SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN THE WORLD. PART 1

IS IT HUMAN NATURE OR A LEARNED BEHAVIOR?

“Talent is universal but opportunity for better education and advancement is not.”

I shall leave the academic discussions on these important subjects to the experts. But I would like to share my thoughts and my humble opinion on these subjects, as I see them which may or may not be acceptable to the experts.

We, as Homo sapiens (wise man) existed on Earth for at least 200,000 years. One can’t help but ask many questions regarding this subject: Were we always like this during this entire long course of human history? Why is the present world in such a mess? Why do people and nations treat each other so badly? Why are all these religious and ethnic wars? Why does so much greed, exploitations, injustice and poverty exist in the world? Why are so many mega – rich people and companies indifferent to these human miseries and catastrophic climate changes, the deadly coronavirus pandemic and even refusing to get vaccinated, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that vaccines are safe and very effective?”

According to contemporary and prominent human history writer and philosophers – such as James Diamond, Francis Fukuyama, Yuval Noah Harari- social and economic injustice developed much later in human history. At the beginning, Homo sapiens lived in small groups, as hunter-gatherers. They shared everything, they were egalitarians, and their needs were simple.

But much later, with the agricultural revolution and domestication of farm animals, things changed drastically. Homo sapiens abandoned nomadic lifestyles, and settled down in permanent living quarters, by establishing villages, small towns and even big cities. As a result of living in big groups, their need for different kinds of work and labor, and a leader or ruler for keeping order in a large groups became obvious. Rulers and elites sprung up everywhere almost immediately, and started living a privileged lifestyle, by exploiting the labor of common people and peasants.

Archaeological evidence from ancient civilization like Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Mesoamerica and elsewhere seem to confirm this idea.

But my humble opinion about this event is different. I believe nothing could spring up if its seeds are not already planted. We are all, as humans genetically created differently, with different intelligence, mental capacity, physical appearance, abilities, personal and moral characters and behaviors. Some of us are born with certain qualities to become a leader or take-charge person or decision makers, while others are born as doers and workers.

We clearly see these genetic characteristics in the animal kingdom. There is a genetically determined pecking order in animal kingdom. Only the best and the strongest animal can become the pack leader. The same rule applies to the human species as well. After all, we share many of our genes with animals. Therefore, I believe it is genetically determined human nature to cause or to create social and economic inequality, in human societies.

But if this genetically determined human nature is unfair, unjustified and against humanistic beliefs, should we not try to change or control it?  In second part of this article, we will try to answer this question.