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cthib9 's review for:
Before you read a review of this book, you should probably know a little about the person reviewing it, if only to know you aren't listening to a madman:
- I love life and wish world peace upon all. I'm just old enough to know better.
- I am of the Midwest in manners and education. Live and let live. Hold doors open. Eat barbecue.
- I am uninterested in politics because they are devoid of heart and rationality. Pockets > Politics.
- When I do get pulled into a political discussion and end my contributions with "We need a plague," I mean that with all practicality.
"The Great Leveler" provides ammo for my uneducated beliefs that in order to obtain equality, inequality must be abolished in the worst way. (Note: The book focuses on economic equality, not racial, gender or otherwise.)
The Great Leveler is actually Four Horsemen (none of which happens to be democracy!):
- War
- Revolution
- Systemic collapse
- Plague
As far as history is concerned, those are the only ways to bring about mass economic equality. Still, humans doom themselves over and over. The top 1 percent own a disproportionate amount of the pie and that causes corruption and unrest within. Over time, this leads to fallen civilizations: Ancient Rome, China's Tang dynasty and Communist Russia, to name a few. Then you have the Black Plague, which basically showed the futility of man and what money was truly worth (nothing).
The most interesting takeaway was when Scheidel mentioned the eras when inequality was not prevalent. Any guesses on what factor creates inequality in the first place? Answer: When there's something to protect. This goes back to hunter/gather days when people were all on the same playing field, hustling for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. That was until someone laid claim on a trout stream and keep all the water for themselves. Then greed took over and the Four Horsemen were born.
I could go on and on about the teachings of this book, but I need to save some material for family gatherings.
- I love life and wish world peace upon all. I'm just old enough to know better.
- I am of the Midwest in manners and education. Live and let live. Hold doors open. Eat barbecue.
- I am uninterested in politics because they are devoid of heart and rationality. Pockets > Politics.
- When I do get pulled into a political discussion and end my contributions with "We need a plague," I mean that with all practicality.
"The Great Leveler" provides ammo for my uneducated beliefs that in order to obtain equality, inequality must be abolished in the worst way. (Note: The book focuses on economic equality, not racial, gender or otherwise.)
The Great Leveler is actually Four Horsemen (none of which happens to be democracy!):
- War
- Revolution
- Systemic collapse
- Plague
As far as history is concerned, those are the only ways to bring about mass economic equality. Still, humans doom themselves over and over. The top 1 percent own a disproportionate amount of the pie and that causes corruption and unrest within. Over time, this leads to fallen civilizations: Ancient Rome, China's Tang dynasty and Communist Russia, to name a few. Then you have the Black Plague, which basically showed the futility of man and what money was truly worth (nothing).
The most interesting takeaway was when Scheidel mentioned the eras when inequality was not prevalent. Any guesses on what factor creates inequality in the first place? Answer: When there's something to protect. This goes back to hunter/gather days when people were all on the same playing field, hustling for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. That was until someone laid claim on a trout stream and keep all the water for themselves. Then greed took over and the Four Horsemen were born.
I could go on and on about the teachings of this book, but I need to save some material for family gatherings.