Let us not die from habit
An Inuit village in 1575 AD
The True Poet says, “The present is always the present moment of the past. We are the past. Art links past, present and future.”
So far, so good. But when he goes on, “Cut off from the past there is only habit”, it’s important to grasp the connection.
Cut off from the past there is only the day to day continuum – no comparisons therefore no ideas, and no foresight. For what is it we really compare when we look at the past? How the world could be different, more wonderful; where we went wrong; how people see things.
Jared Diamond’s book, Collapse – How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, tells some of the stories of societies who thrived, flourished, then died through habit. The most horribly fascinating story was that of the Greenland Vikings, Norwegians who colonized Greenland between AD984 and sometime in the 1400s. They built churches and a cathedral, wrote in Latin and Old Norse, wielded iron tools, herded farm animals, followed the latest European fashions in clothes – and finally vanished. There were 5,000 of them and they lasted almost 500 years – which is longer than the English speaking society of North America has so far survived.
They were contemptuous of the native Inuit – who were adapted to the environment and did survive – and learnt nothing from them. The Vikings even had a taboo against eating fish. They were culturally hampered in making the drastic changes that would have helped them to preserve their habitat.
They preferred death to change. There is a connection between culture – the way we see the world – and climate change. Let us not die from habit.
So so true. Habitual things cannot possibly be progress, simply away of avoiding putting anything into life, simply being passive and refusing to change, even if it is for the better.
“They preferred death to change. There is a connection between culture – the way we see the world – and climate change. Let us not die from habit.”
I really like this. We really must do something to stop climate change. We really must Act Fast and Slow Down global warming. Because, surely for us and our day to day lives, the survival of the human race should be of utmost importance, and our main worry and concern?
Comment by James Emmett on 04/04/2011 at 7:06 pm
“No comparisons therefore no ideas, and no foresight. For what is it we really compare when we look at the past? How the world could be different, more wonderful; where we went wrong; how people see things.”
We live in a world that is over saturated with comparisons, full of ideas, and we know when wrong has occurred, be that Hiroshima, Vietnam, or the Middle East. But no change happens. Men want power, wealth, sex and they want to fight. Why do people still join armies? Do they want to kill people? Perhaps some habits are animal and unchangeable?
“They preferred death to change. There is a connection between culture – the way we see the world – and climate change. Let us not die from habit.”
We all do a lot of seeing don’t wee. And culturally speaking our society is very rich. But perhaps that is the problem. Lots of talking, lots of thinking, lots of blogging. Nobody does anything. Of course they will when it’s too late (it’s possibly already too late) and perhaps that’s what nature intends? It’s not Norwegians versus Americans. It’s humans versus nature.
Comment by Jack Cullen on 06/04/2011 at 10:10 am
Happy Birthday, Vivienne! I wish you all the best today and throughout the year.
Thank you for your constant sources of inspiration both through your clothing and your ideas. The world can be a better place with people like you in it!
Best Regards,
Jeffrey Jordan
Comment by Jeffrey Jordan on 08/04/2011 at 1:54 pm
Happy Birthday Vivienne Westwood <3 I hope you have amazing day 🙂
I really really love your design and thougt ,you always make me happy <3 I allways wear Vivienne Westwood clothes <3 Thank you for every thing 🙂
♪♪♪HAPPY BIRTHDAY ♪♪♪
Comment by Ekka on 08/04/2011 at 8:37 pm
thank you for this.
As well as being inspiring, just being able to dive in is always a liberation.
Comment by David on 13/04/2011 at 3:15 pm
is so very true that all we have is the future and that the past is an intoxicating frame of reference. all that is there for reference for our future is the distant echo of fabulous art or the clattering sound of recent history.it’s also ‘true’ that all that we have to play with is beauty and violence.
violence exists on a continuum that embraces all self-harming and self-defeating actions and the inevitable consequences.we also have the choice of embracing the pursuit of creation and all of its endless corridors of wonder
Comment by rhinoboy on 13/04/2011 at 9:21 pm
The connection between culture and habit is undeniable. When our culture has become a mere habit and when our habits have become our culture then it is surely time to reinvent ourselves. What has become clear is that we need some sort of collective reinvention to happen fairly soon, to move towards sustainability.
Best Wishes
zerowastelifestyle
Comment by zerowastelifestyle on 22/06/2011 at 8:55 pm
Inspiring as usual,Vivienne Westwood has remained at the forefront of liberal thinking in a very cultured way which makes her designs very noticeable still and her ideas even more plausible.They both have a very specific purpose and intellectually compliment each other beautifully.
Generally history always seems to repeat itself as we fail to improve and recognise our mistakes fully….Visiting the past is about looking for a better outcome in a different place.
As I always say”when you have seen the circus come to town for the first time,it doesn’t have the same impact the second time around”
…But yet people of all generations are still being led into believing it will never happen again but yet history incessantly repeats itself!
Comment by Philippe Pradere on 19/08/2013 at 1:47 pm