Ishmael

Ishmael explains that the society in question is actually nature, with plants in group A, herbivores in group B, and carnivores in group C, as when the carnivores die, their bodies decompose and feed the plants. Ishmael says that, though Takers are frightened by this global, natural community, it functions with an ultimate peacekeeping law, which has allowed all species, including humans, to develop over billions of years. The Takers, though, claim to be exempt from this law, and their excuse is that humanity is either fundamentally superior to nature, or that they are flawed by nature. The narrator, following Ishmael’s explanation, expresses doubt in the Takers’ story.

Ishmael ends the lesson for the day, telling the narrator that he needs to leave and figure out what the law is that nature has always followed and that the Takers have disregarded. In the example of the hypothetical society, the man about to be executed is the Takers and their culture, and the narrator needs to figure out what they have done to result in this punishment.

The narrator leaves and realizes that he has fallen behind in his actual job. He feels overwhelmed and rejected, and he decides to go out for a drink. Thinking about his feelings, he realizes that he feels rejected because Ishmael sent him on an independent assignment. He wonders how far he has progressed through Ishmael’s lessons, noting that eventually, the lessons will end. His depression comes from this understanding, and the narrator realizes that he wants Ishmael to be his teacher forever.

The narrator presents Ishmael with four things that he says the Takers do that no other species do. The first is killing off all competition, as in farmers killing all of the wolves or coyotes in the area surrounding their farm. The second is that Takers destroy other species’ food supply, while the third is that Takers will deny other species access to their food, such as destroying a forest to make a farm, then preventing animals from grazing on or around the farm. The last is that Takers produce and kill excess food to save for later, but Ishmael says that many species store food, and most species are, in a sense, stored food for some other species.

Ishmael clarifies that these are essentially rules of competition; species may compete, but they cannot wage war against one another. He asks the narrator what the world would be like without these rules, and the narrator suspects that there would be only one of each kind of species, such as one grass, one gazelle, one lion, and so on. Ishmael notes that the issue with this community, as opposed to one with limited competition, is that it would lack diversity. Diversity in nature, he says, assures that the overall community can survive more kinds and degrees of disaster, as some species will be able to withstand drastic changes to the environment. The narrator then realizes that the way Takers are damaging the ecosystem is reducing the diversity of the planet, thereby weakening the global community in the event of a disaster.

Using the example of hyenas, Ishmael guides the narrator through removing the law of competition. First, the hyenas would kill all other animal species that eat gazelles, assuring that the hyenas get all the gazelles for themselves. As a result, the gazelle population increases, and then the hyena population increases in proportion to their increased food supply. As the gazelle population begins to shrink because of the increased numbers of hyenas, the hyenas need to kill of all other species that eat the same grasses as gazelles, allowing the gazelle population to rise further. Eventually, the hyenas would also need to kill off the grasses that gazelles do not eat, allowing more edible grass to grow and continue expanding the gazelle population. The narrator realizes that this is the method that farmers and ranchers use in Taker culture to ensure that maximum land and energy are devoted to feeding humanity.

Ishmael notes that Peter Farb, in his work Humankind, called the increase in population proportionate to the increase in production required to feed it a paradox. However, Ishmael does not see it as a paradox, because, while populations do expand according to available food supply, the paradox only comes from the Takers’ perception of themselves as exempt from the laws of competition.

The narrator is confused, as he says he thinks agriculture, as a practice, might be against the laws of competition in nature. Ishmael asks him to elaborate, and he says that agriculture invariably involves killing off other species and hoarding land for growing food, but Ishmael notes that this is only the Takers’ perspective on agriculture. There are ways of settling that do not involve ecological destruction, and Ishmael details how most animal species have some form of settlement involving dens or territories that they maintain. Even early species of humans only partially used agriculture as a method for living in a single area, as they could patrol a territory, grow some food while gathering other food, or gather a surplus to allow for settlement. Ishmael notes that agriculture and settlement are not against the law of competition, but they are subject to it.

Ishmael discusses population control, and he asks the narrator what will happen moving forward. The narrator says that Mother Culture wants to feed all the starving people, but that will lead to a population increase, so Mother Culture also claims to institute global birth control methods. Ishmael claims that no such global birth control efforts have ever been put in place, and he comments that a population that has grown beyond its ability to produce food should ultimately shrink until it is at balance with its natural food production. The narrator recalls hearing a scientist note the same thing, but because this plan would involve letting a lot of people die, most people are against methods that reduce the population. Ishmael says that the gods are the ones responsible for such deaths, and humans are arrogant for thinking they can interfere in nature.

The narrator asks how there can be almost no population increase in the United States, but an increase in food production in the United States, while many other countries experience a population increase without an increase in food production. Ishmael connects the two, noting that the surplus food created in countries that can afford to produce additional food is shipped to countries that do not have enough food, thereby leading to an increase in population in the other country, not the one that produced the food. The narrator sees this process as a good thing, as it resolves starvation in those other countries, but Ishmael notes that the increased food supply will only lead to an even larger starving population in these other countries.

Ishmael gives the narrator the book The American Heritage Book of Indians, which details the territories of the different Indigenous peoples of North America. Ishmael asks the narrator how the maps of territories indicate methods of population control, and the narrator is not sure. Using the United States as an example, Ishmael illustrates how people in the congested northeastern portion of the country can move to the relatively open and underpopulated western states, but different tribes of Indigenous Americans did not have that option. If a Navajo person wanted to move into Hopi territory, they would likely be killed for trespassing, and even if they were not, cultural differences would make the move uncomfortable. Using Indigenous Americans as examples of Leavers, as opposed to Takers, Ishmael notes that Indigenous peoples tend to limit their own populations to avoid going to war with their neighbors for more land.

Ishmael tells the narrator that they have uncovered the law of nature that is as immutable as the laws of aerodynamics mentioned earlier. The narrator doubts this fact, noting that civilization is still technically continuing, but Ishmael again repeats the example of the aircraft that technically stays in the air until it hits the ground. The narrator also fears that no one will accept these laws as Ishmael has described them, and Ishmael agrees that Mother Culture will not resign of her own accord, noting that people need to stop listening to the Takers’ story so that they can forge a new story that operates within the natural law. The narrator is pessimistic, but Ishmael thinks that a lot of people are looking for exactly this kind of new way to live.

Ishmael clarifies the law of competition, noting that it is a law against any one species claiming ownership over the entire world. The narrator says that, in that case, humanity was not created to rule the world, but Ishmael says that is too large of a conclusion for Taker culture. Instead, he rephrases the narrator’s conclusion to be that the world is in order, and humanity is not needed to create order in the world.

Ishmael notes that the Leavers’ culture already operates within the law of competition, claiming that crime, illness, depression, and addiction are rare among Leavers and prevalent only in Taker culture. The narrator notes that some people refer to this idea as that of the “Noble Savage,” a concept in which “primitive” peoples are closer to nature and therefore happier. The Takers’ explanation for this is that the complexities of advancement come at the price of issues like crime and disease, which then need to be addressed within Taker culture. However, Ishmael says that the Leavers are not inherently noble; they are simply enacting a story that does not violate the law of competition, and as a result, they do not struggle to find meaning or comfort in their lives. The narrator asks when Ishmael will reveal the Leavers’ story, and Ishmael says they will begin that story tomorrow.