Guns, Germs, and Steel Lesson Plan

Why, on the whole, did hunter-gatherer societies tend to be egalitarian while food-producers tended to be hierarchical? What are some professions in modern U.S. society that would not have been possible in a hunter-gatherer society, and why are they possible now? Do we tend to value certain professions over others, and are there consequences for the imbalance this might cause?

In a hunter-gatherer society, all able-bodied people are required to devote their time to gathering food for the tribe, so everyone's lifestyle is more or less the same and tribe members are highly motivated to cooperate and live harmoniously. By contrast, in a food-producing society, the...