34861YNH164 Observations of contemporary hunter-

GATHERER BANDS
SUPPORT THIS IDEA!
Most bands are highly egalitarian,
and when a hunter comes back to camp
carrying a fat deer, everybody gets a share.
The same is true of chimpanzees. When one chimp kills a piglet,
the other troop members will gather round him with outstretched hands,
and usually they all get a piece. In another recent experiment, primatologist Frans de Waal
placed two capuchin monkeys in two adjacent cages, so that they could see everything the other was doing.
De Waal & his colleagues placed small stones inside each cage, and trained the monkeys to give them these stones.
Whenever a monkey handed over a stone, he received food in exchange. At first the reward was a piece of cucumber.
Both monkeys were very pleased with that, & happily ate their cucumber.

After a few rounds De Waal moved to the next stage of this experiment. This time when the monkey surrendered a stone,
he got a grape! Grapes are much more tasty than cucumbers. However, when the second monkey gave a stone, he still received a piece of cucumber. The second monkey who was previously very happy with his cucumber, became incensed! He took the cucumber, looked at it in disbelief for a moment, & then threw it at the scientists in anger
& began jumping & screeching loudly?
He ain't a sucker!

This hilarious experiment
(which you can see for yourself on YouTube), along with the Ultimatum Game,
has led many to believe that primates have a natural morality & that equality is a universal & timeless value.
People are egalitarian by nature, & unequal societies CÀN nèver fùnction wèll due to resentment & dissatisfaction.
But ìs thàt really só? These theories may work well on chimpanzees, capuchin monkeys & small hunter-gatherer bands.
They also work well on the lab, where you test them
on small groups of people.

Yet once you observe the behaviour of human masses
you discover a completely different reality. Most human kingdoms & empires
were extremely unequal, yet many of them were surprisingly stable ànd efficient?!!
In ancient AeGYPT, the pharaoh sprawled on comfortable cushions inside a cool & sumptuous palace,
wearing golden sandals & gemstudded tunics, while beautiful maids popped sweet grapes into his mouth!
Through the open window he could see the peasants in the fields,
toiling in dirty rags under a merciless sun, & blessed
was the peasant who had a cucumber
to eat at the end of
the day? Yet these
peasants rarely
revolted?