Conclusion: Alternative Historical Possibilities (Dawn of Everything 2023)

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What if inequality isn't inevitable? Graeber & Wengrow conclude by challenging our most stubborn misconception: that complexity requires hierarchy. This final class explores alternative historical possibilities—roads not taken but actually lived for millennia.
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*The Most Stubborn Misconception*
Scale doesn't determine structure. Cities weren't inevitable hierarchies—we just lack vocabulary to describe their diversity. What Marcel Mauss called "civilization" (hospitality zones) predated cities. Early urban centers compressed existing bottom-up organization into smaller spaces, not invented top-down control.

*Kings, Slaves & Structural Similarity*
Both exist outside kinship networks—kings "above" family, enslaved people denied it. Graeber & Wengrow trace arbitrary power to eroded hospitality norms: royal "charity" becomes mechanisms for domination. Franz Steiner's tragic insight connects refugee vulnerability to political capture.

*Why Alternative Histories Matter*
People lived differently for centuries, even millennia. More tragic than "fall from grace"? We could have been living under radically different conceptions of society. But this also means: possibilities for human intervention remain far greater than we think. We're cascading toward a kairos moment—when frames of reference shift.

💭 If people organized complex societies without hierarchy for millennia, why do we assume hierarchy is inevitable now?

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