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History has no mercy on anyone who does not go with time. This fact is known
for centuries back and is covered by examples of peoples who perished for
refusing to adopt changes. The one time powerful empires of Greece, Rome,
Egypt and others were lost for good and what remain today of their ever
presence are their relics preserved in museums, monuments, unique buildings,
churches and written works of historical, lingual, scientific and
technological subjects. Even in what is known today as the New World
(American Continents), many tribes of the Inca of Peru, etc. have vanished
due to their reluctance to adopt themselves into Portuguese life styles of
the 15th century.
In
the previous topic about the MAA, what is evident is that this community has
stuck to its customs and cultures for so much despite that some of the basis
for such adherence is no longer valid. A good example is that the whole MAA
community was founded on warlike strategy (militaristic society). This was
due to the situation prevailing at the time such as:
1.
Pastoralism: This required large areas of land to make the occupation
successful in term of adequate water and pasture availability, thus allowing
a counterbalance of livestock disease etc. Such areas are often obtained by
grabbing from the previous occupants.
2.
Increasing Wealth: If the whole economy of the tribe is based on livestock
keeping, then it is fragile as a herd can be decimated either by disease or
drought. In such fates, replacements must be sought from other non-MAA
tribes and pastoralists trough rustling or battles.
3.
Security: Once the community has settled into an area with their properties
including that piece of land, water, pasture, etc., there is a need for
fostering security and protection to keep enemies at bay.
4.
Safeguarding the customs and cultures: This is a unity by a group that
differentiates that group from others. One group may be known as “our group”
while other groups are identified as “enemy groups” (protection of self
identity leading to ethnocentrism). “Enemy groups” can be attacked; their
land, livestock, even their wives and children can be confiscated with the
aim of weakening the “enemy group” and building up “our group”.
Since the present conditions are not the same as those in the past era,
changes are inevitable to cope with the present needs accordingly.
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