Ancient Hawaii Was A Cradle Of Civilization, Says New Book
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/ancient-hawaiian-state-book_n_4455960.html
But a new scholarly work argues that pre-contact Hawaii — in particular, the society that developed in the 17th and 18th centuries on the Big Island — should join the recognized list of "cradles of civilization," primary states from which "all modern nation states ultimately derive."...
"What I am talking about here is a major revolution in human history," the book's author, Robert J. Hommon, tells me. "Once primary states developed, then the organization is already in place. It's basically the same as what we live under today, except that we live in much larger societies. And this was a Native Hawaiian accomplishment."...
What happened in Hawaii is akin to what happened with ancient Athens and Rome "and to the U.S. after 9/11 attacks," he writes in his book's conclusion. "The hard time hypothesis proposes that a leader of an autonomous group tends to respond to a perceived threat to the group with extraordinary action that can transgress sociopolitical norms."
As he explained, "One bad year could have set it off so that high chiefs needed to accumulate more power, including with taxes — that was key too. The chief was now a king. It's not usually called taxes, it's called tribute or gifts, but in essence it was taxation. The king needed leaders, bureaucrats and taxation and other ways to exercise control. And they are only controlling certain things; it's not an all-encompassing system. The common people went along as usual after this organizational revolution."
= new reply since forum marked as read
