The myth of the noble savage

A French girl, Alicia, has been living in the woods for two years. This video shows her alternative lifestyle.

In the report, Konbini came at Alicia’s house, who lives in the woods with her boyfriend. She presents to us her alternative lifestyle, the way she has been living for 2 years. She used to live in a big city, Marseille in the south of France and now she lives there and she's very happy about this decision. 

This exemple of life can be linked with the myth of the noble savage, especially with the modern version of the myth: uncontacted tribes. Indeed, we can make a comparison with the uncontacted tribes' lifestyle.  Bye the way, Alicia thinks that humans are made to live in the nature and not surrounded by concrete. The wood is a natural and heathly place for human being. She also says that there's nothing more joyful than walking barefoot.

 This aspect of life brings the myth of the noble/ good savage closer since the indigenes and uncontacted tribes lived and continue to live barefoot without many clothes. In our current society, some people would describe Alicia as a savage, she even explains that at first some people thought se was crazy. But can we call them that? I don't think so because there are just normal people with a different lifestyle. Nowadays, even if some people don't accept this way of life; a part of society is not against and examples like Alicia are encouraging more and more people to adopt a better lifestyle  (in any case favourable to the development of man and the protection of nature). Alicia says that her family changed its point of view and they often come to her house in the woods to get some new energy. 

Then, this lifestyle has a positive impact on health, according to the young woman's experience. She explains that this life stimulates all that is immune defense. Indeed, she says that she had not caught any disease for two years, whereas when she was in town, she was often sick. We can say that it's a very positive effect on the body. 

Another feature of this lifestyle is food consumption. Alicia and her boyfriend have a vegetable garden where they grow tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, strawberries and even chilli pepper. We call it a permaculture vegetable garden. As Alicia says, they are not yet food self-sufficient because it is very difficult to feed themselves completely. But she explains that thanks to neighbours and local actors, they can help each other by making exchanges (e.g. a chicken for potatoes). This aspect can be supported because it represents a kind of deep longing or lofty ideal for eco-friendly. This alternative lifestyle even support the terms "degrowth" and "deconsumption".

Finally, Alicia says that even they don't live in a city, they don't want to be cut off from the world and have no contact with the rest of society. They still have a phone and an internet network. In the myth of the good savage, uncontacted tribes, as their name suggests, have no (or very little) contact with outsiders. We can understand that Alicia, even if she lives in a place different from the norms of society, is not excluded at all. 

Alicia is not a crazy person or even a savage one. She is only a normal person who has decided to adopt an alternative lifestyle that has certainly made her lose in comfort of life, but gained in quality of life and that is all that matters to her to be happy. 

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