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When Wealth Inequality Arose (Evils of farming)

#11
Syne Offline
"Everyone in Ju/’hoan communities scrutinised everybody else all the time..." - https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...are_btn_tw

Yeah, try that in a popular culture that has come to eschew all judgement. IOW, it's the same mentality that condemns judging others as envious that would also condemn the sort of societal judgement necessary to remove all envy. You can't have one without the other.

The author seems to use the word "egalitarian" as some sort of talisman, even though the US is highly egalitarian. He also downplays the huge discrepancy between “primitive affluence” and actual affluence/prosperity...and the unsustainable nature of “primitive affluence” in modern, populous societies.
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#12
Secular Sanity Offline
(Oct 30, 2017 05:07 PM)Syne Wrote: "Everyone in Ju/’hoan communities scrutinised everybody else all the time..." - https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...are_btn_tw

Yeah, try that in a popular culture that has come to eschew all judgement. IOW, it's the same mentality that condemns judging others as envious that would also condemn the sort of societal judgement necessary to remove all envy. You can't have one without the other.

The author seems to use the word "egalitarian" as some sort of talisman, even though the US is highly egalitarian. He also downplays the huge discrepancy between “primitive affluence” and actual affluence/prosperity...and the unsustainable nature of “primitive affluence” in modern, populous societies.

I don't know.  I'm not so sure about that.  Maybe back in the day.

America, Land of the Equals

I thought it was a good article but it looks like they're in trouble now.

"As much as the Ju/’hoansi’s fierce egalitarianism served them well for so long, it poses a challenge now. They are by far the poorest and most marginalised of Namibia’s many distinct ethnic communities – yet they remain deeply uncomfortable elevating any of their peers to leadership positions.

Similarly, many Ju/’hoansi are reluctant to take management roles or assume responsibilities that require making and imposing their decisions or authority on others. As a result, they remain desperately under-represented in state institutions, meaning their interests are often overlooked and ignored."
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#13
Syne Offline
There is a difference between egalitarianism and social equality. It's only social egalitarianism that pushes economic equality. Egalitarianism is primarily about equal human worth and rights, not equal outcomes.
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#14
Yazata Offline
(Oct 22, 2017 11:02 PM)C C Wrote: EXCERPT: [...] Neolithic burial sites offer evidence of  the growing divide between the rich and the poor.

That's probably true.

But I don't think that was the origin of personal or social inequality. One can imagine simpler paleolithic hunting/gathering bands where dramatic divisions existed between the big bad-ass warriors/hunters, and the wimpier less-physical males. The former presumably had more influence in the band and got a lot more interest from the females. We certainly see that kind of thing among other animals and in high-schools everywhere.

In fact, as developing village communities became larger and more complex, social roles within the community probably multiplied, so that the smaller guys had the opportunity to become priests, scribes, traders or advisers to the king. There came to be a multiplicity of ways to ascend multiple hierarchical ladders.
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#15
Syne Offline
(Nov 1, 2017 04:19 PM)Yazata Wrote: But I don't think that was the origin of personal or social inequality. One can imagine simpler paleolithic hunting/gathering bands where dramatic divisions existed between the big bad-ass warriors/hunters, and the wimpier less-physical males. The former presumably had more influence in the band and got a lot more interest from the females. We certainly see that kind of thing among other animals and in high-schools everywhere.

Not to mention that that is the sexual selection mechanism in evolution.
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