From: EvMick@aol.com
Date: Thu Aug 07 1997 - 16:38:43 MDT
Well not exactly why the west has won...but since others have been veering
off the subject a little and got to talking aboutl the transition from hunter
gatherers to agriculture I thought I'd throw in my two cents worth. It's very
simple...really.
Beer.
Back during the hunter-gatherer days it was great to be young male or
pre-pubescent female. They did for a living what executives pay a bundle to
do today. Hunt and fish all day...lay around and tell lies at night.
For the women and old folks it wasn't such a good deal....pregnant women...or
women with young kids..couldn't hunt...so they were relegated to other
tasks....gathering. .... and cooking. Thence they became that era's experts
on plants.....and chemistry.
So one day some genius developed beer. Might have been an accident...but
beer is pretty low-tech.
And the rest was history. The men LIKED beer. But there's a problem. It
doesn't go good with a nomadic lifestyle. Gotta stay in one place and grow
the hops and grains and like that.
OKAY! we can do that!....thence agriculture was born.
EvMick
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