I find ‘Humankind’ @rcbregman ( @BloomsburyBooks) to be beads of ideas about Human Nature that embody values of our tribal farmers of @arakucoffeein

I the book that’s about “a radical idea - that most people, deep down are pretty decent.”

Let me put a thread for you ...

The book uses historical findings and stories to argue how it is both realistic & useful to assume that people are basically good.

What touched me are his stories that were like the aphorisms I learned from tribal communities in 20 years of work with @naandi_india (2/n)

One such story is of an old man telling his grandchild - about how two wolves are fighting inside his stomach. One being the evil, angry wolf & the other a good, loving & trustworthy one. When the grandchild asks which wolf will win, the old man replies "the one you feed". (3/n)

In Araku, each of the 100,000 odd tribals grow the world class @arakucoffeein @arakucoffee in 1-2 acres plots only. Once when a Brooklyn roaster asked one of our farmers why he didn’t grow 10-20 acres, the farmer replied "we grow according to our need & not by greed".(4/n)

In another place in the book when a 17th century missionary warned a Innu tribesman (in present day Canada) of the dangers of infedility, he replied "thou hast no sense. You French people love only your own children. But we all love all the children of our tribe". (5/n).

When we @naandi_india started agriculture for the livelihoods of the Araku tribals we realised they have neither a concept of private property nor of boundaries! When told goats & cows will eat the crops, they told “the land belongs to all & we can’t stop them from eating.” (6/n)

“ Believing in the good of humanity is a revolutionary act.”, says @rcbregman in a interview. By citing alternate episodes from history, he confronts popular nattatives like Lord of the Flies; Bystander Effect; the Stanford prison & Stanley Milgram Shock experiment. (7/n)

From Hunter Gatherers to Coffee Estate owners was a transformation these tribals essayed without losing their souls. Thanks to @naandi_india using one non-Negotiable trait - TRUST. And, they reciprocated with Unconditional Trust. (8/n)

We paid them profits before the harvest & they followed our quality standards by working so hard that it took them 15 times more labour to hand pick only dark red coffee cherries! We paid them 200% mark up on best market price & thus assuring sustained profits every year.(9/n)

The book cites American anthropologist’s list of leadership traits needed in egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies Leadership was temporary as decisions were collectively done and Machiavellian approach was suicidal! Caring & Sharing was the norm. (10/n)

The diminutive Kondal Rao seen here is a leader with the amazing selfless caring & sharing values. He leads the worlds largest organic coffee farmers cooperative that grows @arakucoffeein & is obsessed to be invisible, selfless & derives power from unconditional trust! (11/n)

“The worldview of many elites is completely upside down: they think they’re the solution when they are actually the problem.” says @rcbregman in @TheHinduMag (12/n) https://www.thehindu.com/society/believing-in-the-good-of-humanity-is-a-revolutionary-act-rutger-bregman/article32523034.ece

This is where theory & stories of @rcbregman & mine coincide most - on the Theory of Trust. We created @arakucoffee for Paris purely by the self-Motivation of Tribals created by Trust. See

Interviewer: How do you motivate your employees?
Jos: I don’t. Seems patronising.(13/n)

I recall how the tribals of Araku told me in 2000 A.D. that my idea of “education” which was to put their children in a walled classroom to be “taught” by a “teacher” won’t work as learning is borderless & continous! We used that to train all coffee farmers in open farms! (14/n)

The book also shares examples of how Trust worked in Venezuelan Municipality election & in the open prison in Norway. In India too we have open prison experiment doing well & @arakucoffeein coop is governed by Trust just as the communities live without locks & walls! (15/n)

Hailing nomadic tribal communities @rcbregman says “We’ve evolved for togetherness. We crave connection just as much as we crave food. Loneliness can quite literally make us sick — according to recent research, it’s comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” (16/n)

To conclude, the book is uplifting & on behalf of our tribal communities who grow @arakucoffee I invite @rcbregman to be visit the beautiful, pristine Araku Valley & do a reading in @arakucoffeein Cafe soon to be opened in Bengaluru city. Be our guest Brother! (17/17)