alternatehistory.com

No corner of the globe today is untouched by agriculture and the new social organizations and realities it made possible (everything from tribal societies to the large state societies like the USA, Canada, and Russia). Even the few remaining peoples that follow the first economic structure worldwide have been badly altered by this. But when Agriculture first came around, it was often a mixed blessing, with disease, the creation of the concept of social hierarchy, the beginnings of a system irreparably connected to a miserable underclass ruled by an excessively wealthy elite, and the birth of imperialism. Why did this happen, and why did it happen in places as far apart as the New World, New Guinea, Africa, and East Asia, South Asia, and Europe? Agriculture seems in some ways a strange adaptation and one that created an immense amount of misery for millions throughout history. Why, then, given that reality, did it end up spreading all across the globe? :confused:
Top