國家的千年大歷史:國家是怎麼誕生的?統治者最怕人民做出...?進擊的巨人背後的國家理論?國家起源論新觀點,改寫人類千年文明史/ 書來面對EP33《反穀》 by James Scott
Summary
TLDR本视频剧本由美国人类学家詹姆斯·斯科特所著《逆谷》一书启发,重新审视了国家的起源。斯科特借助最新考古证据,挑战了传统的文明观念,揭示了人类从定居生活到农业技术的出现,再到国家形成的真实历程。他指出,国家并非由农业灌溉工程直接产生,而是在农业出现数千年后,基于对粮食的控制和征税能力形成。此外,斯科特还探讨了税收、官僚体制和城墙是早期国家共有的三大特征,以及如何通过粮食生产、文字的发明和对外战争等方式,形成并维持了国家机构。这一新视角挑战了关于文明进步的传统叙述,强调了人类生存方式的多样性和复杂性。
Takeaways
- 😮 最新考古证据否定了国家起源于农业灌溉工程的理论
- 😯 人类先定居再发展农业,国家的出现远远滞后于此
- 🤔 早期人类沿河流三角洲地区生活,利用丰富的自然资源,不需依赖农业
- 😀 真正的问题是,人类明明能在4000年里不依赖农业过游牧生活,为何公元前3000年前后突然出现了建立在农业之上的国家体系
- 🧐 谷物最适合国家进行统一征税,这就是“谷物假说”国家起源的解释
- 😠 国家通过发明“农历”等方法计算谷物产量,以便征税
- ☹️ 文字的出现也是为了国家行政管理服务的
- 😫 疾病的出现与人口的集中居住、与畜群动物的共处有关
- 😖 农业国家的劳动时间更长、营养更差、更有可能早死
- 😣 许多“民族”的概念是国家创造出来的,以便治理
Q & A
国家的起源与农业有什么关系?
-传统认为,国家起源于农业灌溉工程的管理需要。但最新考古证据显示,定居生活早于农业4000年出现,国家又晚于农业4000年形成。国家利用农业谷物方便征税统计,所以选择依托谷物生产。
文字的起源与国家有什么关系?
-文字起源于国家行政管理的需要,用来记录农民的赋税债务。只有官僚阶级掌握文字,500年后才开始用于创作文学神话。文字本身就源自国家统治。
城市的起源与奴隶有什么关系?
-早期城市国家需要建立强制劳动制度,通过获取外来奴隶的劳动积累资本。许多被废弃的城市国家可能是奴隶集体逃亡的结果。
疫情与国家有什么关系?
-人口集中在城市后,与畜牲和作物共处,导致传染病易于在人群中传播。疫情的出现往往会造成国家的瓦解和人口的消失。
古代文明代表了人类文明的进步吗?
-不代表,农业国家使劳动时间加长、营养变差、死亡率提高。文明国家的衰亡往往意味着人类福祉的提高和摆脱国家控制的机会。
游牧民族与古代国家是什么关系?
-游牧民族经常袭击古代国家,抢掠其粮食和资源。有时甚至接管统治,建立新的王朝。游牧生活往往比国家统治下的生活更为自由。
原始部落为什么会避免文字技术?
-他们意识到文字技术会被国家利用来编码、统计和统治他们。文字的出现往往意味着被国家征服。
国家为什么要建城墙和惩罚逃亡?
-为了固定和获得足够的劳动人口,对付人口外流。地理环境的限制也有助于国家权力的集中。
为什么构建野蛮人的概念?
-让国内人民畏惧城墙外的生活,不敢轻易逃亡。以避免统治者用暴力囚禁人口的需要。
人类历史上大部分时间生活在国家统治之外吗?
-是的。尽管国家在5000年前出现,但直到17世纪,仍有三分之一的人类生活在国家之外。国家治理只占人类文明史0.2%。
Outlines
😦国家的起源
本段论述国家的起源。最新考古证据发现,人类定居出现在农业技术之前,国家出现在农业之后4000年。人类祖先其实一直保持多种生存方式,有时会放弃定居农业生活,与生态环境共生。真正的问题是,为什么公元前3000年的时候,人类突然建立了依赖农业的国家体系。“粮食储藏假说”认为,储藏性强的谷物更经济,便于国家征税统计。谷物是政治作物,国家需要它来方便统一征税。“粮食假说”解释了国家的起源。
😰国家的祸害
本段阐述国家的祸害。人类被迫选择农业,谷物和文字原本都是服侍国家的工具。新证据表明,城市生活没有让人类文明化,反而更脆弱。许多早期城邦会因瘟疫战争等原因突然消失。农业国家使劳动时间更长、营养更差、更有可能死亡。国家的崩溃才是人类福祉的改善。历史课本称颂的“文明”时期,其实是人类最受压迫的时刻。
😡奴役的起源
本段讲述奴役的起源。所有早期国家都需要制造一套强迫劳动体系。国家通过战争获取新的奴隶,以控制人口、获取财富。国家需要增加人口来巩固统治,最简单的方式就是从外部获取。这就是频繁战争和殖民扩张的原因。奴隶贸易历史上占世界人口的三分之二。古希腊哲学家认为奴隶天生适合服侍,没有质疑过奴隶制。
😒逃亡、流民与游牧民
本段讲述面对国家统治,人民的各种反抗方式。国家通过法律惩罚逃亡奴隶。它通过污名化外部游牧民族,让人不敢逃离国家。但游牧民的生活其实更为自由。历史上许多民众选择逃亡国家,变成游牧民族。这是一种政治选择,而不是落后的生活。今天看似“原始”的少数民族,其祖先可能就是选择逃亡国家的政治流亡者,是无政府主义者的后代。
😌少数人的国家统治史
本段指出,国家统治只占人类历史的0.2%。人类有文字记载的国家只有5000年历史,而整个人类历史有20万年。即使到了17世纪,仍有全世界三分之一的人口生活在国家之外。因此中美帝国的统治,并不是历史的常量,是变量。
Mindmap
Keywords
💡国家的起源
💡奴隶
💡文字
💡瘟疫
💡游牧民族
💡逃亡
💡国家神话
💡文明
💡城墙法律
💡国家机器
Highlights
人类先开始定居而后4000年后才出现农业技术
国家只是利用了灌溉和农业技术
真正的问题不是为什么人类没有立即转向农业文明
粮食是政治作物
文字本身起源于国家统治
农业国家使劳动时间更长、营养更差、更容易死亡
文明国家的出现其实带来税收、疾病、高工作时长、高死亡率
奴隶是国家财富的来源
城市无法发展没有强迫迁移来的奴隶劳工
所有国家都需要建立一套强迫劳动制度
国家消亡是人类福祉的改善、摆脱国家控制的机会
劫掠就是我们的农活
游牧民族的存在其实有助于压制国家权力
游牧生活其实更为自由
原住民其实是无政府主义者的后代
Transcripts
Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan in August this year
The national security issue, the issue of unification and independence, has once again set off discussions
How will Taiwan find a way out between the two great empires of China and the United States?
To clarify this problem, we must first understand what is a state
The book that I'm going to face today, "Reverse Valley"
Let’s talk about what kind of existence a country is?
The author of this book is American anthropologist James Scott
he is in this book
Retelling the origins of nations with the latest archaeological evidence
subvert your view of civilization
Common civilized discourses tell us:
Human ancestors replaced hunter-gatherer with agriculture at some point
a major advance in economic production
In order to develop agriculture, fixed-point farming must be
Irrigation projects began to appear in the two river basins
Dayu's flood control appears in China
These all require a central authority to organize a large working population
So the nation was born
Then a class society with unequal power and unequal wealth naturally emerged.
This kind of story makes me feel
Sedentary life and state organization are a natural consequence of the development of agricultural technology
But the latest archaeological evidence finds just the opposite
Humans first began to settle down before 12,000 BC
The first agricultural technology appeared 4,000 years after settlement
And then 4,000 years after the advent of agriculture did the state appear
Therefore, the theory that the country originated from agricultural irrigation projects is wrong.
Because they existed thousands of years before the state
The state is only using the technology of irrigation and agriculture
So what did humans do in the 4,000 years from the emergence of agriculture to the birth of the nation?
archaeologists found
Lower Nile
Hemudu Culture in Hangzhou, China
And the Indus civilization
These early human settlements were rich in natural resources in wetlands
The Mesopotamia now looks like a desert
But 6,500 years ago rivers regularly flooded for half a year
The Persian Gulf will rise directly to the gate of Ur in Sumer
A large alluvial delta formed outside the city
Attracts a large number of fish, birds and migratory animals
People just need to stay in the same place
terrestrial resources during the dry season and aquatic resources during the wet season
No need to develop agriculture at all
At this time, human beings are more like living in a primitive communist society
All share natural resources No class distinction
Archaeologist Melinda Zeder found
Even after the advent of agricultural technology
Human ancestors also avoided relying entirely on agriculture in response to climate change
Instead, hunter-gatherer agriculture is supplemented by
Because in ancient times, there were often small ice ages.
Warming after the end of the ice age
Planting a single crop is too risky
Sometimes our ancestors tried to coexist with the environment
try different survival strategies
For example, the aborigines in Taiwan have developed agriculture 5,000 years ago
One of these people migrated to Southeast Asia 5,000 years ago
Found forests everywhere
They gave up farming techniques and went back to hunter-gatherer life.
So we must abandon the idea of historical single-line progress
Humans did not suddenly switch from hunter-gatherer to agricultural civilization at some point in time
Archaeological evidence to the contrary
Our ancestors have always maintained a variety of survival styles
Sometimes give up the choice of settled agricultural life and coexist with the ecological environment
So the real question is not why humans didn't immediately turn to agricultural civilization
But why is it clearly up to 4000 years
Humans are not dependent on agriculture to live a nomadic life
how suddenly 3000 BC
The emergence of a country founded on agriculture?
There is a group of people who propose the "food-storage hypothesis"
Because the crops can be stored for a long time, they can be harvested once without working.
So it's more economical and you don't have to go out hunting every day
But actually
Hunter-gatherers know the pickling technique
Even big fish and meat can be stored for a long time
Economist Ester Boserup proposes another theory of population pressure
think because 3000 BC
The population of the two river basins has increased, and hunting large prey is no longer enough to eat
Humans were forced to turn to agriculture when they had to acquire more resources
So we think agriculture is the beginning of progress
just the opposite
Human ancestors were forced into a corner before they chose agriculture
If agriculture is the way to go
How did the country emerge?
First we have to define what counts as a country
All early states in history have at least three characteristics:
Taxation, bureaucracy and walls
According to this standard
The Sumerian city-state of Uruk before 3200 BC was the earliest state
Then why did the farming population gather to form a country at this time?
Because of the frequent climatic changes in ancient times
just a drought
farming populations must be concentrated in areas with irrigation water
At this time, human resources are highly concentrated on a piece of land for farming
This sets the perfect stage for the country
Originally, the population was scattered all over the place, but now the population and grains are concentrated in one place.
The state can parasitize on this farming population
The author puts forward a set of "grain hypothesis" of national origin
Early nations in history required people to produce grains instead of other crops
why?
Because the grain is most suitable for one harvest, it is convenient for the state to collect taxes
If root crops
It's all buried in the soil. The country can't calculate how much it produces.
If it is beans, different types of beans have different maturity periods
It is not convenient for the state to check taxes at all
by contrast
Grains are all ripe at the same time
Therefore, the state only needs to invent a set of "peasant calendar" to stipulate the sowing time
Re-evaluate the size and quality of the farmland to estimate the harvest and know how much tax to collect
And grains are also the easiest to calculate
The daily wage for laborers in Mesopotamia is 2 liters of barley
Medieval church had eleven taxes requiring farmers to bundle grain into bundles
So you can see at a glance how much grain is in a tenth tax
So grain is essentially a political crop
This "grain hypothesis" explains
Why didn't countries emerge 4000 years after agriculture
Because the living resources of human ancestors in the delta wetlands were very diverse at that time
There are farming, fishing and hunting, gathering, slash-and-burn farming
These multiple modes of production are not conducive to the formation of a state
Because the country needs a weight and measure that facilitates uniform taxation
must be built on a single grain
Therefore, the first national cities in ancient Egypt and ancient China
They all appear in the upper reaches of the Nile and Yellow Rivers, not in the lower deltas
Rulers invent myths to make people believe
Agriculture is a technology given to mankind by God
allows us to feed more people
while stigmatizing those who do not grow grains
Describing hunter-gatherer nomads as barbarians
Because the state can't pay their taxes
For example, the boundaries of the Roman Empire were within the grain line
Because the area unsuitable for cultivating grain is worthless if conquered
The Romans believed that barbarians were a group of people who didn't understand farming but only meat and milk
And the civilized Romans only ate grain, not meat and milk
This is why the social class in ancient China was "Scholar, Farmer, Industry and Commerce"
Because peasants' harvests can be taxed by state statistics in favor of state rule
But the businessman's income is opaque and the country has no idea how much he earns
So the ruling class deliberately belittles businessmen
Implement the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce
But a system of taxes alone cannot form a state
There must also be a bureaucracy to enforce the tax
Every year there are government officials to record the population, land, farming and livestock
This is the origin of the text
in Mesopotamia
The writing system first appeared for state administration
Keep track of how much tax debt farmers owe
Only government officials are literate
It wasn't until 500 years after the appearance of writing that it began to be used to create literary myths
China's Qin Dynasty unified written weights and measures not for literary and artistic creation
Instead, let the ruler know at a glance how many people and wealth he rules.
This is why all peasant revolts in human history
The first thing is to burn down the official government archives
Because these state documents are the source of oppression
Archaeologist Lamberg Karlovsky found
Aborigines around Sumerian city-states deliberately avoided writing techniques
Because they don't want to be codified by the state
We thought that the aboriginal people did not have writing because they were very backward and could not learn to write
the opposite is true
They realized thousands of years ago that the state wanted to conquer them so they avoided words
This is also why after the collapse of the state in ancient times
The use of text will also disappear
Because no more officials oppress peasants with written debts
Like the linear script B used by the ancient Greek Mycenaean civilization
Lost after the disintegration of the country
After that, people passed on their culture through oral transmission.
For example, Homer's epics are sung orally.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire
Latin literacy drops to almost zero
Because writing itself originates from the rule of the state
So when the people are no longer ruled by the state
Writing is no longer necessary
Past civilizational discourses tell us:
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Country Words
They are all symbols of civilization that let human beings escape from the barbaric era.
but now we know
Human beings are forced into a corner before they choose farming and animal husbandry
Moreover, grains and words were originally tools used to serve the country.
Not only that new archaeological evidence found
After the emergence of urban life, it did not lead human beings to "civilization"
become more vulnerable
Many early city-states were suddenly abandoned for unknown reasons
people suddenly disappeared
And can't find any archaeological evidence left
why?
Because there is one thing that leaves no material evidence
an epidemic
The population is forced to concentrate after the emergence of the state
And live with livestock and crops in the city
Many epidemic diseases are easily transmitted from livestock to people
Like measles, smallpox, bird flu, it's all because humans and animals swarm
It can be said that human beings themselves turn the city into a petri dish of a virus
Sumerian Gilgamesh Epic
It is recorded that the great plague made the whole Euphrates river a floating corpse
But at that time people didn't know the principle of the epidemic
thought it was God punishing them
So I went to the temple to pray and sacrifice animals to calm the gods.
This may be the origin of religious rituals: people invent religion to explain epidemic disasters
But they don't know that epidemics are actually caused by the state
especially when nations go to war
The movement of a large army population is equivalent to spreading pathogens everywhere
Therefore, ordinary civilians will deliberately avoid routes where troops and refugees pass by.
Ancient countries encountered epidemics, unlike now they can lock down cities
Therefore, all citizens flee the country immediately, or else they will end in a dead end.
e.g. 1320 BC
The plague of the West Tai Kingdom spread to Egypt and caused a great famine
The farmers at that time refused to continue farming and fled the farmland.
166 BC Roman soldiers return home from war
Infectious disease brought back kills a quarter of Rome's population
Plague dormitories begin to appear at Oxbridge University after the Medieval Black Death
Students with symptoms must be sent to quarantine
In the 16th century, Italy developed a special epidemic isolation institution Lazaretto
These all show that the early states were actually very fragile
May be completely disintegrated due to an epidemic
on the other hand
Agricultural civilization has not made people's quality of life better
Archaeologists compare skeletons of farmers and hunter-gatherers
It was found that the health of farmers was actually worsening
Because hunter-gatherers eat more diverse foods, up to 190 species of plants
Aboriginal people in the Mesopotamia can supply a year's worth of animal protein by hunting in one week
by contrast
The peasants have to work for a whole year according to the peasant calendar invented by the state.
Moreover, fixed-point cultivation of crops is prone to breeding of pests and diseases
In ancient times, there were no pesticides, and many grains may have been eaten by insects
The word "parasite" in ancient Greek means next to grain (para-site)
Therefore, most of the early rural population was malnourished and lacked vitamins and proteins.
Infant mortality rate as high as 50%
In summary, agricultural countries make labor hours longer, less nutritious, and more likely to die
The ruled people are of course aware of this
So when countries go to war, epidemics appear or crops fail
Many will flee to the countryside to protect themselves
Refusing to grow grain and switching to a hunter-gatherer life
so you can avoid taxes
The best way to rebel against the country is to become a "rebel" boy(??)
So we are seeing the population disappearance of many ancient civilizations
Like the collapse of the ancient kingdom of Egypt, the Sumerian dynasty, the Mayan kingdom
As if society stagnates into a dark age
But the truth is that people are finally free to flee the country
Go back to living a self-sufficient life without working for the ruler
Instead, the dynasties taught in history textbooks
It is the time when human beings are most oppressed
So the question is why do we call these periods "civilizations"?
Because of the relics of ancient civilizations that we know
Many were discovered by European archaeologists in the 19th century
It was at the height of European imperial expansion
So European countries began to compile textbooks and build museums
Celebrating the "brilliancy" of ancient civilizations like the Pyramid Parthenon Terracotta Warriors
Deliberately emphasizing that the strength of an empire equals civilization
It's actually a hint: if empires end, it's a sign of civilization's decline
Use this to rationalize the colonial expansion of European empires
But the latest contemporary evidence has disproved this civilizational superiority theory
The emergence of the civilized state actually brought taxes, disease, high working hours, high death
The collapse of civilized countries is the improvement of human well-being
Opportunity for people to escape state control
Since the state was very fragile when it first appeared
People are often lost due to plagues, wars, and crop failures
So the way to govern a country is to maintain the population of the country.
Proverbs in the bible
"The glory of a monarch is that the population is large and the emperor's downfall is due to the lack of citizens"
How to increase the population?
The easiest way is to get it back from the outside
The Sumerians often went to the surrounding mountains to catch the aborigines
In ancient Sumerian the word slave is written as "mountain" and "woman"
It means taking the local women after invading the mountains.
This is also why ancient countries have frequent wars
Not to open up territories, but to control the population
Because even if new land is occupied and no one cultivates the land, it is of no use to the country
The way to measure the outcome is by how many prisoners of war were enslaved
This way you can maintain political stability in the country without exploiting your own people.
This is the first principle of Spain's colonial expansion overseas
Sociologist Max Weber calls this
"booty capitalism"
The goal of state military operations is not to occupy new land
Rather, they plunder foreigners as slaves to accumulate the nation's capital.
Like all countries in early Southeast Asia were slave countries
Male prisoners of war captured by Malays will also integrate into local society
Back to help catch slaves
in ancient greece athens
Two-thirds of the country's population are slaves
But the ancient Greek philosophers never debated the abolition of slavery
but take it for granted
Aristotle defended slavery by saying:
Certain ethnic groups are born with a lack of rationality and are very servile, and are naturally suitable for slavery as animals.
Socrates also served in the army when Athenian colonial expansion launched the Peloponnesian War
Plato himself was not even sold into slavery and he did not object to slavery for this reason
Why do they all take slavery for granted?
Because slaves are the source of the nation's wealth
A country with more slaves is a richer country
So the ancient Greek historian Thucydides praised the Spartan general Brasidas
Instead of slaughtering surrenderers, negotiating to bring them home
Turning into productive slave labor increases Sparta's taxes
in ancient rome
A Gallic War added 1 million new slaves to the country
The elite class in Rome relies on the gorgeous lineup of servants to show their superiority
until the height of the slave trade in 1800
Three-quarters of the world's population lives in slavery
But slavery was not without obstacles
Many countries find aboriginal prisoners of war unwilling to work after capturing them
Anthropologist Marshall Sahlins pointed out
Indigenous society before the country appeared
People have no incentive to produce more, just eat and drink
The rest of the time will be spent playing and not doing more work
Aboriginal people will not do more work than they need unless forced to do so
This is a big problem for the country
Like after the Dutch colonized Taiwan
Discovered that Taiwan has a lot of uncultivated agricultural land
But the aborigines in Taiwan lived a free hunter-gatherer life
Unwilling to submit to the Dutch capitalist system
So the Dutch can't
I had to arrest a group of farmers from China and tell them that they were "reclaimed" immigrants
But in fact it was the Dutch colonial regime that needed slave labor to develop farmland
to expand the scope of cereal production
So the Dutch captured 30,000 Han Chinese to expand the rule of Jelanja
The Neo-Assyrian Empire captured 200,000 Babylonians to build a city
It can almost be said that the origin of the city-state is the military colonization
Urban civilization cannot develop without forcing migrants to work as slave laborers
All countries need to create a system of forced labor in the early days
On the one hand, it is necessary to squeeze the maximum economic value
On the other hand you can't squeeze too much or people will want to flee the country
Many abandoned city-states in history may have run away from slaves
The "ancient civilizations" we see happen to be those areas that cannot escape
like ancient egypt
Both are areas surrounded by mountains, seas and deserts, so it is difficult for people to escape
This is what anthropologist Robert Carneiro calls the "limitation theory"
Only the geographical environment that cannot escape will a country appear
Therefore, there is no country in North America and the Amazon rainforest.
Because there are wide jungles there slaves can easily escape
even without geographic restrictions
In fact, the state can also build its own city wall laws
2000 years ago
Soviet-American King Surgi builds a wall between the two river basins
Claimed to be to prevent the invasion of the Amorites, a nation outside the Great Wall
But in fact it's to lock up taxpayers in the South so they can't escape
The Babylonian code spelled out how to punish escaped slaves
There are even "bounty hunters" who specialize in catching runaway slaves alive
Historian Owen Lattimore also points out
China's construction of the Great Wall is said to be to defend the common people against barbarians
But actually
Also to keep the Chinese inside the wall so they can't escape from China
This is why the Qing Dynasty immediately issued a ban on crossing Taiwan after it occupied Taiwan.
Because at that time Taiwan was the den of pirates who fought against the Qing Dynasty and restored the Ming Dynasty.
China fears people fleeing the country to mutiny and join the ranks of pirates
Or the many foreign workers fleeing in Taiwan today
The state also uses the law to punish them
So for thousands of years
All countries are trying to keep people in captivity
Because only if the people can't escape can the country's working population be maintained
on the other hand
What the ruling class has feared most for thousands of years is the mass exodus of people from the country
The ruler wants to prevent the people from fleeing, so he builds walls and legislates punishment
But there's actually a better way
to stigmatize foreigners as barbarians
Make people afraid of the world outside the city walls
As if leaving the country will return to the wild state
This way people will stay in the country by themselves without the need for state coercion
For example, the Huns, the Mongols, the Goths that we read about in our history textbooks
These are all fictional tribal concepts of the state.
They are not a unified nation
but against a temporary coalition organized by the state
But the state invented the concept of "tribe" in order to facilitate the stigmatization of governance
For example, in the earliest Gilgamesh epic
The hero warrior Enkidu was originally just a herdsman
But in the version 1000 years later, it turned into a half-orc
Must learn city life to become literate
In ancient China, there was a distinction between Hua and Yi
The Book of Rites of the Zhou Dynasty records:
Those who eat grain are civilized people, barbarians, Rong and Di do not eat grain and do not know how to use fire
In the Ming Dynasty, China invented the concept of "shengfan and cooked fan" to govern barbarians
What cannot be taxed, what sovereignty cannot reach is Shengfan
Those who can be governed by the state and have the obligation to pay taxes are Shufans
Therefore, the aborigines in Taiwan do not want to be ruled by the Qing Dynasty and do not want to pay taxes
was stigmatized as a group of "fans"
It was not discovered until Japanese anthropologists came to Taiwan to study
"Fanren" are literally dozens of different ethnic groups
It's only the ruling technology of the state that makes them virtual into a unified clan
But why does the state go to great lengths to engage in these tricks?
Because they don't want the people to know that savages actually live freer
Better nutrition among hunter-gatherers
Life expectancy is also longer than people in agricultural countries
Most of the time for leisure
They don't have to work because they just need to harvest the country's crops
The Berbers of North Africa say: plundering is our farm work
The state captures slaves to farm and the nomads are plundering the country’s harvest during the harvest season
Therefore, all empires in history were often invaded by peoples outside the Great Wall.
Mesopotamia was invaded by the Amorites
Roman Empire invaded by Celts
The existence of these barbarians actually helps to suppress state power
This is why there has never been a centralized power in the history of India
Because there are too many powerful nomads around that hinder the centralization of state power
And it is very difficult for the state to fight back against the nomads
Because they don't settle in the city, don't accumulate private property
For example, the Huns often attacked China's Eastern Han court, and the Huns had already retreated when they wanted to take revenge.
But if the barbarians keep plundering the country's resources
The barbarians have nothing to plunder after the people flee the city
So barbarians have a better way
Tell the urbanites not to run away and we can protect you from other barbarians
As long as you provide us with a little benefit on a regular basis
This is the origin of the protection fee
The King of Persia paid an annual tribute to the Cissians who lived in the Zagros Mountains
The Roman Empire had to use gold to win over the Locelts during the Roman Republic
Two-thirds of the Han government's annual budget was for the protection of nomads
The Tang Dynasty government gave the Huihe people 500,000 pieces of silk every year
But the history textbooks say that this is "exchange and trade with ethnic minorities"
Or the frontier peoples "come to pay tribute" as if they were vassals
But in fact, the protection fee is paid to them, otherwise China will be subjugated.
Like the Yuan Dynasty in China, the Qing Dynasty or the Ottoman Empire
are examples of countries being seized by nomads
The country is particularly concerned that
People find that nomadic life is actually more free than domestic life
like overtaxed taxes in the late Roman Empire
The people can't stand it but they can't resist the government
So it turned to Attila, the leader of the nomadic "Hun" who attacked the Roman Empire.
Or when there was a big famine in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there would be "going to the west entrance"
Refugees in northern China escaped from the "killing tiger's mouth" and changed their lives as nomads
"Kill Hukou" originally meant to kill Hu people, that is, to kill foreign Mongolians
But the Chinese people cannot stand the tyranny of the government
Instead, they fled to the world of the Mongols
This tactic of fleeing the country decides to choose to live a primitive life
Called secondary primitivism by anthropologist Pierre Clastres
Many of the "Aboriginal people" we see today may not be as primitive as we think
Their ancestors may have fled to the periphery of the country in order not to be included in the country
Hunter-gatherer is actually a political choice, not a backward life
in other words
Aboriginal people are actually descendants of anarchists
let's not forget
Although nations were born in the world as early as 5,000 years ago
But the population of ancient civilizations is simply a minority
The vast majority of people live on the periphery of the country
Live a free hunter-gatherer life
Until the 17th century, a third of the world's population lived outside the country
Therefore, in the 200,000-year history of mankind, state hegemony has only appeared for 400 years.
Only occupy 0.2% of human history
If the state is not a constant in human history
but a variable
Then the two empires of China and the United States that rule the world today will not be constants in history.
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