In this book Ian Morris analyzes in greater depth his previous research about the rise of civilization (amazon/Why-West-Rules---Now-Patterns-ebook/dp/B003VTZSFY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1400445196&sr=8-3&keywords=ian+morris). He is primarily interested in the drop in violent death from hunter/gatherer societies to today. His main argument is that war really is the answer. Specifically, what he calls productive war, war that results in larger polities. The rulers of larger polities are not necessarily nicer, but they tend to prefer their milking cows (oops, I meant tax payers) to be alive and productive. Beyond a certain polity size, they also prefer for them to have enough freedom to produce more taxable wealth. I highly recommend this book.
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 20:49:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015