9 years ago
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Do the world’s ‘uncontacted’ tribes deserve to be left alone?
For the first time, anthropologists working for the Peruvian government will attempt to make contact with members of a remote tribe living in the Amazon jungle. The move follows growing concerns about the behavior of the Mascho Piro people, which has included attacks and raids on neighboring communities.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com
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As long as an uncontacted tribe desires isolation and isn't a threat to anyone, in any capacity, the ethical move is to leave them to their devices. When they start attacking and pillaging villages around, they've become a threat, and needs to be dealt with in a non-violent fashion.
NO...they deserve McDonalds! You can not progress as a human being with out Happy Meals in childhood.
I think they deserve to be left alone the same way we leave other groups like the Amish alone. The question I have is would it be unethical to use surveillance and modern technology to record their language and culture for posterity while not interfering. We could use linguistic families to quickly understand their current language and from that we might better understand how to incorporate them into the modern world (if we find exactly how big they consider their region to be, what they consider sacred or how they discuss their limited interaction with us)
When this happens, they no longer deserve isolation.
The tribe has recently been coming out of the woods - on their own terms - and have waved at, and interacted with townspeople, tourists, etc. A few times, these interactions have become violent. I think that with proper precautions, an initial contact is appropriate. If they choose to be alone after first contact, then fine. If not, also fine. Just so long as one group doesn't interfere with the other.
We, too, have been "left alone" by people who have advanced far more than we have. We are as ignorant of their lives and the things they have as these most primitive cultures are of ours. Imagine that.
It's an interesting notion, but it's unfortunately (fortunately?) highly unlikely for many reasons. We very likely are as alone as we believe we are. And will probably stay that way. See the fermi paradox.
If they want to be alone, if they are happy to be that way, and if they are able to sustain themselves and grant themselves all the comforts of basic human rights under their own society, then by all means, let them be primitive. Until, as others have said, they become a threat.