Chapter 2 Blog Post #3

At this point I'm only on page 66 of this chapter and I can already tell there's a problem with digging into history this old. The text says that "Unlike its Middle Eastern counterparts, the Indus Valley civilization apparently generated no palaces, temples, elaborate graves, kings, or warrior classes." (66 Ways of the World). It seems that a lot of our knowledge about the first civilization derives from our lack of evidence. I am aware that it's very hard to find ancient artifacts that can provide us a plethora of information at this point, but I don't think it wise to base knowledge on lack of evidence. There is that old saying "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence".

It makes sense that early civilizations were all tied to agriculture. Food, water, and shelter are all basic needs on Maslowe's Hierarchy of Needs and if there's one location that can provide all of that, why would anyone leave? They wouldn't. I like that the book moves onto "The Erosion of Equality" after mentioning the gathering of people into cities. It makes sense that once there are a bunch of people living together they would compare socioeconomic status. It's an unfortunate reality of being an urban dweller.

Strayer then comes to the topic about how patriarchy came to be. He assumes that society is to blame because prior to large civilizations men and women were regarded as equal. It's a tough topic to think about at times, and it does make me wonder what nature had truly intended. I am all for equality between men and women, but in other animals there isn't always such equality. Female Black Widows consume their mate after they reproduce. Lionesses do most of the hunting. Queen Bees are the head of the hive. Elephant herds are often led by the largest and oldest female. There are plenty of examples where women are in charge in the natural order of things. I think equality is an ideal and something to strive for, and I would prefer it above inequality of course, but these occurrences in nature make me wonder what the dynamic for humans was meant to be.