If I have behaved abrasively it's because I was treated that way first. Why do you imagine that you can swoop in and tell me that I'm wrong, even though you have no proof whatsoever, and I have a well thought out and supported position? Am I'm supposed to fawn at your superior wisdom and be greatful that you showed me the error of my ways (by presenting things that don't even actually address the topic at hand)? If you wanted to have an amicable exchange of ideas, you should have phrased your comments in a more collegial, less condescending way. Assuming that I wasn't born in 1968 is just another one of these condescencions. I was around then, and how is it remotely relevant anyhow?
The fact that you lived in Papua New Guinea does not change the fact that they began to have agriculture 7000 years ago. My premise is not that violence began with contact with outsiders. My premise is that violence began with agriculture (it's the title of the story) - and you have yet to disproved that in any way. This is why I chuckle - because in my world, you are a cliche. You are just another man who is so sure of what he knows, (namely that I can't possibly know anything), even though they cannot begin to support it with anything salient - and in the face of the fact that I have quotes and data from respected experts in the field taken from science magazines which do support my point of view.
I understood your meaning with the term "romantic" and I don't in the least believe in noble savages. As I said more than once in my story, egalitarianism is a survival strategy. It's not done out of the goodness of their hearts. It's how humans lived long enough to get to the point where they could plant crops. This is something that is well established. As anthropologist Mark Dyble has pointed out, it is "central to the evolution of mankind."
We can make categorical statements when the science supports it - and in this case it does. Since you are on lock-down, I recommend that you use at least some of your free time to read some of my supporting articles in full. I'll link them here for your convenience.
