the original affluent society
"But are hunters so undemanding of material goods because they are themselves enslaved by a food quest "demanding maximum energy from a maximum number of people", so that no time or effort remains for the provision of other comforts?" This line in our reading class really stuck out to me. Are they enslaved by their constant need to hunt for their food? I think we might see it that way, but I don't think they would have. Further down in this paragraph, it talks about how their occupation requires a lot of movement so they come to despise the wealth that they acquire. If they have too much stuff, then they might have too much to carry. These people don't take pride in their possessions necessarily because they only have as much as they can carry. And everything they have is used for survival alone. They don't have things just to show off. They only have what is necessary for their survival. I don't think they see it as enslavement because they just see it as living. That is how they live. If they were given gifts it would only make their lives harder because they would have to worry about carrying those gifts around. Wealth becomes a burden to them.