Your critique brought up lots of interesting points.
Over the last few years, I’ve been realizing more and more that there is this struggle between the urban and the rural (and/or wilderness). I mostly notice it because I personally feel an intense pull towards both of these extremes. It’s hard to resolve that duality into one lifestyle.
Also, I think that prevailing wisdom is that it’s all or nothing- us against them. And, it seems, that this “prevailing wisdom” also says that urban is better so those who prefer rural/wilderness feel over-protective of their preference.
perhaps true sustainability can only occur when these two distinct lifestyles are being used to complement each other, rather than competing for resources. This would have the added benefits of mutual respect and keeping options open for people to live as they like.

I guess I probably do idealize the tribal culture, but perhaps I’m over-compensating for the ‘ignorant savage’ type feelings. I just think there is a lot to be learned there. And a lot that they do better than we do, yet our way of life is wiping out theirs, before the lessons are learned. And that’s really sad to me. I’m fairly against the Peace Corps. Some of their projects are wonderful, of course, but many simply seem like a new kind of imperialism. Of course, at this point, global politics are horribly interwoven, and I don’t see any way to unweave any of the threads of peoples. I do wish though that we could, again, have each culture support the other in a sustainable way. Yup, that’s right, I’m kinda a low-grade hippie. You mentioned the mystic naturalist. Well, that’s me. Though I’ve largely suppressed the mystic part for now while I learn more science. I’m not sure the Exact definition of mystic, but I do think that science is mystical and amazing and the more I learn about how something works and what adaptations it has, the more amazing I think it is.

You say that people wouldn’t want to live in these villages and tribes. Well, I’m not so sure I want to live here. And, looking at it from an objective point of view, would one of these tribespeople really want to come live in oakland? It might be ridiculously isolating and depressing. When I first started living in the East Bay (coming from so long of living largely in wilderness areas or camps), I spent weeks feeling guilty for most of my actions because there’s almost nothing you can do, living in a city, that is truly sustainable. And I was aghast at what a consumer I was. Now that’s mostly background noise. But, also, every time I come back from working a backpacking trip or at a field school, it is so difficult to get used to walking past people without saying hi. And being suspicious as a necessity for staying alive and keeping my belongings.

I certainly enjoy the city life- the distractions and amusements, the endless stream of new people to meet, the amazing things we humans have created. I am happy to be learning about all of the east bay parks and the natural areas within the city of San Francisco. But I’m simply not sure that all of this can compete with the beauty of the rocky landscape of Joshua Tree or the majesty of Yosemite Valley. If I could convince all of my favorite people to live with me in one of the little towns just outside Yosemite and create a sustainable community, I most certainly would do that.