Original affluent society
- 1Proposed by Marshall Sahlins in 1966.
- 2Defines affluence as the satisfaction of wants.
- 3Argues that hunter-gatherers achieved comfort by desiring little.
- 4Presented at the influential Man the Hunter symposium.
The "original affluent society" is the proposition that argues that the lives of hunter-gatherers can be seen as embedding a sufficient degree of material comfort and security to be considered affluent.
Connections1
core concept in his critique of industrial society
Kaczynski's ideology draws on the anthropological theory that hunter-gatherers lived with more leisure and less stress than modern humans.
The original affluent society is an anthropological theory suggesting that hunter-gatherer cultures achieved a high level of material comfort and security. This perspective challenges traditional views of primitive life by redefining the concept of affluence as the satisfaction of wants rather than the accumulation of goods.
Introduced by Marshall Sahlins at the 1966 Man the Hunter symposium, the theory posits that these societies remained affluent because they maintained limited material desires. By desiring little, hunter-gatherers were able to satisfy their needs with relative ease, effectively achieving a state of abundance within their cultural context.