Agreement with Chagnon

I agree with the way Chagnon states, "I had to become like the Yanomamö to be able to get along with them on their terms: somewhat sly, aggressive, intimidating, and pushy." I don't think there was any other way he could have successfully made it through. At first, his statement seemed ignorant because the Yanamamo are described as violent and dishonest individuals by someone who sees them as completely different creatures. Chagnon even calls them hideous and unbearable. Later on, he does realize that if he had not changed the way he reacted to his belongings being taken, he would have always stayed as a victim of robberies and insults. The reason the Yanamamo accept Chagnon is because he has chosen to be LIKE them. The way he responded before by not yelling or threatening, led them to take advantage of him. It is survival of the fittest and the Yanamomo proved just that. Therefore, the Yanamamo are intelligent individuals who use their clever ways to survive every day. Instead of taking Chagnon's statements as derogatory and inappropriate, it makes more sense to see them as qualities. Even Chagnon himself adapted the positive attributes such as slyness and intimidation. These type of situations still exist in the world today. For example, my brother is a Pakistani-American who is currently living in Pakistan. It has been 1 year and 6 months since his move of which 1 year has been spent dodging scams and threats from local Pakistanis. They did not feel as if he belonged there because he was an American and to them, not Pakistani. My brother was threatened and he was sold expired items at the store, taken money from, given fake tickets, taken advantage of financially, emotionally, physically, and mentally. After a year though, after him defending himself and fighting back and finding his own ways to make money, the people there are finally starting to accept him because they know he is aware of their ways. This is just a small example that I can talk about with experience. There are hundreds of similar situations that lead people to become more aggressive and intimidating to survive, which is ironic because these terms are often seen as negative remarks and insults.