We don't do things that way anymore

I heard a story at church this morning which I want to pass on as best I can. It's a true and fairly recent story

A herd of cattle were travelling through southern Sudan (an aside already! - cattle are very important in that region and a measure of wealth). At some point seven of the cows peeled off from the rest of the herd and wandered into the fields of a local farmer, where they stripped his crops. The farmer caught the cows and placed them in a pen.

An old herdsman travelling with the cattle came looking for the cows. When he found them he talked to the farmer, who explained that the cows had eaten his livelihood. The two men negotiated for a while, and it was agreed that the old herdsman could take two milking cows back with him to ensure that the calves in the herd would receive milk, but that the farmer could hold the remaining five cows until reasonable compensation was negotiated for the loss of his crops.

On hearing about this, some younger herdsmen became angry, flatly told the old herdsman that 'we don't do things that way anymore', and got their guns.

When the fighting between the locals and the travelling herdsmen finished, 17 people were dead. And they still hadn't got back the five cows.

It seems quite obvious to me that progress is not always a good thing, especially not when it makes you think that you are self-sufficient to the point that you can ignore your relationship with your neighbour.