Sociology Paper 2

Words: 893
Pages: 4

Running Head: My View of Lee’s Eating Christmas in the Kalahari Page 1

My View of Lee’s Eating Christmas in the Kalahari A Lynn Byrne

My View of Lee’s Eating Christmas in the Kalahari Page 2 Abstract
My view of the bushmen teaching humility in their Christmas practice is contained in this paper based on the information gleaned from Lee’s article Eating Christmas in the Kalahari. I list excerpts from the article and our textbook to illustrate my views. Also, I address how the tribe is an agent of socialization and is a representation of Gemeinschaft. I talk about the difference
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Mechanical social solidarity can be defined as a collective consciousness that emphasizes group solidarity, characteristic of societies with minimal division of labor. Not to be confused with organic social solidarity that’s a collective consciousness that rests on mutual dependence, characteristic of societies with a complex division of labor (Schaefer 108). The bushmen had real kinship and a close-knit group as well. This sense of community can be defined as Gemeinschaft. Gemeinschaft is a typical rural life with an ideal close-knit community (Schaefer 108-109). This kinship allowed them to play the joke on Richard Lee and teach him their value of humility no matter what social status you hold. Our society is very commerce driven and has more organic social solidarity which lets us become preoccupied with social status and lose sight of common values like humility. The Bushmen’s Christmas practice is beautiful in my eyes and I believe we should pick up here in America. I don’t think we should be so quick to praise people because soon they will look down
My View of Lee’s Eating Christmas in the Kalahari Page 5

on everyone. It’s important to keep everyone’s humility in check to have a well-balanced community. We need to be more like the Bushmen and use our agents of socialization and statues to promote Gemeinschaft and try when we can to exhibit more characteristic of a mechanical social solidarity. It’s nice to have independence but being part