Societies refer to groups of people that live in the same community and share similar values, culture, and beliefs. Sociologists have classified societies according to the stages of their industrialization. Emile Durkheim explains the evolution of society and how it functions through social norms, values. Durkheim argues that social solidarity holds society together. Modern consumer societies lack the same level of social solidarity as hunting-gathering communities. Hunting -gathering society has mechanical solidarity because it is tied together through homogeneity. Hunting-gathering members have almost identical skills and similar responsibilities. For example, men hunt while women and their children gather stationary food (Britannica 2019). Hunting-gathers and their society are homogeneous. That’s why hunters-gathers have few goods. Durkheim states that modern society exhibits organic solidarity. However, people living in modern-day consumer societies are tied together by heterogeneity. The reason for this phenomenon is that each person has a different set of skills, different valves, norm, culture and each person is dependent on others. This causes high divisions of labor. This is probably how modern consumer societies interact with eachother. This essay will focus on why hunters-gatherers society are content with less possession and more nature, as well as the culture of a hunting/gathering society.
Before cities, people lived in nomadic communities searching for food. The Paleolithic Era saw the foundation of modern consumer society. Hunters-gatherers were the first to develop the culture we have today. They spent their time hunting and rummaging for food. Hunting-gathering societies had a different way of seeing goods than modern consumers. This was primarily due to several factors including the way hunters saw material things, how they were divided up, what they did, their way of life, and how they relate to the ecosystem. Below are relevant readings and examples that explain all these aspects. Sahlines (1972), simplify the idea that the original wealthy society was the hunting and gathering people. To distinguish this, one needs to understand the current human situation; the black hole of the human’s infinite wants. Sahline discusses Zen Road to Affluence. It means that humans have few material wants. This is how the hunters-gatherers described themselves. Sahlins says that hunting-gatherers in great part were easygoing when it came to material possessions. Several ethnographers claim that the food-hunt is so successful that only half the population knows how to manage itself. Also, there is the matter of development. While some people are more successful than others at times, it does not mean that all individuals can achieve the same level of development. However, in each case, enough to quickly devalue goods fulfillment. Possessions of goods can be considered burden in the hunter-gatherer society. Sometimes goods are quite difficult to find. These point out that hunter-gatherers only require a small number of material goods. Their needs and wants can be met by strategies that are both manageable and compelling. Sahlins (1972), calls this material abundance. Hunters-gatherers didn’t have a sense of ownership. Therefore, they had no desire to possess material goods. Hunters-gatherers did not have to check their materialistic motivation. They just never built a foundation for them, as modern consumers do. Hunters-gatherers were less labor intensive than modern consumers. Their food hunt was irregular and they had plenty of time to nap. However, hunters-gatherers are not allowed to claim ownership of the goods. The modern consumer society could have integrated small goods like bags with hunters-gatherers’ daily lives, which would have stopped them from lugging around other goods. Most hunters-gatherers societies consisted of nomadic people who moved about a lot and had no storage. Nomadic individuals did not farm for food. However, they traded goods with other hunters-gatherers. Mbuti, a Central African tribe that trades honey and meat for different goods, have been known to exchange these products with Bantu villages. Strong social bonds will be formed between hunter-gatherers. Because if one group is having trouble because they lack food, they must be able to depend on the other, and expect reciprocation. In order to have all the resources available, trades were essential for hunters and gatherers. These relationships were based on a spiritual or ritual basis.
