Jared Diamond argues that the Australian continent was incapable of progressing humanity to agrarianism or the iron age because it lacked three things; a domesticatable animal, domesticatable plants; and finally, because of its isolation as a landmass there was little to no osmosis of technology between societies and cultures. (more)
adam : In Guns Germs and Steel Diamond also makes the point that life as a peasant farmer kind of sucks versus that as a hunter gatherer. It's 12 hours a day of back breaking grind for a limited range of foodstuffs that often don't cover nutritional needs. So communities only adopt it under competitive pressure, because a community of farmers can be much larger and hence dangerous in war against a community of hunter gatherers on the same land.
cam : I think the English experience in Sydney and Parramatta with the Eora and Dharug in the 1780s showed that it doesn't have to be war, just competition for land. The establishment of agriculture makes the land unusable for hunter-gatherers.
The Matthew Principle is;
the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer
. The
sugarscape model
of trading sugar and spice leads actors in the game to distribute the wealth unequally. As a pure model it shows how weaker entities in a trading system can be disadvantaged. Yet economic systems through history have not ended up with extreme inequality and then remained in stasis once achieving that point. Obviously society, culture and even violence contribute to cycles of equality. Peter Turchin argues that equality is necessary for cohesive group action. He also argues that social instability in agrarian society acts as a dampening effect against increasing inequality.
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Scrymarch raised my attention to this book by Peter Turchin. It is definitely an interesting book, and I think the idea of multi-ethnic frontiers being the point that other imperial nations develop the cohesion to establish themselves is one very worthy of merit. Turchin also explores some other aspects of the development of imperial nations such as Asabiya and the study of cliodynamics. I also try to determine how Turchin's theories relate to Australia. (more)
cam : More on Bali as the multi-ethnic fault line: I wrote this
comment after the Bali attacks in March 2004
;
[To Australia]... it wont matter, they have claimed the attack as Australia\'s September 11th. Australians suffered the greatest human loss from the attack. I wouldnt be surprised that Bali was high domestically on the list of targets, it is open to the world as a major tourist place, it is awash in Australian and other world currencies.I am pretty much arguing back then that Bali was the most visible reach of Australian (and Western) Empire into Indonesia. This is where the west meets the multi-ethnic and multi-religious fault line; hence the location of most tension. Heh, unknowingly; I was probably partially arguing for Turchin\'s hypothesis back then. cam
Australians are also well known for having their hedonistic holidays there of alcohol, sex and flesh exposing bathing. If American imperialism is the World Bank and USMC, Australian imperialism is hedonistic and bacchanalian holidays in regional paradises like Bali. That would offend local fundamentalist groups. Bali is more liberal than fundamentalists would like, it is more cosmopolitan than fundamentalists would like and it also supports Australian imperialism.
I reckon it is a fair statement, without any parochial vanity, that the attack was largely aimed at Australia. That isnt to assume that destabilising Bali and scaring off new tourists wasnt a goal. It is also not to assume that Americans and other Westerners were not a target as well.
Tasmanian Bill Mollison, of Permaculture fame, saw vitality and vigour in edge effects. He designed his agricultural system around it. Peter Turchin sees similar effects occurring at the edge of Empires, where the constant danger and turgidity under the shadow of a powerful state induces social cohesion in those confronting it.
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Peter Turchin
studies the dynamics of ecosystems, and, more recently, the dynamics of human history. His new book,
War and Peace and War
, models the rise and fall of empires.
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cam : You made a sale btw: nt
cam
Scrymarch : Heh: I haven\'t got my hand on a copy yet. If it doesn\'t make its way to Bris soon I\'ll probably order from the US.
