Kester Brewin

Power Religion [1] | Power Religion [2] | Power Religion [3] | Power Religion [4]
So, how might we try to gather some of this together into a ritual, a performance, a remembering worthy of the rich tapestry of signs it suggests? I think, firstly, we have to humbly accept that we simply [...]

Power Religion [1] | Power Religion [2] | Power Religion [3]
Jared Diamond, in Guns, Germs and Steel, writes on page 273 that ‘With the rise of Chiefdoms around 7,500 years ago, people had to learn, for the first time in history, how to encourage strangers regularly without attempting to kill them. Part [...]

Power Religion [1] | Power Religion [2]
“It was in the farm-based lands of Europe that technology was evolved more quickly, and, connectedly, monarchies and power-structures and empires began to grow…. and eventually develop ships that could sail to other lands to pillage them.”
And so, in this random series of musings bouncing off Jared [...]

Power Religion [1]
You might be wondering what the hell the last post was about, and where I’m going with this. Join the club.
In the previous post, I outlined Diamond’s basic thesis in Guns, Germs and Steel, and retold the story of Pizarro’s conquest of the Inca Emperor Atahuallpa. But what is the significance?
The pertinent question [...]

It’s been out for about a decade now, but I finally got round to reading Jared Diamonds’ book Guns, Germs and Steel. I think it’s excellent.
The basic thesis, for those who haven’t read it, is that humanity, having developed out of the same group of lucky apes a long time back, has obviously developed in [...]