Older Culture View of the World

(Excerpt from "Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight")

We are part of the world. We are made of the same flesh as other animals. We eat the same plants. We share the same air, water, soil, and food with every other life-form on the planet. We are born into life by the same means as other mammals, and when we die, we, like them, become part of the soil that will nourish future generations.
It is our destiny to cooperate with the rest of creation. Every life-form has its special purpose in the grand ecosystem, and all are to be respected. Each animal and plant has its own unique intelligence and spirit. We are permitted to compete with other plants and animals, but we may not wantonly destroy them. All life is absolutely as sacred as human life. (even using the word “sacred” here is difficult, because it implies that something else is “not sacred.” In these older cultures such distinctions do not exist. Life is, and that is a thing of extraordinary importance, at the very core of all existence.) although hunting and killing for food are part of nature’s order, when we do so it must be done with respect and thankfulness.
Older Cultures are most often cooperators, not dominators.

Slaves know when they are slaves, regardless of the words used to describe their slavery. And they’ll seek escape from the slavery, be it in increasingly powerful drugs, increasingly intense “entertainment,” or psychopathic or violent behavior.