MB Civic

“Guns Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond

This Pulitzer Prize-winning book was a response to the racist Charles Murray book “Bell Curve” that tried to make the case that whites and orientals are genetically superior/smarter than blacks, hispanics etc. Diamond shows how ridiculous Murray’s argument is by tracing the rise in civilizations in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas and how geographical factors and access to domesticatable plants and animals (wheat, rice, cows, horses, chickens, etc) determined our fates.

Especially fascinating is his description of how different civilizations took on the challenge of controlling their growing populations and/or persuaded them to fight in wars of conquest – through intimidation and if that didn’t work..invent a religion and claim to be a God! Especially sobering is the realization that genocide occurred pretty much regularly any time a group of folks could sustain a large population and their unlucky neighbors couldn’t…a looong history of wars on every continent..doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, yellow or green. If you’re into “History”, this book pretty much covers anything you want to know about the homo sapien end of things.

Review by Mike Blaxill