product of some one else to market.

Today when a factory closes, we move on to another job. When a new business opens up and hires you on, you may travel 10,000 kilometers to begin work in a new place. The family roots we put down may come with, but more often than not we leave them behind, the previous generation abandoned only to be seen again during the holidays.

This may sound like a sad state of affairs, and for some it is. However it is simply change, a new type of society is emerging. Children are more often than not raised by a single parent now. Lineage is becoming a thing thought of romantically, something from the brave past. We no longer fight for the king or queen, we fight for our cellular society, our way of life and the family we have at home.

Communities have changed as well; where once it was the town you are in, an important place where the opinions of your neighbors mattered greatly. Now they are strangers and your true friends may be a thousand miles away. Eccentric lifestyles are more common and more acceptable because of this. Your neighbor may be very strange, but your livelihood no longer depends on how well knit your town is. Self expression of our own strange disconnected tribe has become paramount in our private lives.

The family we leave behind when we travel to the next watering hole can now keep in touch no matter the distance. We have video calls that let grandmothers and grandchildren connect thousands of miles apart. We have social updates via facebook, twitter, G+ and other networks that let us feel like we are at home no matter where we are.

Relationships have changed as well of course. Divorce is at record levels and children are more often missing a parent. Polyamory and adultery have become commonplace in many parts of the world. No longer do people wait for marriage to enjoy their sexual appetites. The lack of emphasis upon lineage and putting down roots is what I believe allowed it to become rampant. Of course this has been helped along by the invent of contraceptives and such.

Where once a man or woman had to stay in their relationship; pressured by society or pressured by family. Now a person can strike out on their own without family, without ties; and they can succeed. We job hunt, we seek opportunity, we go where there are resources and leave when those resources dry up. We create new communities, new tribes. We form corporations to rule like land barons of old and we work for them, like serfs. When the corporation rises, hopefully so to do we rise, when it falls we move on to greener pastures.

We have become tribal, we have become hunters and gatherers again. Even our corporations move from country to country, place to place. Factories close and another opens. One mine closes and another piece of ground is broken. The towns we leave behind dry up and vanish. The ones we go to swell with newcomers and thrive. Even our romances are nomadic. We come together to mate, or just to date and have fun. Then that season ends and we move on to new people.

Hunter-gatherers followed the game as they roamed the land while gathering what they needed as they passed. They were nomadic because the resources were constantly moving or being used up. I call us hunter-gatherers now, because that is exactly what we are doing. Instead of following the wild beasts, we are following the work that is available. Instead of hunting for our food, we are hunting for opportunity, be it on Wall-street or the back alley.

As we go, we pick up resources that are needed, in the past it was berries, fruits, tubers, flint, bone, whatever we found along the way. Today it is that second hand toaster oven that some one left behind in the attic of your last rental. It is the futon I sleep on, that was given to me because some one else didn't need it. It is the used car you buy because its more economical than buying new or putting yourself in to debt. Very few of the items we own, did we purchase outright and new or even rarer; build ourselves.

Many of us hunt for deals, Black Friday for instance, one of the greatest modern hunting opportunities is just an extension of our genetic heritage. One tribe hoping to bring in enough resources to make money for the quarter. Another tribe taking advantage of that to buy the thing they couldn't afford all year. Our eyes are always open, seeking these opportunities, ready to pounce and better our lives.

We are still at the transitional phase, older societies still linger, demanding the old ways while newer societies grow and thrive in the nomadic environment. There are certainly growing pains, especially as the industrial revolution comes to an end, the factory jobs dry up, and manufacturing becomes even easier, almost entirely automated. What will we become in the near future when our worth can no longer be measured by the land we own or the work we do? How will a child be raised without a village, or even a stable family unit?

One thing is certain however, we humans are adaptive, we will figure it out if we don't kill ourselves in the process.

End

12/11/2013

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