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       #Post#: 194--------------------------------------------------
       Re: #9: The Dry States
       By: Reed Date: January 22, 2019, 9:11 pm
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       I am interested in the brief mentions in this text of how
       mormons are uniquely adapted to the geography and aridness of
       the west. From my limited foray into Mormon history (“Under the
       Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer) I understand that Mormonism
       was founded in the middle of the country, maybe further east,
       and then was driven out west by some combination of divine
       announcement and religious persecution to seek emptier lands.
       What I guess I’m not sure about is how the
       theocratic/authoritarian structure of their society really makes
       it easier for them to live in the desert than your average
       nomad. I guess it makes allocation of resources easier-- in
       heavily structured communities it seems more likely that people
       will respect the limits placed on what they have access to
       because of the social pressure. It might also make organization
       of resource-producing labor easier, which would enable the
       construction and maintenance of long-lasting infrastructure for
       super stable, non-nomadic communities. But then, I can’t think
       of a frontier on earth or in space where a heavily structured
       theocracy wouldn’t thrive. It makes up for in the adaptability
       of westerners in the reading in industriousness and unity.
       But the mormons mostly sought the west because there weren’t
       many people, and they wanted to be in private. That was
       something that the academic’s assessments of the west never
       touched on-- the way that the closeness of a city gets people
       talking to each other, and the way isolation can get you to feel
       like the rules of a people thousands of miles away don't apply
       to you.
       #Post#: 195--------------------------------------------------
       Re: #9: The Dry States
       By: Tommy Is The Person Who I Am Date: January 22, 2019, 10:08 p
       m
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       [quote author=kellyf link=topic=10.msg190#msg190
       date=1548211303]
       [quote author=Tommy Is The Person Who I Am
       link=topic=10.msg185#msg185 date=1548207886]
       Ultimately, it seems that the answer to this question must lie
       in an unsatisfying gray area, but I believe it directly relates
       to the more broad question of how far humans have distanced or
       separated themselves from nature, if at all.
       [/quote]
       Creating a dam is unnatural, since humans are forcing water to
       be in a certain place, which it would not collect otherwise.
       [/quote]
       Where do beavers fit into this?
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