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Primitive accumulation

Primitive accumulation is the historical process in which producers are detached from means

of production and changed into remuneration laborers. It involves enclosing land, ideas, social

structures, or bodies of the commons. This process appears primitive with a reason of forming

mode of production and capital of pre-historic stage that corresponds with it. In the novel Guns,

Germs and Steel (1997), Jared Diamond does not approve significance of differences in culture.

A new political leader in Guinea called Yali disagreed with Diamond ideas. Yali became famous

in anthropology of New Guinea as a “cargo cultist” hence raising a question from the Novel of

Diamond. Therefore, this essay is aimed at discussing the understanding of Yali’s question “Why

is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it New Guinea, but we black

people had little cargo of our own?”

Diamond’s understanding of this question by Yali led to a comprehensive answer. His book

Guns, Germs and Steel discussed the unfolding of global patterns whereby geographical

differences allowed specific people have power of steel, germs and guns on their areas. From the

perspective of anthropology, Diamond failed to understand Yali’s question as he thought that he

asked about Western “goods” but actually, he asked about social equality. Whereas Yali felt

bitter towards the not-so-nifty arrogance of white people that permitted Europeans to deny

fundamental worth of Papua New Guineans, Diamond thought that Yali desired nifty stuff of the

whites. This misunderstanding is more than an issue as Diamond does not expand his

imagination in order to understand more about feasible and desirable cultural views of Yali that

are consistent with the history he presented in the novel.

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Diamond’s answer to this question is that Yali’s territory lived in Stone Age as stone tools

they still used were of old age. They were not politically organized in any centralized

government making white people impose a centralized government on them. Whites brought

goods that New Guineans immediately recognized their value. The New Guineans referred to all

these goods such as matches, steel axes, umbrellas, medicines, soft drinks, and clothing as

“cargo.” Therefore, White colonialists referred New Guineans to be “primitive” because their

standard of living was low.

Diamond responds to Yali’s question from the history he set out that human beings gradually

developed and in due course spread all over the earth. He further argued that some individuals

lived in geographical areas that were conducive to agricultural development and animal

domestication. These processes were not beyond intellectual capability of any human being;

therefore, everyone living everywhere in appropriate areas was equally intelligent, as they would

develop agriculture and domestication. However, individuals who would not develop these

processes had an advantage from the expanding population as new ways of food production led

to more availability of food that is used in supporting many people and maintaining specialists

such as soldiers.

Moreover, an advantage in individuals who could support specialists of designing, and those

using metal existed. First, people who practiced agriculture in highly densely populated areas

developed organized and ranked social organizations. Second, those who lived around animals

and other people developed some immunity to specific germs. Techniques, technology, and

superior weapons along with resistances of immunity impelled these organized organizations to

commence in determined programs of expansion. This led to repeated exploitation and

conquering of New Guineans especially those who were geographically stopped from the

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innovation centers as their great geographical division was not on the good side. Thus, New

Guineans people were easily defeated by this combination of germs, guns, and steel because they

lacked techniques and were not organized.

Diamond stresses that Yali’s question especially on the part that “we black people had little

cargo of our own” did not reflect lack of either intelligence of New Guineans or Yali’s but rather

his poverty or lack of power in his territory. This was because his ancestors did not have access

to domesticated animals, mineral resources and other advantages giving room to their conquering

by whites. Therefore, Diamond’s answer implying that things were that way striked Guineans as

a dangerous justification that there was inequality among colonies as they are denied moral

worth.

Social inequality as raised by Yali was due to political and technological differences. White

people had goods and steel weapons conquering New Guineas whose weapons were wood and

stone. White people territories were in industrialization threshold and felt superior reason as to

why they developed cargo and brought it to Guinea who used Stone Age tools. Therefore, Yali’s

question over cargo goods was intended to raise an issue of social inequality among colonies.

The novel Guns, Germs and steel and Yali’s question on Diamond addressed an issue of

history unfolding differently in several parts of the world. History of unequal divisions of wealth

and power among New Guineas and white people brought the understanding of Yali’s question.

Moreover, inequality was due to great organization among white people unlike in Guineans who

were primitive and disorganized. This influenced white people into shipping cargo to New

Guineans who are compelled to accept is value as they were poor and lacked technology. The

difference in lifestyle between the two territories brought enormous disparities.

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Civilization gives an understanding of Yali’s question. New Guineans are hunter-gatherers and

white people are industrialized but that does not guarantee abandoning lifestyle of New Guinea

people. White people get access to better medical care, have long life span even if the social

support from their extended families is less and they have lower risk of death.

Biological differences between white people and New Guineans explains Yali’s question. The

differences in political organization and technology are assumed to come from people’s

differences in their innate ability. Technologically primitive New Guineans survived for the

fittest and industrialized white people are considered more intelligent genetically than Africans.

CONCLUSION

Primitive accumulation among the New Guinea people is due to uncivilization, illiteracy,

decentralization, biological nature, and disorganization. New Guinea was not a democratic state,

as they did not have metal tools for food production and they were sparsely populated. On the

other hand, white people lived in densely populated areas hence infected by epidemic diseases

causing death among them. Yali’s question brought an understanding of social inequality that

can be solved by centralization and industrialization.

According to Diamond, geographical differences allowed white people to have power over

steel, guns and germs and its territory were industrialized. This can be understood more by

considering the fact that trade relationship between countries can rarely be competitive and free.

This essay therefore has discussed the understanding of Yali’s question through the novel Guns,

Germs, and Steel written by Diamond who responded to the question without addressing the

culture and social inequality between the white people and New Guineans.

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Works cited

Diamond, Jared M. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. 2017. Print.

Errington, Frederick K, and Deborah B. Gewertz. Yali's Question: Sugar, Culture and History. U of Chicago

P, 2005. Print.

Peluso, Nancy L, and Christian Lund. New Frontiers of Land Control. Routledge, 2013. Print.

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