The first of the great memes that transformed human society\nis the Barbarian meme. This was an\nindirect outcome of the agricultural revolution, which is itself based on memes\nsuch as \u201cLet\u2019s plant theses seeds in the sunny spots on our annual migration\u201d and\nlater, \u201cLet\u2019s stay here to pull weeds and protect our plants from animals.\u201d However, the key barbarian-triggering meme\nwas, \u201cLet\u2019s find ways to store our produce so we have food all year long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The great memes have a direct impact on the success, not to mention survival, of a society.\u00a0 The Barbarian meme is, \u201cWe can survive by raiding our neighbors\u2019 silos!\u201d\u00a0 Frankly, this is no more elegant than a pack of hyenas stealing a lion\u2019s kill.\u00a0 Might makes right is a bad way to treat your neighbors.\u00a0 In the history of liberality, where being liberal means treating strangers fairly, this was a bad period.\u00a0 It was the beginning of the Age of Empires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In terms of spontaneously invented forms of human organization, this is where armies started.\u00a0 Stone Age societies might have gathered everybody for a migration. That looks like an army, except for the women and kids. A dispossessed People (new group term: bands with a mutually comprehensible language) might look like an army as well. Most territorial battles were limited to band to Band. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Barbarian meme had a different purpose.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t dispossess the farmers off their lands.\u00a0 They needed them for the next year\u2019s crop.\u00a0 Think of Eli Wallach and his banditos in The Magnificent Seven<\/em>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Age of Empire began when the barbarians came to town to stay.\u00a0 At the time, the hamlet groups of the first farmers were growing and networking, some at crossroads which would become city-states. The thugs from the hills would evolve to prince, though Chief Thug would remain the attitude. Domination by force was the rule. The elites of the time were the best slayers. That changed as population and organizational competence grew. The elites became the best organizers <\/em>of slayers. (Bullies have never recovered from this loss of status.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Armies became a permanent feature of society, first to steal from others, then to prevent others from stealing your stuff.\u00a0 When they turned from raiding to land grabbing, Empires were born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A Glory meme developed, where the conqueror is a hero. This was rather personal at first, ala\nAlexander. A later form of empire had a\nmore social meme, where the society proves its superiority by dominating\nothers. The last stages of colonization\nby Europeans even had minor players like Belgium joining in the game. However, few Belgians moved to the Congo, and\nthey did not displace the natives. The\nEnglish\/Spanish model was far more effective. \nThe sad truth is that ethnic cleansing works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The period of remote colonization has ended. A few \u201clocal\u201d empires remain. Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey still have significant\nethnic minorities under the thumb of a dominant central group. These are in contiguous lands, which is far different\nfrom the remote colonies of the past. \nOtherwise, the Age of Empire is over. \nHitler tried to revive it, as did Saddam Hussein. The world doesn\u2019t put up with that sort of\nbehavior any longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what changed? What societies rejected the barbarian meme, and why? A new meme – the Trust meme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Barbarian Meme The first of the great memes that transformed human society is the Barbarian meme. This was an indirect outcome of the agricultural revolution, which is itself based on memes such as \u201cLet\u2019s plant theses seeds in the sunny spots on our annual migration\u201d and later, \u201cLet\u2019s stay here to pull weeds and … <\/p>\n