"Imagine a group of tribes living within reach of one another. If all choose the way of peace, then all may live in peace. But what if all but one choose peace?" From this basic premise, Andrew Bard Schmookler has built a towering work of intellectual and spiritual insight, a book that will shatter many preconceived notions about how civilization has developed and why human history has been so filled with torment. In this new edition, Schmookler shows how, with the end of the Cold War, we now have an unprecedented opportunity to solve the problem of power that has plagued civilization. The Parable of the Tribes is a new vision of the story of humankind. It presents a radiant new synthesis of history, evolutionary biology, political theory, and psychology.

Table of Contents:
Book I. The Parable of the Tribes One The Parable of the Tribes 1. Introduction 2. Understanding Change 3. The Common Sense: Selection by Human Choice 4. The Rube Goldberg Problem: A Critique of the Commonsense Theory 5. Toward A Bigger Vision 6. The Way of Life 7. The Emergence of Culture 8. The Breakthrough to Civilization 9. The Struggle for Power 10. The Selection for Power: The Parable of the Tribes 11. The Reign of Power 12. Power versus Choice in Social Evolution 13. A Tragic View of Human Destiny 14. Hope Two The Theft of Human Choice 1. Unfree Choices 2. Two Great Waves of Change A. The Spread of Civilization B. The Modernization of Archaic Civilization 3. Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: The Non-Alternatives of the Parable of the Tribes A. Withdrawal B. Destruction C. Transformation D. Imitation 4. Qualifications: Limits on the Transformative Effects of Conquest 5. Choosing the Choosers: The Historymakers 6. The Mother of Invention A. Introduction: Beyond Selection B. Leaving the Primitive State C. The Escalator of Civilization D. Conclusion: Innovation as Directed by Human Purpose Three Shaped by Power Introduction 1. Red Sky at Morning: The Dawn of Civilization and the Rise of Warfare 2. The Evolution Toward Larger Societies 3. The Evolution Toward More Complex Societies 4. The Evolution Toward More Effective Central Control A. Unity of Purpose B. Coordination C. Sacrifice 5. Reflections on the Disadvantages of Centralization A. Ignorance B. Lack of Motivation C. Stagnation 6. The Adrenalin Society 7. The Common Denominator Epilogue to Book I. Power and Choice in Our Times Book II. The Natural and the Unnatural Introduction: The Natural and the Unnatural PART I. A House Divided: The Human Condition in Civilization Prologue. A Zoo Story Four Human Nature and the Evaluation of Civilization 1. Out of the Cold: Beyond Value Neutrality 2. A Theory of Natural Values 3. The Question of Human Nature 4. Eden: The Natural Environment 5. The Fatal Mismatch 6. The Original Sinner: Evaluating Human Nature Five Power and the Psychological Evolution of Civilized Man 1. The Re-creation of Man 2. Fighting Mad The Seeds of Rage Channeling Destructive Energies The Faces of Human Aggression in the Evolving Reign of Power 3. Hierarchy and the Lust for Power 4. Under the York: Harnessing Human Energies The Displacement of Pleasure by Work The Displacement of the Present by the Future The Human Costs of Production Afterword: The Fighting Machine 5. The War Within: Moral Internalization and the Social Order 6. Unreasonable Reason The Powers of Reason Is It Progress? The Loss of Meaning and Value Impersonality 7. Conclusion: Possibilities PART II. Power and the Loss of Wholeness Six Systems of Nature and of Civilization 1. Synergy and Viability: Dimensions of Wholeness 2. Nature and Civilization Contrasted A. Natural Systems (1) The Body (2) The Species, Especially Natural Societies (3) The Ecological System B. The Systems of Civilization (1) Overarching Systems: Ecological and Intersocietal (2) Social Systems: Governmental and Market (3) The Civilized Human Being 3. The Turning Point: Biological Evolution versus Social Evolution Introduction: The Problem of Discontinuity Different Mechanisms of Change Evolving Different Kinds of Structure The Agony of the Torn 4. Artificial Wholeness: Justice as the Antidote for Power The Restraint of Power Justice as Synergy Limits to the Scope of Justice Justice and the Future Seven The Parable of the Tribes and the Loss of Wholeness 1. Man's Dominion: Power and the Degradation of the Ecosystem A. Paradise Lost A New and Dangerous Regime The Unbound One Corruption as Suicide Sinning Freely The Justification of Injustice B. The Evolution of Technology and the Parable of the Tribes Technology and the Growth of Civilization The Selection for Power and the Evolution of Technology The Serpent's Tooth (The Selection for Attitudes Toward Nature) Beyond the Question of Master and Servant Beyond Hubris 2. The State of Unnature: The Problems of the Intersocietal System Horseman of the Apocalypse Everybody Loses Evil and Beyond 3. Men Are Not Ants: The Problem of Power in the Body Politic A. Intrasocietal Analogue of the Parable of the Tribes B. The Roots of Injustice: A Critique of the Marxist View C. Modern Reversal of Trends? D. Wheels within Wheels: The Class Struggle and the Evolution of Civilization 4. The Market as a Power System: A Critique of the Capitalist Economy A. Introduction B. Market Justice: Questions of Class Exploitation The Market's Case Presented Critique of the Marxist Critique The Market Power of the Rich The Problem of Economic Inequalities and Political Equality C. Market Atomism and the Loss of Social Synergy Externalities Other Dimensions of Market Inattention D. Moral Confusion and Choice in the Market Economy E. Conclusion 5. A House Divided Revisited 6. The Death of the Unnatural The Rise and Fall of Civilizations Apocalpse Now? Eight Conclusion: Therefore Choose Life Afterword to the Second Edition. The Challenge of World Order 1. Unstuck 2. The Crisis in the Gulf 3. The Stakes in Yugoslavia 4. Reasons and Excuses 5. Enlightened Cost/Benefit Analysis Bibliography Acknowledgments Index