Jared Diamond What Makes The World Unequal

Why is the world so unequal? Many have pondered this question before, but no one has yet to come to a conclusion. For one man, Jared Diamond, a curious American scientist, has traveled the world to figure out what makes the world so unequal. Jared Diamond believes that the equality of the world isn’t fair because of the advantages and disadvantages geographic luck provides for us.

Writing is one of the many factors which can lead to an unequal world. Writing was “One of the most important inventions in human history” (Prososki, “Writing”). It was believed to come from the Fertile Crescent called Sumer around 5,000 years ago. Over the years, writing has advanced as people created writing and printing systems, which were able to reach

They have helped with farming, trading, transportation, medicine, clothing, and food. Horses were “domesticated in central Asia around five thousand years ago, the horse was instrumental to the development of Eurasian civilization” (Prososki, “Horses”). Horses were essential to spanish conquest, and the Inca has never seen an animal such as the horse before (Prososki, “Horses”). Horses were used mainly for their strength, which could pull plows for farming, vehicles for transportation and trading, and to carry humans for war. On the other hand, llamas were domesticated around 5,000 years ago by the Natives and were mainly used for their wool, scat, and meat (Prososki, “Llamas”). Llamas helped the Native Americans with transportation and communication through the Andes, but they didn’t have the strength like other animals such as horses. “One Spanish observer guessed that as many as 300,000 llamas were used to export the produce of one particular mine (Potosi, in modern Bolivia), alone” (Prososki, “Llamas”). Geography is what made sure that the Incas or their llamas could go beyond the Panamanian isthmus or the deserts of South America. This kept the Incas “sheltered” and prevented them from growing as a

Instead, the Europeans were carrying a secret weapon called smallpox that they weren’t aware of. “For thousands of years, the people of Eurasia lived in close proximity to the largest variety of domesticated mammals in the world - eating, drinking, and breathing in the germs these animals bore” (Prososki, “Smallpox”). Smallpox, influenza, and measles were the products of the thousands of years spent by the Eurasian farmers (Prososki, “Smallpox”). Although, there would always be some people who would survive the epidemics; thus, creating new generations who would also acquire antibodies and immunities and pass it on to the next. The people of the new world, only had exposure to the llama and never kept the llama indoors, never milked it, and only occasionally ate it. So, when the Europeans arrived , they brought over their diseases known as smallpox, which killed many of the people who lived in the Americas. As the Europeans settlers traveled further north, their crops and animals wouldn’t grow and life became a lot harder. Yet, their African neighbors were healthy and were able to heard and grow their cattle with ease (Prososki, “Malaria”). Having been exposed to it for centuries before, they were able to build immunity and resistance. They created a way of life that could avoid the mosquito-borne infection where “their homes were high, dry areas when they