Governing the Community
Let me begin by emphasizing that nothing is set in stone, that these are ideas based on years of study and meditation - with a lot of emphasis on figuring out how to establish a "modern" tribal community. Given what I have written about the Australian aborigines, it is obviously of some interest to try to emulate that culture as much as is practicable.
While the community is still small, it's possible to manage things with simple informal agreement about what needs to be done. But as the community grows and begins to diversify a more stable and predictable process will be needed.
Following the model of the aborigines, it seems that the arena of abstract ideation, spiritual theorizing is best left to the men and their groups. On the other hand, women are more suited to handling the details of everyday life. It's not that women can't think or men cook - we're talking about concentrating energies where they can work best and most smoothly. American culture and western culture in general has worked to blur functional distinctions between the sexes and it may be time to explore how these distinctions can be restored in a meaningful way that honors all work and all functions within the community.
***
- Return to Nasalam Page