Chapter 2: First Civilizations

     I love how Strayer included the example in the beginning of the chapter of the Colorado woman asking on the internet for the best place to escape civilization. I never noticed the irony of that mindset before. I know countless individuals, myself included, who complain about society and long  to revert back to nature, when society is one of the most noteworthy accomplishments in human history. Maybe it just shows how humans in general are unsatisfied with what they have and take things for granted. Countless religions emphasize the desire to be one with nature and escape the toxicity of modern society.
     Another interesting point that was brought up was the fact that these first civilizations all started separately, but at around the same time as well. Not only that, but some of the aspects of these civilizations were similar to one another, such as how they all established around a river or water source. However, at what point does a chiefdom or village become a town or city? This question was interesting because what guidelines and what is the blueprint that we adhere to? Is there a certain amount of people that is required to be a town or a city? Or is it based on how much the society has, in terms of technological advances and political rulers? Referring back to the rise of the first civilizations, most, if not all, of these civilizations abandoned much of the lifestyle that rendered them egalitarian. With the rise of civilizations, women's roles, massive inequalities, state oppression, slavery, large-scale warfare, and diseases ran rampant. Although different from the modern view, slavery had its start when civilizations conquered other civilizations, and were not determined by skin color. In addition, a social hierarchy was established, with the ruling and upper class taking advantage of the lower classes, especially the slaves which consisted mostly of prisoners of war. Since these kings and rulers were regarded as god-sent, most people either did not want to challenge them, or worshiped them, regardless of how they were being treated. Something that I want to point out was when he was talking about what an outsider's perspective of visiting one of these civilizations would be like, Strayer continually used the pronoun "she." This threw me off and garnered my attention at the same time, since everyone is so accustomed to seeing the pronoun "he" being used when not referring to someone in particular. This only reinforces Strayer's position on females and how much he is against the dominant male Eurocentric viewpoint, which I love.