Re: virus: How Does a Shaman Pay?

Brett Lane Robertson (unameit@tctc.com)
Sun, 10 Aug 1997 20:04:14 -0500


Wade,

I wrote this economic model this morning in response to your question. You
said that you expected that there was an economic model...without your help,
there may not have been. I have no sociological citations or research which
confirms this idea. Please feel free to contribute your further ideas on
the matter--as well as provide arguments for or against...including
references (if any).

I am curious as to your comment that the definition of shaman was expanded
too far into the "politic". Please explain your comment as it would help me
to further modify this model. I am wondering if you mean that you are
surprised that shaman, as I have defined it, has "equal" control over the
community as does the priest, teacher, warrior and/or government. Perhaps,
you feel that material resources are of greater importance than mental or
spiritual resources...or that recreation is not a valid concern for an
economic model?

I am also intrigued by your comment on the "non-physical". Would you
include influence, power, and community assets (schools, etc.) as
non-physical? Do you now see the shaman as being misunderstood in similar
fashion to the college professor being misunderstood by the construction
worker (ie. because they fall within different subcultures)? Or, do you
still think that the shaman somehow performs "magic" and that it is for
*this* that he receives compensation?

Thank you again for the thought provoking question, "How does one pay for
this...".

Brett

At 06:46 PM 8/10/97 -0400, you wrote:
>>the medicine man is in the best position to profit from
>>any excess in any quadrant.
>
>Thanx for this. (And the rest of it too.) I seem at variance only with
>your last paragraph, wherein I feel you expand the definition of the
>shaman too far into the politic.
>
>At any rate, I kind of expected there would be an economic model for this.
>
> *****************
> Wade T. Smith
>morbius@channel1.com | "There ain't nothin' you
>wade_smith@harvard.edu | shouldn't do to a god."
>morbius@cyberwarped.com |
>******* http://www.channel1.com/users/morbius/ *******
>

Returning,
rBERTS%n
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