I haven't even finished it yet, but my favorite book of 2021 is certain to be Rutger Bregman's Humankind. If you are feeling cynical about your species thanks to climate change, COVID, etc. it may be exactly what you need.
> - ideas about egalitarianism moved from native americans to the french
Humankind touches on this same topic too. Basically, it wasn't until we settled down in one place that humans were able to create massive inequality. In order to protect those levels of inequality, the powerful elite created concepts like property ownership, the divine right of kings, etc.
Egalitarianism had to be essentially rediscovered after it was lost during the transition to agrarianism. Non-agrarian cultures are naturally fairly high in equality.
I'm somewhere in the early middle of it. It's dense but incredible. I also read Humankind. Funny enough both of these books are sitting on my desk right in front of me.
Both provide ample hope that humanity can mature (back) out of some of the destructive states we've found ourselves in, and provide historical context and supporting evidence.
The Dawn of Everything is already becoming one of those books that I'll remember forever as one of those identity-shaping texts that most readers will be familiar with. And I'm not even halfway done.
I had very high expectations from the book because of Graeber (the Debt book fame).
I’m happy to report that it’s surpassed it. It’s not an easy read, need to take it slowly. But what an incredible achievement. That book, if I may say so, is a celebration of ordinary humans. Can’t recommend it enough.
It's on my list. The reviews have indeed been rapturous. Before "Dawn of Everything" (his final book) was published this year, Graeber (an anthropologist with a specialty in economics) had already been long acknowledged as one of the world's best and biggest brains.
Something that I have read, and highly recommend, is Steven Pinker's latest book, his 17th: "Rationality." As a person who considers himself to be coldly rational, I found the book quite humbling.
+1 for Humankind, read that at the beginning of the year in between lockdowns and it really helped make me feel more positive about humanity in general. It's not always as bad as we think it is.
Struggled to get into his next book "Utopia for Realists", might need to give it another whirl.
What if I'm feeling cynical about humankind but for very different reasons? Like historical trajectory, discrepancy of growth between technology and culture, or even cynical about the very idea of life?
