Diamond, Jared (1999) GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL, New York: W.W. Norton.

One of the oldest paradigms is MANIFEST DESTINITY. God created white people to rule over the rest of the world. The theme was revisited again, about 10 years ago, when BELL CURVE was published.

In response to that, Diamond starts about 13,000 years ago to indicate that Europe and Asia had the most geographic support system to move humans from nomadic hunting & gathering societies to agricultural ones. The four seasons, the lush environment, the necessary water supply all helped change people on the move to become sedentary villagers. The horse was also domesticated.

Thus, with the ascent of agriculture, folks lived with their garbage and impure water and there were more bacteria and diseases that encouraged a stronger resilient human being. Agriculture also allowed for division of labor to create war specialist and technology to make steel for spears and later for guns. Further division of labor and technical transition encourage cognitive growth. On IQ tests today, Asians and Caucasians do the best. Asians also are two-thirds of the world in terms of population.

With these capabilities, off went various invaders-discovers to conquer other people and enslave them. Once they landed in North, Central, and South America, Africa and related areas the technology of war and the virulent germs killed off the vanquished. In some instances, it was a slam dunk. Numerous people were dead or dying before the invaders came into contact. Their germs were carried by opposition scouts who infected the rest of the population.

The new conquerors dramatically changed the social structure of the losing parties. Most were reinvented to fit the slave system and numerous social pathologies emerged for the opposition. However, killing for profit is not a white phenomenon. There have been numerous killings within race groups as well as between them. Even with the latest capabilities to kill, most humans are more peaceful today although Homo sapiens have a long way to go in terms of civility. They appear to be the best and the worst of the food chain.

This is a recommended book.