A beautiful society. But one that I fear is inevitably outcompeted by other societies. Let me explain. The article says that this society frowns upon the acc

A beautiful society. But one that I fear is inevitably outcompeted by other societies. Let me explain. The article says that this society frowns upon the accumulation of wealth or excellence in individuals because those things damage the egalitarianism. This is great for social stability, but it's not so good for the accumulation of capital, division of labor, and specialization. If one wishes to build a mill on a river to grind grain, then one MUST accumulate food first so one can spend time building the mill. This is the accumulation of capital that precedes investment. If one wishes to be a miller, one must, almost by definition, stop hunting and stand out among one's peers by doing something different. A society like this can exist on a planet that is devoid of other societies ... but once your neighbors start accumulating capital and climbing the technological ladder, you continue to exist only on their goodwill and charity. The egalitarian hunter-gatherer with wooden spears is, after all, no match for the iron spear wielding Zulu who is organized into professional warbands and has absolutely no pity for other civilizations.