'Historical Advantage' By Jared Diamond

The central focus of the assigned Source Two states that the development of the human society and the fact that some countries were more advanced and enriched than other countries, are caused from the historical advantages that only a little amount of countries had possessed. The key word here, “historical advantage” can be interpreted as the historical backgrounds of each country that had made some places possible to be more dominant than other regions. The assigned Source Two provides a brief understanding of why some countries were able to continuously and successfully be developed. Jared Diamond’s theory clearly argues that geography was the prime reason why some locations could not be as globally wealthy as others and why they weren’t

Farming was believed to be very beneficial and significant to the early society, because farming meant that individuals did not have to journey to locate food. Farming helped them create early civilization by enabling them to settle in one place and tend to their farming. Also, this brilliant kind of agriculture was very convenient compared to hunting, since hunting was time-consuming and inefficient for gathering food. One great example of this would be the Europe’s victory over the Zulus. Europeans were able to defeat the Zulus with their advanced weaponries that they’ve developed over the years. To be honest, without their “head start” on agriculture, they would not have had the skills and power to dominate the Zulus. In Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond states a very agreeable opinion regarding farming: “If there is more food, more workers can be fed, and there will be more individuals working to build human society.” Farming determines a country’s power; countries with longer history of farming are the most prosperous ones today. New Guineans, for example, had not put much effort into advancing agriculture and this had led them to lack of raw materials and livestocks. This argument links to Jared Diamond’s theory because they share a similarity that explains how historical advantages of agriculture assisted countries with development . In contrast, another opinion on the source is that European domination was not just caused by farming, but also by the contributions from non-European regions. This seems very unlikely, because how would a country have the power to support another country if they don’t even have the ability to help themselves? Therefore, Jared Diamond’s theory encourages the idea that the development of human society is far most shaped by the historical