From the few indigenous cultures I'm aware of, I found the Australian indigenous culture to be the most interesting. It's a combination of it being isolated and the way they had help cultivate and maintained an entire continent worth of land.

From what I understand, Australia used to be a green and lush land. The people there had been maintaining that land with long held practices which in turn helped create soft fertile soil. Using controlled burns to encourage wild live to migrate to safer areas. Being flexible with where they settle so they can allow certain areas to regenerate. It shows how people can have a deep and meaningful connection to the land that gave them life. It shows how people can thrive in hostile lands by giving back to the lands. And in return, the land gave back in abundance.

From what little I learned, it really seemed like they found many ways to grow and preserve food while not extracting every bit of life out of the land until it dries up and dies.

To me, it seems like pre-colonized Australia was a wonderful example of what an anarchistic life would look like. Each group within Australia worked to maintain their own part of the land but were able to coexist with each other group and at times come together.

I often get mocked for romanticizing the past but my feelings now remain the same as they did before. I'd give up all the science, technology, medical advancements up for a simple and intentional life. It would be harder and my life would be shorter but my daily actions would be meaningful to my own survival, the survival of my community and to the life of the land I stand on.

We are born with nothing and we will die with nothing. I see no point in extending an already extremely short and meaningless existence. I'd rather die young and surrounded by nature than to grow old and wither away before my loved ones eyes in an overstimulating and overwhelming technologically advanced world.

[–] CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al 0 points 4 weeks ago

I didn't know that! Really interesting thanks

[–] Zero22xx@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 weeks ago

I haven't actually done any scholarly research in a decade or two (these days I tend to go for exclusively fiction and escapism, I'm getting inspired though) but I went through a phase of reading everything Ancient Greece related when I was a kid. Probably inspired by Hercules & Xena lol. Although these were also the before internet times, which meant that you got what you got in the library and that's it. So I'm no expert these days.

Other than that, I honestly have at the very least a curiosity in just about any culture other than my own (whatever that is, 'western' I guess). Don't get me wrong, I love my comforts and pop culture and shit but I don't love monotheism and the fear of deviating from the norm that it brings. But I feel like I should make a disclaimer: any opinions here are based on surface level understanding. I haven't studied any of this in depth.

I'm definitely with you about the native Americans. Everything I've heard / read just makes me think they had a better understanding of the world and life than the cancer that invaded and conquered them. It's not an easy life living as one with the land though and I personally wouldn't be able to leave my western comforts behind permanently but I have a respect and admiration in general for how they did things.

I've also always been interested in and intrigued by India and Hinduism. Sadly, by all accounts, treatment of women is pretty awful in a lot of places there, which to me goes against what my surface level understanding of polytheism represents in the first place. But let's pretend for a moment that the human factor isn't fucking it up. I love the overall appreciation of nature and colour. Something that I like about the idea of polytheism is that it understands that the whole is made up of many smaller working parts that make it all tick. And that variety, diversity and uniqueness should be celebrated.

In a perfect world, I'd travel everywhere though. South America, India, Asia. I'd even like to do a Cape to Cairo trip, although a lot of Africa seems scary, so I'd have to do thorough homework and mapping a route first. In the end, I want to settle somewhere cold but before I settle, I'd like to see it and experience it all for myself and broaden my mind.

[–] theblips@lemm.ee 2 points 4 weeks ago

I'm into everything German except that one phase they had. Also France interests me, but not so much current day... I would say my favorite writers and persons are French

[–] shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee -3 points 4 weeks ago

Kiwi culture. It isn't defined as much by its tug of war on other cultures as other cultures are.