Related to this: I’ve always loved the phrase “speaker for the dead,” though it’s been so many years since I read that book that I’ve forgotten its exact meaning there. We should have a Speaker for the Dead, who speaks in community about the needs of ancestors. And a Speaker for the Squirrels, who is famil... jabel.blog

@jabel Chesterton referred to what he called the “democracy of the dead.” In fact, it’s one of my favorite quotes from him: “Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.”

Makes me laugh every time.

As for the speaker of the squirrels, David Abram’s book that you spoke highly of is the closest thing I can think of. No 🐿️ quote off hand though 🤓

@JohnBrady Definitely. There's definitely a strain of environmentalism that thinks the world would be better without humans. But I agree with you (and a whole lot of religious thought): there is most certainly a role for humans, even if we've not been doing a great job for a while now.

@jabel I was thinking about this in surgery. I don’t have a quote but I do remember Abram talking about the role of the shaman or “magician,” and the fact that they lived (literally and metaphorically) at the edges of civilization rather than the center, and acted as something of a medium between the human world and the rest of the world. Your title “speaker for the squirrels” would be perfect

@tinyroofnail Oh yes. I’m going to re-read that section. Thanks for the reminder!