"Sex at Dawn" Review

[PK]

Has anyone read "Sex at Dawn" by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha?
I was rather surprised at the pretty accurate information of paleo
eating and the effects of agriculture, yet the authors seem to have a
rather anti-capitalistic slant they liked to sneak in here and there,
with quotes from "Wall Street" and Stephen Colbert and others about
greed at the beginning of some chapters or sections. Did anyone else
notice this, any thoughts?

Myself, I thought the authors made the unfortunate leap from "wealth-
less pre-agricultural society=good" to "capitalism=evil." I have
little doubt that our paleolithic ancestors were happier not having to
work in an office and had far more leisure time, that individuals were
more equal and more free... yet that's not the way the vast majority
of the world is set up anymore, and there doesn't appear to be a way
to go back.

So instead of looking at capitalism as the best solution for an
agricultural society we've gotten ourselves stuck in, they've fallen
back on the liberal trope that accumulation of wealth/
money=greed=unfair=evil, not seeming to realize that more people do
better overall in a capitalistic agricultural society than a
restricted economy that attempts to regulate fairness and equality in
wealth.

Even more ironically, to support their points about the benefits of
small, close-knit societies, they quote examples that actually
supports libertarianism as well! They quote studies about human
cooperation that demonstrate that humans seem to be innately
altruistic even when it doesn't immediately benefit us, as well
another commonly known example of the self-regulating ranchers who
settle disputes over land and animals amongst themselves without the
need for official regulation/law or government interference. The
inability to see this contradiction of their beliefs in their research
was a little mind-boggling to me.

Ultimately, I think it'd be lovely to spend my days hunting wherever
without official government or land ownership, but in the absence of
that possibility, I certainly prefer to live in a society that values
capitalism.

[Toban Wiebe]

Same story with Lierre Keith.

I'd say we're far better off in an agricultural capitalistic society compared to hunter-gatherers. I'd certainly give up paleo before giving up civilization. But I can have the best of both worlds: all the awesomeness of capitalist civilization without the diseases of civilization!

[D. Saul Weiner]

Exactly right Toban. So many seem to believe that we need to choose
between modern civilization and sound nutritional ways, when we can
have our cake and eat it too (figuratively speaking, that is)

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