HeavenlyPossum on Nostr: The oldest states date back to the Bronze Age, maybe the late Neolithic at the ...
The oldest states date back to the Bronze Age, maybe the late Neolithic at the absolute earliest. They’re only about 5, maybe 6 thousand years old, while humans have existed as a species for at least 300,000 years.
We’re fortunate to have archeological, historical, and contemporaneous evidence for non-state and non-hierarchical societies. That is, *they exist right now in the world.* Those earliest Mesopotamian states had contemporaries, like the Indus Valley civilization, that lacked any indication of rulers or states. It is not enough to wave vaguely at history and conclude that a general impression of hierarchical states represents the sum total of our past.
Power structures *do not* emerge naturally. They are the product of choices that people make. Similarly, egalitarian freedom does not emerge naturally; it, too, is a product of choices. Humans are socially self-constructing, and any social system we live with must be produced and constantly reproduced.
We’re fortunate to have archeological, historical, and contemporaneous evidence for non-state and non-hierarchical societies. That is, *they exist right now in the world.* Those earliest Mesopotamian states had contemporaries, like the Indus Valley civilization, that lacked any indication of rulers or states. It is not enough to wave vaguely at history and conclude that a general impression of hierarchical states represents the sum total of our past.
Power structures *do not* emerge naturally. They are the product of choices that people make. Similarly, egalitarian freedom does not emerge naturally; it, too, is a product of choices. Humans are socially self-constructing, and any social system we live with must be produced and constantly reproduced.