War, Sacrifice and Plural Marriage: Societal Balance through Genetic Planning

Bioeconomic Systems 

Variety and quantity of life greatly differ when ecosystems are directly compared. Certain factors help speed up change while others assist in maintaining stability, for example, introducing a new species can send a shockwave of change through both an area’s flora and fauna. Heat is another; areas around the equator have exponentially more biomass than near the poles.

Generalized lessons from this can be taken and projected onto mankind, where similar patterns of environmental effects and societal reactions are observable through human societies. This becomes more apparent when small groups manipulate an affect to gain or maintain power and advantage. These groups fall into two generalized categories; those that have, looking to maintain and those that have not, working to obtain. Really, it’s another reincarnation of  the Tradition vs. Innovation struggle.

Power and Advantage (P&A)

Before further progression power and advantage first need to be defined. Power refers to civil authority while advantage refers to resource availability. As examples; an army general has a great amount of power, but little advantage, if honest. A dictator has both power and advantage, as their power does not come from a preformed code which affords the rules to be changed to their advantage. A business tycoon or corrupt religious leader have great advantage but ultimately must obey civil authorities.

Resource Scarcity 

War, human sacrifice and plural marriage are found in societies where peaceful means of resource gathering and civil governance have broken down.  They may be considered extreme methods of control when simply thought of as human behavior, but expanded to the plant and animal kingdoms; it’s just another day in the neighborhood. Wisteria chokes the life out of surrounding plants while using their forms for growth and better positioning; new alpha lions kill the pride’s immature cubs, sacrificing their genetic lines to make room for his own; and the same lion now has sole breeding access to the pride’s females, to favor his genetic dissemination. The ubiquitousness of these leverage points in other systems suggests latent permanence and easy adoptability in our own.

Headhunting Harem Holders 

War, human sacrifice and plural marriage are all stabilizing forces used by those with P&A to enhance and maintain their positions. They are extreme measure usually resorted to when resources availability becomes dire. This trinity could be seen as a last resort for Traditionalists looking to hold onto their power, or Innovationists forced to fight for their piece of the pie.

WAR

So things are fine and fuzzy in Smurfville, with Gargamel under control there exists ripe territory for development, more than enough for this generation and into the unforeseeable future. The populace grows, unrestricted by natural predators it soon swells to fill the boundaries of Smurf territory. At some point a generation of Smurfs arrives to whom the option of expansion is not available, all the usable land is simply taken. This point, when the traditional method of obtaining resources no longer functions...

...To be continued