Re: [Marxism] The Woolly Mammoth and the Noble Savage

[John <johnedmundson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Like Louis, I claim no expertise on the subject of the extinction of the
Pleistocene megafauna. What I do know a little about is the extinction
of the moa, briefly mentioned by Louis when he quotes Diamond. In the
case of moa there is no possibility of an external cause such as a
meteor strike to explain the extinction; they became extinct only about
500 years ago. There is a lot of evidence that they were relatively
fearless, docile easy prey; it seems they were easily attacked on their
nests and that they were quite wastefully consumed, with only the breast
meat being eaten in many cases. It also seems logical in the New Zealand
case that their main predator, the Haast eagle, probably (there's that
word again!) died out because of the loss of the moa. In the New Zealand
case there were no mammals of note (other than seals, which would fight
back!), so no really viable alternative prey for such a bird, which was
the largest ever existing flighted raptor with claws similar to those of
a tiger. (Actually I'm quite pleased I don't have to deal with being
ambushed by one of those when I go into the bush!!!) A combination of
hunting of the moa and bush clearance by burning is the only plausible
explanation of the loss of the moa and subsequently the pouakai (Haasts
Eagle) that I am aware of.

However this need not be seen as evidence for the odious Jared Diamond's
thesis of human savagery and blood lust. The reality is that when Maori
arrived in New Zealand they had no understanding of the fragility of
their new environment. After all, they were now living in a country
unimaginably larger than anything they had known before. As Louis notes,
hunting was for subsistence only. However, in the absence of a plan to
protect the environment, subsistence hunting proved to be more than the
moa population could stand. Over time, Maori developed more
sophisticated cultural controls on hunting which acted to manage
otherwise vulnerable prey populations but the fact is that when they
arrived, they arrived as the peak predator in a land where no such
predator had existed before.

In no way would I support a claim that Maori came to New Zealand as
bloodthirsty hunters for hunting's sake, but I do think the evidence
does point to their unintended responsibility for the extinction of the
moa.

I think there is a tendency on the left to romanticise preindustrial
populations - hardly surprising given the devastation capitalism has
unleashed on both them and people and the planet generally. Diamond and
his ilk are clearly wrong, and as Louis notes in the case of Diamond,
willing to be quite dishonest in the pursuit of his agenda, but I think
we need to guard against the tendency to swing too far back in the other
direction, and deny the damage that humans have done in our ancient
past.

Of course it should go without saying, but humans have done infinitely
more damage to the New Zealand environment and ecosystem since the
arrival of capitalism in the form of European "discovery" through large
scale forest clearance and habitat destruction, introduction of exotic
animal (and plant) species etc.
Cheers,
John


________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu