Colin Turnbull (1924–1994)

Anthropologist Turnbull studied a number of communities on the African continent. The main lesson of this particular one of the Ik people was that this is what happens in a culture that's in decline and its members had lost touch with their humanity. because of government policy changes, the Ik people had lost their source of sustenance and their ability to continue following their customary patterns. Although research methods in the field of anthropology don't allow for generalizing the structures of one particular community to any other, I still couldn't help seeing parallels to US society -- the self-centered preoccupation with one's personal survival, the indifference to the young, the ailing and the elderly, and ab inability or unwillingness to see life as anything more than physical survival. Some have branded this book as racist but I see it as a warning that we all have choices about how to live our lives.… (more)