The Nomadic Alternative – Page 264

will flex his muscles to defend his interests till he falls to a
younger and more 'aggressive' newcomer.

At this moment several cock robins are taking up territorial
positions for the winter around the house in which I write, One
has installed himself on the roof of [illegible (the)] barn, another on a cowshed,
and another in the hedgerow, each loudly singing out his claim.

When one bird 'invades' the territory of his neighbour, there is a
chase as the proprietor flies at the newcomer, who dared threaten
his superiority. But the cock-robin is quite happy to share with
other male birds, providing these belong to a different species.

The latter offer no competition, and providing they are not dangerous
predators, their presence is tolerated. The function of the robin's
territorial defence is, as we have seen, to prevent overcrowding
and assure that the species is in the hands of the fittest. Terri-
torial defence is a question of keeping young and keeping fit. And
the most superficial glance at world politics might on any day
confirm to the observer the existence of man's drive to dominate
and attack each other, simply for reasons of masculine prestige.

But appearances deceive. A human group exercises its rights over
a given stretch of territory or demands freedom of movement along
a migration path. The people fix their frontiers or route by tacit
agreement with their neighbours, with whom they have entered into
contractual exchange. This territory and the lands of their neigh-
bours encompass the known world - known, as I have said, because
it is named and inhabited by people who are MEN. Beyond lies the
Unknown - a dangerous place that seethes with horrible monstrosities
such as those that lurk on the peripheries of Mediaeval maps. The
basic human need to journey over the horizon to see what lies beyond
serves to quell anxiety about the Unknown. But once MEN are found
to live there, it becomes essential to enfold them within a system
of kinship alliances - to exchange 'blood' with them, to intermarry.

Otherwise a state of war will exist. The hunter can be excused for
his ignorance of the Unknown. He must walk over the horizon on his
own two feet. For him the frontier of the Unknown is a finite barrier.