Shock and Awe(Brought to You by Guns, Germs & Steel)

When it comes to the divide between those proverbial "haves" and "have nots," it isn't a simple matter of who has the best guns, the most toxic germs and the toughest steel. Rather, you have to go one step back to determine just how some groups came to acquire those things in the first place.

According to biologist Jared Diamond, in his book (and the resultant PBS documentary) Guns, Germs & Steel, it all boils down to geography. It goes like this (and forgive me if you've heard this before): everyone everywhere started off hunting and gathering. Those with the most fertile soil (i.e. first the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East and then — after another Ice Age left this area arid — other regions in Europe and Asia ) eventually took up farming, later extending their endeavors to include not just wheat and barley (or rice, in Asia), but also sources of meat and milk. And then, eventually, they learned how to use those animal's muscle power to accomplish farmwork (via the plough), which increased the annual yield and eventually relegated hunting to a hobby. People subsequently learned how to store these foods for months on end, which freed up a great deal of time for other pursuits. Writing then naturally followed, as did the yielding of steel into rapiers and other weaponry and technologies (which became necessary to protect communities and later... fiefdoms and empires).

Other groups didn't have the soil to support farming (as is still the case in Papua, New Guinea). Others had the soil, but not the crops capable of producing large, lasting yields. Both of these groups still exist today, and both continue to spend most of their time & energy on acquiring food. They're as astute a group of people as, say, the general population of any European town... it's just that their skillset is different, and they haven't the time for more leisurely (or scholastic) pursuits.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, those who had the time for technology had a bit of a superiority complex as they encountered the native people of the Americas, West Africa and such — whose reliance upon the land was mistaken for evolutionary stagnation (forgive the anachronism). Guns, germs and steel then became a means of forcing such people to the brink of extinction. It's the "delete" key of paternalistic exploits. Or to use the cliche: if you can't convert 'em — kill 'em, and take their gold.

In related news, the U.S. is celebrating three years in Iraq this weekend. And I'm wondering now if there's any connection between St. Patrick chasing the pagan snakes out of Ireland, and our "shock and awe" campaign. But the question remains: who is chasing whom, here?

Personally? I'm just surprised we didn't learn a lesson from Pizarro and Cortés: kidnap the enemy's leader, and take advantage of the ensuing chaos.

Oh... right...