Mutual Aid: A Factor of EvolutionKropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, kniaz
Science
Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution
Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, kniaz
Cooperation; Social groups; Social institutions
The same social manners characterize the Hottentots, who are but a
little more developed than the Bushmen. Lubbock describes them as "the
filthiest animals," and filthy they really are. A fur suspended to the
neck and worn till it falls to pieces is all their dress; their huts are
a few sticks assembled together and covered with mats, with no kind of
furniture within. And though they kept oxen and sheep, and seem to have
known the use of iron before they made acquaintance with the Europeans,
they still occupy one of the lowest degrees of the human scale. And yet
those who knew them highly praised their sociability and readiness to
aid each other. If anything is given to a Hottentot, he at once divides
it among all present--a habit which, as is known, so much struck Darwin
among the Fuegians. He cannot eat alone, and, however hungry, he calls
those who pass by to share his food. And when Kolben expressed his
astonishment thereat, he received the answer. "That is Hottentot
manner." But this is not Hottentot manner only: it is an all but
universal habit among the "savages." Kolben, who knew the Hottentots
well and did not pass by their defects in silence, could not praise
their tribal morality highly enough.
"Their word is sacred," he wrote. They know "nothing of the corruptness
and faithless arts of Europe." "They live in great tranquillity and are
seldom at war with their neighbours." They are "all kindness and
goodwill to one another.. One of the greatest pleasures of the
Hottentots certainly lies in their gifts and good offices to one
another." "The integrity of the Hottentots, their strictness and
celerity in the exercise of justice, and their chastity, are things in
which they excel all or most nations in the world."(15)
Tachart, Barrow, and Moodie(16) fully confirm Kolben's testimony. Let me
only remark that when Kolben wrote that "they are certainly the most
friendly, the most liberal and the most benevolent people to one another
that ever appeared on the earth" (i. 332), he wrote a sentence which has
continually appeared since in the description of savages. When first
meeting with primitive races, the Europeans usually make a caricature of
their life; but when an intelligent man has stayed among them for a
longer time, he generally describes them as the "kindest" or "the
gentlest" race on the earth. These very same words have been applied to
the Ostyaks, the Samoyedes, the Eskimos, the Dayaks, the Aleoutes, the
Papuas, and so on, by the highest authorities. I also remember having
read them applied to the Tunguses, the Tchuktchis, the Sioux, and
several others. The very frequency of that high commendation already
speaks volumes in itself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account