Chagnon believed warfare for the Yanomama was genetic, something that they, and maybe mankind in general, were predisposed to do. Marvin Harris, on the other hand, felt that environmental and ecological factors led to warfare, leading to a decreased village size, thereby increasing each members protein availability. Harris argued that the high standard of living enjoyed by small societies depended on female infanticide, warfare, and a male supremacy complex. That the ensuing war over protein would reduce village size directly through casualties, and indirectly through the dispersion of the defeated groups. However, a closer look at Amazonian culture suggests that the rewards of life in a small scale society may encourage people to resist pressures for increasing village size and permanence.
People get up, and the day begins.
They go about their business again, some hunting, some fishing, some gathering, some stay home or go to the garden. Yanomama life goes on and on in its daily pattern. They're happy, much happier, I think, than anybody in our society rich or poor. When they finish that and pack their catch in leaves, they bathe themselves and their babies. They might put flowers in their ears before they go home.