An Unnatural Order: Why We Are Destroying the Planet and Each Other

Rating:
Summary: Provocative, controversial and profound book.
Review: Just about everyone is saying that humankind must soon find a better relationship with the living world. Jim Mason shows were to start. He explains how the presence of animals has made us human, and how much went wrong when we began to see them merely as objects to exploit. If you want to understand this centruy and be prepared for the next, read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A great gift for compassionate people.
Review: Unnatural Order establishes Jim Mason as one of the important intellectuals of the Animal Rights Movement. Mason provides a thoughtful and readable analysis of the relationship of people to animals throughout history. In this book Mason demonstrates how the changes in animal/people relationships have, over time, dramatically altered human existence. In much of the early history of humanity people lived in harmony with animals. Nature was viewed as containing fellow creatures with many of the same characteristics as people. Animals were revered and respeced. The move to an agricultural society where increasing numbers of animals became food resulted in a shift of consciousness. The culture became one in which humans were seen as dominant over and superior to animals. Humans increasingly separated themselves from nature and the animals, often denying their own animal nature. The result is a human culture divorced from nature and suffering from all the ill effects that such a society produces. Mason's book should be read by every vegetarian and animal rights advocate. It is sure to be a classic in the field.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book that explains human/animal relations
Review: Unnatural Order establishes Jim Mason as one of the important intellectuals of the Animal Rights Movement. Mason provides a thoughtful and readable analysis of the relationship of people to animals throughout history. In this book Mason demonstrates how the changes in animal/people relationships have, over time, dramatically altered human existence. In much of the early history of humanity people lived in harmony with animals. Nature was viewed as containing fellow creatures with many of the same characteristics as people. Animals were revered and respeced. The move to an agricultural society where increasing numbers of animals became food resulted in a shift of consciousness. The culture became one in which humans were seen as dominant over and superior to animals. Humans increasingly separated themselves from nature and the animals, often denying their own animal nature. The result is a human culture divorced from nature and suffering from all the ill effects that such a society produces. Mason's book should be read by every vegetarian and animal rights advocate. It is sure to be a classic in the field.

Rating:
Summary: A 'must read' for anyone who cares about nature and animals
Review: Why are we the most violent and destructive species on this planet? In "An Unnatural Order", Jim Mason tells us. He opens with a clarification of the philosophy of 'dominionism' as expounded in most religions, and declares it as the principle at the root of human violence and warfare. He presents the case that there was a time when humans got along rather well with each other and the rest of nature. It was the time of the forager, mistakenly called the time of the hunter/gatherer by those looking through the filter of western philosophy and religion. For many thousands of years, Homo sapiens did not do much meat-eating or hunting, until widespread, organized hunting appears some 20,000 years ago. When foragers became hunters, and hunters became herdsmen, their view of nature changed from one of provider to one of enemy, and the notion of human supremacy was born. The non human animals, once seen as ancestors, neighbors, teachers and kin, began to be thought of as inferior, dangerous and evil, or simply commodities. With the advent of agriculture, and especially animal agriculture, ideas about a hierarchy of being, ownership of property, patriarchy, domination and exploitation begin to take over human culture. The idea of a male god, with man just below, and women, 'primitive' people and the other animals, below men, became the mindset of the "northern tribes." It was eventually sanctified by western religions and remains the dominant worldview today. Mason takes us on a journey through human history, unfettered by human ego, thoroughly explaining our dissociation from nature and animals, and the resulting losses, both pyschologically and spiritually. He probes deep, and finds the origins of warfare, racism, sexism, religionism and colonialism. He challenges the idea that agriculture was a great human achievement, arguing that it gave us repeating cycles of increased production and growth only at the expense of the environment and the animals that we enslaved. The result has not been success for all humans, but actually an increase in human starvation and suffering, caused by the human population explosion and the misuse of resources. Enslavement of non humans and then humans, followed by the introduction of organized warfare, are the results of the hunter / herder mentality that replaced the original cooperative, egalitarian nature of human culture. Mason, does not simply chronicle our mistakes, he seeks out causes, and offers solutions. He does not blame farmers for the disasters of agriculture, nor does he call for an end to religion. Instead he calls for a new approach to farming, and the return to the family farm, by the re-introduction of sustainable, humane farming methods. Likewise, he calls for a re-discovery of the suppressed voices of progressive theologians who have spoken out against dominionism for centuries. He asks us to re-evaluate our ideas of human supremacy and accept our proper role as a part of nature, not something above it. His approach is unique among most writers -- the preservationists, environmentalists or even the deep ecologists -- as he dares to ask "the animal question." When will we admit to the psychological lives of the other animals, and take this into consideration in our dealings with them? Do they exist just for us? Or are they part of our family, deserving every bit as much consideration as those of "our own kind."

Rating:
Summary: A 'must read' for anyone who cares about nature and animals
Review: Why are we the most violent and destructive species on this planet? In "An Unnatural Order", Jim Mason tells us. He opens with a clarification of the philosophy of 'dominionism' as expounded in most religions, and declares it as the principle at the root of human violence and warfare. He presents the case that there was a time when humans got along rather well with each other and the rest of nature. It was the time of the forager, mistakenly called the time of the hunter/gatherer by those looking through the filter of western philosophy and religion. For many thousands of years, Homo sapiens did not do much meat-eating or hunting, until widespread, organized hunting appears some 20,000 years ago. When foragers became hunters, and hunters became herdsmen, their view of nature changed from one of provider to one of enemy, and the notion of human supremacy was born. The non human animals, once seen as ancestors, neighbors, teachers and kin, began to be thought of as inferior, dangerous and evil, or simply commodities. With the advent of agriculture, and especially animal agriculture, ideas about a hierarchy of being, ownership of property, patriarchy, domination and exploitation begin to take over human culture. The idea of a male god, with man just below, and women, 'primitive' people and the other animals, below men, became the mindset of the "northern tribes." It was eventually sanctified by western religions and remains the dominant worldview today. Mason takes us on a journey through human history, unfettered by human ego, thoroughly explaining our dissociation from nature and animals, and the resulting losses, both pyschologically and spiritually. He probes deep, and finds the origins of warfare, racism, sexism, religionism and colonialism. He challenges the idea that agriculture was a great human achievement, arguing that it gave us repeating cycles of increased production and growth only at the expense of the environment and the animals that we enslaved. The result has not been success for all humans, but actually an increase in human starvation and suffering, caused by the human population explosion and the misuse of resources. Enslavement of non humans and then humans, followed by the introduction of organized warfare, are the results of the hunter / herder mentality that replaced the original cooperative, egalitarian nature of human culture. Mason, does not simply chronicle our mistakes, he seeks out causes, and offers solutions. He does not blame farmers for the disasters of agriculture, nor does he call for an end to religion. Instead he calls for a new approach to farming, and the return to the family farm, by the re-introduction of sustainable, humane farming methods. Likewise, he calls for a re-discovery of the suppressed voices of progressive theologians who have spoken out against dominionism for centuries. He asks us to re-evaluate our ideas of human supremacy and accept our proper role as a part of nature, not something above it. His approach is unique among most writers -- the preservationists, environmentalists or even the deep ecologists -- as he dares to ask "the animal question." When will we admit to the psychological lives of the other animals, and take this into consideration in our dealings with them? Do they exist just for us? Or are they part of our family, deserving every bit as much consideration as those of "our own kind."

Rating:
Summary: A 'must read' for anyone who cares about nature and animals
Review: Why are we the most violent and destructive species on this planet? In "An Unnatural Order", Jim Mason tells us. He opens with a clarification of the philosophy of 'dominionism' as expounded in most religions, and declares it as the principle at the root of human violence and warfare. He presents the case that there was a time when humans got along rather well with each other and the rest of nature. It was the time of the forager, mistakenly called the time of the hunter/gatherer by those looking through the filter of western philosophy and religion. For many thousands of years, Homo sapiens did not do much meat-eating or hunting, until widespread, organized hunting appears some 20,000 years ago. When foragers became hunters, and hunters became herdsmen, their view of nature changed from one of provider to one of enemy, and the notion of human supremacy was born. The non human animals, once seen as ancestors, neighbors, teachers and kin, began to be thought of as inferior, dangerous and evil, or simply commodities. With the advent of agriculture, and especially animal agriculture, ideas about a hierarchy of being, ownership of property, patriarchy, domination and exploitation begin to take over human culture. The idea of a male god, with man just below, and women, 'primitive' people and the other animals, below men, became the mindset of the "northern tribes." It was eventually sanctified by western religions and remains the dominant worldview today. Mason takes us on a journey through human history, unfettered by human ego, thoroughly explaining our dissociation from nature and animals, and the resulting losses, both pyschologically and spiritually. He probes deep, and finds the origins of warfare, racism, sexism, religionism and colonialism. He challenges the idea that agriculture was a great human achievement, arguing that it gave us repeating cycles of increased production and growth only at the expense of the environment and the animals that we enslaved. The result has not been success for all humans, but actually an increase in human starvation and suffering, caused by the human population explosion and the misuse of resources. Enslavement of non humans and then humans, followed by the introduction of organized warfare, are the results of the hunter / herder mentality that replaced the original cooperative, egalitarian nature of human culture. Mason, does not simply chronicle our mistakes, he seeks out causes, and offers solutions. He does not blame farmers for the disasters of agriculture, nor does he call for an end to religion. Instead he calls for a new approach to farming, and the return to the family farm, by the re-introduction of sustainable, humane farming methods. Likewise, he calls for a re-discovery of the suppressed voices of progressive theologians who have spoken out against dominionism for centuries. He asks us to re-evaluate our ideas of human supremacy and accept our proper role as a part of nature, not something above it. His approach is unique among most writers -- the preservationists, environmentalists or even the deep ecologists -- as he dares to ask "the animal question." When will we admit to the psychological lives of the other animals, and take this into consideration in our dealings with them? Do they exist just for us? Or are they part of our family, deserving every bit as much consideration as those of "our own kind."