authenticity

It's important not to think of the truck and cell phone, two staples of Bedouin life, as less "authentic." We tend to measure cultural integrity in terms of maintaining a static past into the present. Maybe it's because we think in terms of states instead of processes. Why do we do that, I wonder? Where does it originate? Anyway, the important thing is the process, the prioritization, the ethic. The Bedouin do what they want to in the most efficient way possible. That's what's authentic. That's how you see who people are. They herd sheep. They stop everything for family. They find the more effective ways to do this that they can. Most of their world is family. They don't manage what doesn't need managing. They don't mind solitude, or silence, but they love company. They laugh alot. Their possessions aren't disposable, or specialized. They don't buy spare lids or special plastic or rubber bands; they use wire and a plastic bag to cover an open water jug. They buy what's cheap, and use it unless there's actually something impairing it's function (a torn dress, for example). And they have camera-phones. The sense I have is that if something works, why replace it? And if they can get something that will change their lives for the better, why not use it?