Chapter 19 
The beginning of history
When society was hunter-gatherers, there were tribal wars from time to time. But when humanity was sparse, people could escape war simply by moving to another place. 
When agriculture was invented, population density increased, and people had to stay put. There was the danger that you could work the fields all summer, then somebody would come steal the harvest. Battles between tribes became zero-sum contests over the same piece of land. 
So an army for ÒdefenseÓ was invented. All over Europe, people lived in walled cities which were defendable, then went out to work the fields. 
The military realized that they had power over people, and started to abuse it. They realized they could extort resources from their own people and use their military prowess to enforce it. They invented the protection racketÑdifferent military groups extorted money from their people on the grounds that they were ÒprotectingÓ people from the other military groups (who were exactly the same). This is the same business model as the Mafia, or corporations and governments today. They had to demonize the others to stir up their people (thereby inventing Nationalism and Racism). 
Note that you have to have more than one ÒcountryÓ for this to work. ThatÕs why leaders wouldnÕt support one world government. The politics of fear only work if you have something to fearÑand it canÕt be in your own group. 
The US Bill of Rights and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights are pretty good documentsÑthey lay out the consensus of what people generally believe governments should do for individuals. But the UN has failed to implement these ideas. Remember, itÕs called the United NationsÑand not the United Citizens of Earth or something like that. ThatÕs because itÕs a club for leaders seeking power over citizens, not the citizens themselves. See No Leaders and Reasonocracy for our solutions. 
Leaders enlisted religion to help, convincing people that the military leaders had Òdivine rightÓ to rule from God, and you got kings, queens, etc. who demanded unquestioning obedience and strict hierarchy. We donÕt understand why Europe is so proud of their ÒroyaltyÓ history. Kings and queens were basically tinpot dictators and thieves whom weÕd deplore today. 
This lasted until the Industrial Revolution, when Capitalism, Communism, and modern Democracy were invented. But we havenÕt completely outgrown Feudalism. TodayÕs corporate and government structures echo feudalistic structures. We call them Presidents and CEOÕs, instead of Kings and Queens. They wear suits and high heels instead of crowns and robes. They carry briefcases instead of swords. But itÕs the same idea. 
Going forward, we need to figure out how to reduce dependence on ÒleadersÓ and hierarchies. We need to distribute both power and responsibility more widely. We need to have open, rational discussion and debate in the public sphere about the best way to organize win-win arrangements for everybody. 
The chapter Some of Us shows some alternatives for structuring collaborative decision-making without necessarily resorting to hierarchies and carte-blanche leaders. ItÕs just a feudal-holdover belief that ÒyouÕve gotta have a bossÓ as the only way to do things. The productivity of automation and the InternetÕs facilitation of global discussion give us, for the first time in history, a practical means of getting beyond Feudalism. 
Francis Fukuyama famously wrote a book proclaiming ÒThe End of HistoryÓ [Fukayama 1992]. He argued that, with the end of the Cold War, US-style Democracy and neoliberal Capitalism have defeated all existing alternatives (by which he meant mainly Communism, and what remains of third-world Tribalism and Feudalism). He reached this conclusion by not thinking very hard about what the alternatives might be. 
We think that, instead, we stand on the cusp of the ÒBeginning of HistoryÓ. We believe that the citizens of the future will regard the solution to the problem of providing material resources for the worldÕs people, as the enabling condition for civilization. They will look the present era of war, poverty, and environmental destruction, as a barbaric, prehistoric world. Welcome to the beginning of history.