ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL JUSTICE
Original Sin: Inequality Then and Now
BY S. BOYD EATON, MD
7KH 5XEHQV%UXHJKHO PDVWHUSLHFH 7KH *DUGHQ RI (GHQ ZLWK WKH )DOORI0DQ GHSLFWV$GDPDQG(YHGHI\LQJ*RG¶VLQMXQFWLRQDVWKH\ share the forbidden fruit. This rebellious act constituted the original sin, led to their expulsion from Eden, and lost us the paradise that once was ours. Some believe the apple, the serpent and the garden were real and the Biblical account is literally true. For others, the story is a mythic narrative, a metaphor deeply rooted in our collective mem- RU\7KHVHFRQÀLFWLQJLQWHUSUHWDWLRQVUDLVHWKHTXHVWLRQV :DVWKHUH UHDOO\DQ(GHQ"3HUKDSVQRWD place , but rather a time LQKXPDQLW\¶V past of socioeconomic optimum, of well-being, the faint remembrance RIZKLFKVWLOOOLQJHUVLQWKHGHHSHVWUHFHVVHVRIRXUPLQGV",VVXFK³IRON memory” just poetic fantasy, or could there be an actual biological ba- VLVWKDWPLJKWH[SODLQLW" Evolutionary psychologists maintain that ancestral experience over eons has produced genetically-encoded mind mechanisms that help XVWRDVVHVVZKDW¶VIDLUZKDW¶VVDIHDQGZKDW¶VGHVLUDEOH7KHVHPHQWDO complexes include reference standards similar to the a priori forms — a type of knowledge a person has when they know some fact with- RXWKDYLQJDQ\HYLGHQFHIURPH[SHULHQFH¿UVWSRVWXODWHGE\SKLORVR - pher Immanuel Kant — and the mental archetypes proposed by psy- chiatrist Carl Jung. They are norms selected over many millennia of HYROXWLRQDU\H[SHULHQFHEHFDXVHWKH\HQKDQFHGELRORJLFDO¿WQHVVDQG the prospect that their underlying genes would be passed on through subsequent generations. These modules are still in our minds, sub- consciously evaluating current situations and calculating potential re- sponses as either “right” or “wrong.” If there is a collective memory, such neurological assemblies might provide its organic foundation. What were the desirable features of life in the past that might have PDGH(GHQVHHPD3DUDGLVH"6RPHDFDGHPLFVZRXOGSODFHWKDW³SDVW´ GXULQJWKH/DWH6WRQH$JHSHUKDSVWR\HDUVDJR:KLOH WKFHQWXU\SKLORVRSKHU7KRPDV+REEHVFULWLFL]HGOLIHWKHQDV³VRO - LWDU\ SRRUH QDVW\ EUXWLVK DQG VKRUW´ WK FHQWXU\ DQWKURSRORJLVW 0DUVKDOO6DKOLQVFRXQWHUHGWKDWZKHQKXPDQVZHUHKXQWHUJDWKHUHUV WKH\HQMR\HGVẊ FLHQWPDWHULDOFRPIRUWDQGVHFXULW\WREHFRQVLGHUHG D̈ XHQW 7KH\ ZHUH ZHOOR̆ EHFDXVH LW ZDV UHODWLYHO\ HDV\ WR VDWLVI\ their material requirements. To this point, in 1776, Captain James Cook described previously uncontacted Tasmanians as “perfectly KDSS\DQGSUR¿FLHQWDWSURFXULQJDOOWKHIRRGWKH\QHHGHG´0RGHUQ day anthropologists also maintain that psycho-social aspects of life GHVFULEHG LQ 6DKOLQV¶ HVVD\ ³7KH 2ULJLQDO $̈ XHQW 6RFLHW\´ DOORZHG individuals to enjoy the feelings of self-esteem, belonging, status and VHOIDFWXDOL]DWLRQ WKDW SV\FKRORJLVW $EUDKDP 0DVORZ FDQRQL]HG GH - cades earlier in his +LHUDUFK\RI1HHGV . Some highly respected scholars assert that leaving Paradise was a GLVDVWHU,Q)UHQFKSKLORVRSKHU-HDQ-DFTXHV5RXVVHDXZURWH that humans had been maximally happy when our ancestors lived in a state of nature. For him, leaving that way of life was the “fatal acci- GHQW´WKDWOHGWRPDWHULDOLVPVRFLDOLQHTXDOLW\DQGMHDORXV\2YHU \HDUVODWHULQ SRO\PDWK-DUHG'LDPRQGGHFODUHGRXUUHPRWHDQ - FHVWRUV¶FKRLFHWRDEDQGRQIRUDJLQJLQIDYRURIIDUPLQJZDV³WKHZRUVW mistake in the history of the human race.” %XWRWKHUVZRXOGQ¶WWKLQNRIWKHELUWKRIDJULFXOWXUHNQRZQDVWKH Neolithic Revolution, as a fatal accident, our worst mistake, and cer- WDLQO\QRWDVKXPDQLW\¶VRULJLQDOVLQ,QKLV ERRN 7KH(PHUJHQFH RI$JULFXOWXUH DUFKHRORJLVW%UXFH'6PLWKDUJXHGWKDWWKHDGRSWLRQ of agriculture allowed human societies to expand and settle in perma- QHQWORFDWLRQV²FKDQJHVWKDWVHWWKHVWDJHIRUXUEDQL]DWLRQDQGWHFK - nological advancement. In a 1DWLRQDO*HRJUDSKLFDUWLFOH , “What
The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man ; source: Mauritshuis, The Hague.
ZDVWKH1HROLWKLF5HYROXWLRQ"´DQDVVHUWLRQZDVPDGHWKDWIDUPLQJ DQGDQLPDOKXVEDQGU\SDYHGWKHZD\IRUPRGHUQFLYLOL]DWLRQ 7KHUH¶VVRPHWKLQJWREHVDLGIRUERWKSRLQWVRIYLHZ Research of hunter-gatherer cultures versus current health statistics show that because of lower infant and child mortality, average life expectancy now is over twice that in the remote past. On the other hand, before WKH1HROLWKLF5HYROXWLRQ³GLVHDVHVRIFLYLOL]DWLRQ´VXFKDVFRURQDU\ atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes, were rare. 0DQ\LQKDELWDQWVRILQGXVWULDOL]HGQDWLRQVHQMR\PDWHULDOFRQGLWLRQV far superior to anything our remote ancestors might have imagined. +RZHYHU ZHOO RYHU KDOI RI (DUWK¶V SHRSOH QRZ OLYH LQ FLWLHV DQG compared with life in the countryside (approximating the pre-Neo- OLWKLFZRUOG FLW\GZHOOHUVH[SHULHQFHPRUHDQ[LHW\GHSUHVVLRQDQG VFKL]RSKUHQLDDVZHOODVKLJKHUOHYHOVRIDLUSROOXWLRQUHODWHGFRQGL - tions such as emphysema and lung cancer. +RZHYHU WKHUH¶V RQH GH¿QLQJ GL̆ HUHQFH WKDW WKHRORJLDQV SROLWL - cal scientists and social reformers might all consider paramount: inequality . The Evolution of Inequality It might be argued the most fundamental and vitally important contrast between us and our remote ancestors is VRFLHWDOVWUDWL¿FD - tion . Before farming, people — both men and women — were equal. Recently studied hunter-gatherers (imperfect but the most applicable DQDORJXHVIRUODWH6WRQH$JHKXPDQV SURYLGHVXSSRUWIRU&DSWDLQ &RRN¶V GHVFULSWLRQ RI 7DVPDQLDQ IRUDJHUV DV ³OLYLQJ LQ WUDQTXLOLW\ which is not disturbed by the inequality of position.” Anthropologist 0HOYLQ.RQQHUZKROLYHGRYHUWZR\HDUVZLWKWKH.XQJ6DQ DVRXWK $IULFDQKXQWHUJDWKHUHUWULEH REVHUYHGWKDW³ZRPHQ¶VYRLFHVZHUH almost always heard. Almost all decisions — the ones we would call economic, judicial, and political, as well as interpersonal — took SODFH LQ FRQYHUVDWLRQV DURXQG WKH ¿UH DW QLJKW´ ,Q KLV Hierarchy LQ WKH )RUHVW , cultural anthropologist Christopher Boehm asserts, ³'XULQJWKH/DWH3DOHROLWKLFRXUHYROXWLRQDU\SUHFXUVRUVHPERGLHG an egalitarian ethos and political order.” A story in 1HZ6FLHQWLVW en- WLWOHG³:K\(JDOLWDULDQ6RFLHWLHV'LHG2XW´KDVWKLVWRVD\ ³)RUWHQV of thousands of years, hunter-gatherers prevented any individual or group from acquiring more status, authority or resources than oth- ers.” And Psychology Today ¶VDUWLFOH³+RZ+XQWHU*DWKHUHUV0DLQ - WDLQHG7KHLU(JDOLWDULDQ:D\V´FRPPHQWV³+XQWHUJDWKHUHUHTXDO - ity meant that nobody had more wealth than anyone else. … Group GHFLVLRQVZHUHPDGHE\FRQVHQVXV WKHUHZDVQRERVVµELJPDQ¶RU
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PATHWAYS—Summer 25—11
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