According to David Quinn's Ishmael everyone has a Mother Culture, a voice that has given them an explanation of how things came to be this way. He states that everyone knows it and accepts it without question. There are two different types of Mother Culture. There is the type for the Taker and a type for the Leaver. The Taker believes that the world belongs to him and the Leaver believes he belongs to the world. The real wonder is where and how the Mother Culture originated in our culture. There is more than one theory describing the establishment of Mother Culture in Ishmael however the one I find most relevant describes two types of people, hunters and farmers.
Quinn tells us that in ancient times there were two groups of people, hunters and farmers. The hunters, or Leavers, believed the gods would provide them with the necessities of life if they did nothing to displease them. The farmers, or Takers, believed that if they produced more crops than needed and stored their food that they would not be at the mercy of the god's pleasure or displeasure. "When you have more food than you need, then the gods have no power over you!" (Quinn 227) The force motivating the Takers was to acquire enough supplies to outlast any disaster the gods could throw at them. It follows that those Takers acquiring the most supplies would be viewed as the most successful. .
Mother Culture tells us that the gods give what is needed to live as animals but not what is needed beyond that to live as humans. (Quinn 226) When the farmers were able to plant and stockpile food, they were able to take control over their lives from the gods. The Mother Culture implies that we must work hard and acquire possessions to maintain a standard of living above that of animals. .
This explanation of how Mother Culture came to be makes sense to me. It is possible that the hunters and farmers had two different views. I believe the hunters would trust in the gods to provide them with something to eat each day.
