Darwin and Inequality
From Firenze University Press Journal: Substantia
Enrico Bonatti
Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Charles Darwin during his travels on the Beagle noted the wretched primi-tive state of natives from Tierra del Fuego. He attributed it to their being egalitarians and to the absence of a leader among them. The Gini Economic Index suggests strong inequality today even among the richest, more developed countries. This paper dis-cusses whether equality and civilization are really incompatible, as Darwin seemed to imply.
Charles Darwin during his 1831–1836 circumnavigation of the Globe on the British Navy brig “Beagle” had a chance to interact with the native inhabitants of the eastern and northern shores of Tierra del Fuego. Darwin dedicated several pages of his “The Voyage of the Beagle” to the Fuegians, and already from the first encounter with the natives he expressed his amazement at their wretched primitive state. Here are a few citations: “I could not have believed how wide was the difference between savage and civilized man…it is greater than between a wild and a domesticated animal…”… “While going one day on shore near Wollaston Island we pulled along side a canoe with six Fuegians. They were the most abject and miserable creatures I anywhere beheld …These Fuegians in the canoe were quite naked, and even one full grown woman was absolutely so. It was raining heavily and the fresh water together with the spray, trickled down her body….In another harbour not far distant a woman who was suckling a recently born child, came alongside the vessel and remained there while the sleet fell and thawed on her naked bosom and on the skin of her naked baby…these poor wretches were stunted in their growth, their hideous faces bedaubed with white paint, their skins filthy and greasy….”…Viewing such men, one can hardly make oneself believe that they are fellow creatures and inhabitants of the same world….” Later on in his narrative Darwin offers an explanation of the wretched state of the Fuegians: “…… the perfect equality among the individuals com-posing the Fuegian tribes must for a long time retard their civilization. As we see, those animals, whose instinct compels them to live in society and obey a Chief, are most capable of improvement, so is it with the races of human-kind. Whether we look at it as a cause or a consequence, the more civilized always have the most artificial governments. For instance, the inhabitants of Tahiti, who when first discovered were governed by hereditary kings, had arrived at a far higher grade (of civilization) than another branch of the same people, the New Zealanders, — who, although benefited by being compelled to turn their attention to agriculture, were republicans in the most absolute sense. In Tierra del Fuego, until some Chief shall arise with power sufficient to secure any acquired advantage, such as ownership of domesticated animals, it seems scarcely possible that the political state of the country can be improved. At present even a piece of cloth given to one is torn into shreds and distributed; and no one individual becomes richer than another. On the other hand, it is difficult to understand how a Chief can arise till there is property of some sort by which he might manifest his superiority and increase his power.” (Darwin, 1962 edition, pages 205–231).That Darwin would hold this opinion is quite understandable: after all, he was a member of the pre-Victorian England’s higher classes. Still, we ask: ARE EQUALITY AND CIVILIZATION REALLY INCOMPATIBLE?
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