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Jared Diamond Argument

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The Unexplained Cultural Aspect of Jared Diamond’s Argument As each day passes the human world becomes increasingly more educated and sophisticated, whether it is in the form of new discoveries, inventions, or ideas. However, not all societies are advancing at an equal rate. The power gaps between first world and third world countries seem to be increasing by the day. How, then, did this disparity come to be? Jared Diamond attempts to answer this question through his historical narrative on the rise of civilization presented in Guns, Germs, and Steel. By drawing from his personal experiences, Diamond offers an explanation for this situation by explaining how the geographical location of past societies determined their rate of technological and societal advancement, ultimately defining the amount of international power modern states possess today. Although Jared Diamond’s argument seems to successfully trace the source of inequality between states back to the fact that not all geographic regions have the same nor equal amount of resources available, his reasoning is not completely compelling. …show more content…

While discussing the emergence of agriculture, he mentions how there is no explanation for why “[...] food production [failed] to appear, until modern times, in some ecologically very suitable areas [...]” (Diamond 93). Agriculture is widely accepted as one of the most important factors that contributed to the establishment of societal hierarchy. The introduction of specialized roles assigned those less intelligent to tending the food supply, thus allowing the more innovative individuals to produce products beneficial to the population. This system of established food cultivation favored those higher up on the social

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On April 26, 1983, Matthew N. Fraser (Respondent), a student at Bethel High School in Bethel, Washington, delivered a speech nominating a fellow student for student elective office. Approximately 600 High School students were in attendance, many of whom were 14 years old, the assembly was a part of a school sponsored educational program in self government. Students were required to either attend or go to study hall during the assembly. Prior to reciting the speech, Fraser sought guidance from two teachers, who both informed him that the speech may be seen as lewd and improper, as well as met with potentially severe repercussions. During his entire speech: I know a man who is firm — he’s firm in his pants, he’s firm in his shirt, his character is firm — but most… of all, his belief in you, the students of Bethel, is firm.

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941 Words | 4 Pages

These instances show how both superpowers used economic influence and aid to sway the internal policies and allegiances of other countries, frequently resulting in political repression, economic dependency, and internal conflict. Economic resources were thus used as a weapon of geopolitical rivalry during the Cold War era, with grave ramifications for national sovereignty and development all over the

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618 Words | 3 Pages

In the documentary Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, he explains his theory of how people live different lives by people being poorer than others. He also explains how people in the past lived and how they farmed crops, hunted animals, and built their own homes out of dry sand. Jared also explains how some societies are more materially successful than others. He compares societal success to geography, food production, immunity to germs, the domestication of animal, and use of steel.

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1468 Words | 6 Pages

While claiming to bring civilization to the untamed wilds , conflict in the Americas didn’t end as the Europeans created their empires. With new and growing territories, came new and growing tensions between neighboring powers, and these tensions often ignited into international conflicts. In these conflicts the

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1464 Words | 6 Pages

Guns, Germs, and Steel is a book by Jared Diamond that talked about geographical differences between different societies. In his book he mentioned his trip to New Guinea in which he thought about the cultural differences between New Guinea and more advanced societies such as the U.S and Europe. He came to the conclusion that the more advanced societies influence over other cultures due to the geographic differences and environmental diversity in their homelands. The first part of the book “From Eden To Cajamarca” Jared Diamond discussed human evolution, the clash of the Maoris and the Morioris in the Catham Islands, and Francisco Pizarro conquering of the Inca Empire.

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2148 Words | 9 Pages

How did the dominant countries of the world come to be dominant? Or, how did people living in the same time period, with crude and primitive technology come to overthrow other neighboring countries? Especially since these countries were inhabited by people with relatively the same intelligence levels as themselves. However, some historians would conclude that intelligence was, in fact, the main deciding factor for the overthrow of some countries. However, in this book, Jared Diamond tells how guns, germs, and steel are, in effect, the reasons for some cultures being superior over others.

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557 Words | 3 Pages

For the first time, because of farming, people had a surplus of food. The surplus of food allowed for people to become artisans, so not

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120 Words | 1 Pages

Ever since the emergence of mankind, humans have always prioritized their search for food and water. Even today the need for sustenance is still prominent; however, methods for producing it have evolved over time. The Paleolithic people went about scavenging, hunting, fishing, and gathering on their quest for food. The Neolithic Revolution marked a transition from such practices into the “cultivations of crops and the domestication of animals.” (Strayer, pg.12) Even after thousands of years, although techniques have changed, the basic concept of agricultural cultivation has still remained similar.

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“Third” world countries notice this power imbalance and want to catch up to the rest of the world, which can give them a negative perspective of themselves and does not help the world become a better more knowledgeable place. The “sanctioned ignorance” that Andreotti discusses is what will cause the world to lose some of its diversity. It is ignorant to push your beliefs on a country or place you know very little about. As stated in the article, we are encouraging Eurocentrism and believing Western people are the most important and at the centre of the world. This causes us to look at the world from a skewed perspective and become less empathetic.

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248 Words | 1 Pages

John Bodley’s article, “Price of Progress”, argues that America and other developed countries worry about economic development less than developing countries. The economies in developed countries believe that every culture should be full of progress. Progress in economies is defined by how high your income is, how high your standard of living is, greater security and how good your health is. The most common used measure of progress is one’s standard of living. The lowest class of people is the tribal people who have different cultures and lifestyles and they find ways to survive on their own.

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national politics Adam Watson’s Evolution of International Society gave a new dimension in the understanding of international relations (IR). He deeply studied comparatively the formation of international society and political community of the past which has evolved into the modern world system in his ‘Evolution of International Society’. Unlike Kenneth Waltz views of anarchy as the only system in IR, Watson says there are two systems viz. anarchy and hierarchy. In between these systems is the hegemony which defines the contemporary IR.

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916 Words | 4 Pages

HUNTER GATHERERS Earlier societies did not use to produce their own food but instead they use to survive by hunting and gathering, or foraging. A hunter-gatherer or foraging, society is a society whose subsistence is based on the hunting of animals and gathering of vegetation. The basic economic, social, and political unit of hunter-gatherer societies is the band. For almost 99 percent of humanity 's life span, humans lived as foragers.

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1533 Words | 7 Pages

The pre-industrial societies were based on the cultivation and ownership of land, this was a vast foundation for social hierarchies, where the highest classes owned the land and the lowest worked on them.

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1199 Words | 5 Pages

In this article Samuel P. Huntington argues “that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural” (Samuel P. Huntington, 1993). Following the Huntington idea, “Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations” (Samuel P. Huntington,

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1478 Words | 6 Pages

He contends that underdevelopment is generated by the same historical process that generated development. Underdevelopment is a result of country’s participation in the same capitalist system. Frank thus rejects the notion that underdevelopment is traditional or original. He challenges the notion that underdevelopment follows a linear path. He rather argues that ‘’underdevelopment is in large part the historical product of past and continuing economic and other relations...”

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