Then why did you call it "the original original sin"? I know that we have not exactly agreed on the definition of "sin", but I think we both consider it to be a bad thing. Lots of people have been worried about the "rack and ruin" in the last couple hundred years. Before that, not so much, which is further evidence that humans keep getting better and better. Of course all humans are not advancing at the same rate of speed, and it's the ones who are lagging behind the curve that I referred to as "bad guys". Perhaps that was an oversimplification on my part. There are a number of reasons why people do bad things. Some of them don't know any better, some of them are driven to desperation by the conditions under which they live, and some of them are just nuts. Okay, that's another oversimplification. We know a lot more about mental illness today than our ancestors who believed it was caused by evil spirits inhabiting the body, and yet we still don't have a miracle cure for it.
Actually, I did make up that thing about a "post enlightenment", and I was unaware that somebody else had already coined the phrase. Some people believe that human virtue has already peaked and now we are on a downhill slide. If that is indeed the case, then the evildoers represent the wave of the future rather than throwbacks to the past. I personally believe the opposite, but that could possibly be just wishful thinking on my part. I like to think the reason humans appear to be getting worse is that bad conduct gets more publicity nowadays, and the fact that people are so upset about it is further evidence that we are generally getting better. In an earlier time in history, Trump wouldn't have just fired that guy, he would have ordered his head chopped off as well, and most people would have just shrugged it off as executive privilege.
Speaking of Trump, he has probably fired more of his people than any president in history, and I confess that I have become desensitized to it. I am not familiar enough with this particular case to pass judgement on anybody, but I do know that shit happens in a war.
"I still don't quite get the point of spreading something the spirits don't want in order to thank them or something, but it doesn't matter, if it feels good, do it, as we used to say back in the day. I was wondering why it applied only to hunting. Isn't a package of hamburger equally a gift from the spirit or god? But then don't some people always say grace before a meal? Isn't it all the same thing?" - Uncle Ken
It applies to fishing and gathering as well as hunting. I suppose it would have applied to collecting your paycheck and spending it at the supermarket if the Indians had ever heard of such a thing. I think that they might have originally believed that the spirits wanted the tobacco, but by now they realize that they are doing it for their own benefit. It is just to make you feel good, kind of, if you count being thankful and respectful as part of feeling good. And yes, it's a lot like people saying Grace before a meal.
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