Hierarchical societies stem from wealth, power, and privileges, contrasting with ideals of equality and freedom.
Primate dominance behaviors transition to early human hunter-gatherer equality, showcasing the absence of social dominance hierarchies.
Immediate return foraging promotes extreme egalitarianism and liberty through resource sharing, fostering cooperation and mutual respect.
Human societies shift between hierarchical and egalitarian structures based on economic activities and societal needs for coordination.
Deep dives
Political Left and Right
Political forces are divided into equality-promoting left and hierarchy-promoting right, reflecting class conflict which spans political, economic, cultural, and international spheres.
Hierarchy and Equality
Human societies showcase various hierarchies, intertwining political, economic, cultural, and international structures, with wealth granting power and privilege. Historical and modern societies exhibit hierarchies, despite ideals of equality.
Human Hierarchy Origins
Human hierarchy traces back to primate dominance behaviors, transitioning from dominance in chimpanzees and guerillas to equality among early human hunter-gatherer societies, showing a lack of social dominance hierarchies.
Immediate Return Foragers
Societies engaging in immediate return foraging exhibit extreme egalitarianism and personal liberty due to the nature of their subsistence economy, where resources are shared, leading to a culture of sharing, cooperation, and mutual respect.
Hunting and Gathering Economies
Immediate return and complex hunter-gatherer economies shape human societies, with immediate return foragers emphasizing equality and liberty, while complex hunter-gatherers, like those in the Pacific Northwest Coast, develop hierarchy due to fixed resources, leading to social structures based on wealth and authority.
Shifts Between Hierarchies and Equality
Human societies transition between hierarchies and equality based on economic activities, with immediate return foragers showing political equality, while complex hunter-gatherers exhibit hierarchical structures influenced by resource control and societal needs for coordination.
Rise of Hierarchical Societies
The emergence of hierarchical societies and male domination evolves over time, with complex hunter-gatherers displaying leadership based on control over resources, leading to hierarchical social structures and divisions of wealth and power.
Evolutionary Shifts
From pre-human dominance hierarchies to egalitarian hunter-gatherers, human societies demonstrate a shift towards hierarchical societies around 12,000 years ago, impacting male dominance, organized violence, and malnutrition, influencing societal structures today.
Everywhere we look, past and present we see hierarchical societies where some people have more wealth, more power, and more rights than others.Was this always the state of the human world?Is hierarchy in our nature?Are egalitarian societies possible for human beings?If so, under what conditions? And is freedom compatible with equality?
