41. The Original Affluent Society | Marshall Sahlins

Jack and Dan might well be flirting with primitivism once again this week as the lads find themselves asking the question, was the Neolithic agricultural ‘revolution’ ultimately a mistake for human civilisation; a back step and not the moment of its genesis? For it turns out, according to Marshall Sahlins, Palaeolithic humans may well have had it made! For Sahlins, pre-agricultural life, far from being haunted by want, hunger and privation, was in fact a form of life that provided both food and leisure time in abundance. This isn’t to say that everything was rosy for our primitive communist forbears, life certainly had its hardships. But it’s certainly not the case that this early mode of production was simply a hurdle to be overcome on the onward march of civilisation. Palaeolithic life was as rich, stable and cultured as any other mode of human economic existence. Also up for discussion, black holes, baseball trades and some considerations on emo! Reading: Marshall Sahlins, The Original Affluent Society (1968) https://libcom.org/files/Sahlins%20-%20Stone%20Age%20Economics.pdf