Paper 69 Overview: Primitive Human Institutions

Human beings transcend their animal ancestors emotionally through their capacity to appreciate humor, art, and religion, while socially demonstrating superiority through their abilities as toolmakers, communicators, and institution builders. Through the long-term maintenance of social groups, humans create activity trends that culminate in the institutionalization of practices, which simultaneously reduce labor requirements and enhance group security. These institutions, while initially serving practical purposes, gradually become formalized through taboos, dignified by religion, and eventually metamorphose into traditions and conventions that shape and regulate civilization.

All human institutions fundamentally serve some social need, whether rooted in the past or present, though their overdevelopment can diminish individual worth-whileness by overshadowing personality and inhibiting initiative. The paper examines the evolutionary development of primitive human institutions across nine key domains: basic institutional classifications, the dawn of industry, labor specialization, trade, capital, fire utilization, animal domestication, slavery, and private property. Each domain reveals how humanity progressed from primitive survival mechanisms to increasingly complex social structures that both reflected and shaped the evolving human condition. The analysis demonstrates how these institutions arose primarily from necessity and fear before gradually incorporating more sophisticated motivations related to self-perpetuation and self-gratification.

Emotionally, humans transcend their animal ancestors through their ability to appreciate humor, art, and religion, while socially exhibiting superiority as toolmakers, communicators, and institution builders. When human beings maintain social groups over extended periods, such aggregations inevitably result in the creation of activity trends that culminate in institutionalization, with most of these institutions serving the dual purpose of reducing labor requirements while simultaneously enhancing group security.

Civilized humans take considerable pride in the character, stability, and continuity of their established institutions, yet these are merely the accumulated mores of the past as they have been conserved by taboos and dignified through religious practices. Such cultural legacies gradually become traditions, which ultimately metamorphose into conventions that govern social behavior and maintain social order across generations.

All human institutions minister to some social need, whether past or present, though their overdevelopment inevitably detracts from individual worth-whileness by overshadowing personality and diminishing personal initiative. The ideal relationship between humanity and its institutions is one of control rather than submission, where individuals maintain authority over these creations of advancing civilization rather than being dominated by them.

Human institutions can be classified into three general categories that form a comprehensive social mechanism: institutions of self-maintenance, institutions of self-perpetuation, and institutions of self-gratification. The institutions of self-maintenance arise from food hunger and self-preservation instincts, encompassing industry, property, war for gain, and all regulatory social machinery, typically established through fear, taboo, convention, and religious sanction. Institutions of self-perpetuation develop from sex hunger and maternal instinct, including the social safeguards of home, school, family life, education, ethics, and religion. Institutions of self-gratification emerge from vanity proclivities and pride emotions, manifesting in customs of dress, personal adornment, social usages, war for glory, dancing, amusement, and games, though civilization has never evolved distinctive institutions solely dedicated to self-gratification.

Primitive industry gradually evolved as insurance against the terror of famine, with early humans learning from certain animals that stored food during abundant harvests to prepare for periods of scarcity. Before the emergence of early frugality and primitive industry, the average tribe existed in a state of destitution and genuine suffering, as humans competed with the entire animal world for their sustenance; poverty was not simply an unfortunate condition but rather humanity's natural and tyrannical estate.

Labor, the efforts of design, fundamentally distinguishes humans from beasts, whose exertions are largely instinctive, with the necessity for labor paradoxically serving as humanity's paramount blessing. The Prince's staff all engaged in work, contributing significantly to the ennoblement of physical labor on Urantia, while Adam served as a gardener, and the Hebrew God was portrayed as both creator and upholder of all things. The first human foresight was directed toward the preservation of fire, water, and food, yet primitive humans were natural-born gamblers who desired something for nothing. Magic was slow to surrender to foresight, self-denial, and industry, as early successes resulting from patient practice were frequently attributed to charms rather than recognized as the fruits of disciplined effort. The struggle between the lazy devotees of magic and the apostles of work represented a fundamental tension in early human development, ultimately resolved in favor of those who exercised foresight and embraced labor as the foundation of civilizational progress.

The divisions of labor in primitive society were initially determined by natural circumstances and subsequently by social conditions, creating an evolutionary progression of specialized roles. The first specialization arose from sex differences, with women's work deriving from their biological connection to childrearing, naturally cultivating a stronger affinity for infants than men possessed. This led to women becoming routine workers while men became hunters and fighters, engaging in accentuated periods of work and rest. Throughout history, taboos operated to confine women strictly to their designated domains, with men selfishly choosing more agreeable work and relegating routine drudgery to women, though interestingly, both sexes have consistently collaborated in building and furnishing homes.

Subsequent specializations developed based on age and disability, with elderly and disabled individuals assigned to crafting tools and weapons. Religious differentiation further specialized labor, with medicine men becoming the first human beings exempted from physical toil and constituting the pioneer professional class. Smiths emerged as a small but influential group competing with medicine men as magicians, their metallurgical skills generating fear and superstition that later evolved into beliefs about white and black magic. Additional labor divisions arose from the conqueror-conquered relationship, initiating human slavery, and from inherent physical and mental differences among individuals. Early industrial specialists included flint flakers, stone masons, and smiths, with whole families and clans eventually dedicating themselves to particular crafts, leading to the formation of castes and specialized trading activities that formed the foundation of economic specialization and exchange.

Just as marriage by contract evolved from marriage by capture, trade by barter developed from seizure by raids, though a significant period of piracy intervened between early silent barter practices and modern exchange methods. The first barter was conducted by armed traders who would deposit their goods at neutral locations, with women establishing the first markets due to their role as burden bearers, while men functioned primarily as warriors. Trading counters developed as walls wide enough to prevent traders from reaching each other with weapons, creating a physical barrier that facilitated exchange while minimizing conflict.

Fetishes were employed to guard deposits of goods for silent barter, rendering marketplaces secure against theft as items would only be removed through legitimate barter or purchase. Early traders maintained scrupulous honesty within their tribes while considering it acceptable to deceive distant strangers, with even the early Hebrews recognizing a separate ethical code for dealings with gentiles. Silent barter persisted for ages before unarmed individuals would meet at sacred market places, which eventually became the first sanctuaries and, in some regions, "cities of refuge" where fugitives could find safety from attack. Modern writing originated in early trade records, with the first human literature taking the form of salt advertisements, while many early wars were fought over natural resource deposits. Commerce, linked with adventure, led to exploration and discovery, ultimately becoming one of civilization's great catalysts through the cross-fertilization of culture, as new ideas and improved methods spread throughout the inhabited world through ancient trading networks.

Capital fundamentally represents labor applied as a renunciation of present consumption in favor of future benefit, with food hoarding developing self-control and creating the first tensions between capital and labor as those who possessed food gained distinct advantages over those without reserves. The early banker emerged as the valorous tribal member who held group treasures on deposit while the entire clan defended his dwelling against potential attackers. This accumulation of individual capital and group wealth promptly led to military organization, initially designed to protect property from foreign raiders but later evolving into mechanisms for conducting aggressive raids on neighboring tribes.

The basic urges driving capital accumulation included hunger associated with foresight, love of family, vanity, position-seeking, power-craving, religious fear, sexual desire, and various forms of self-gratification. Hunger and foresight motivated food storage as insurance against future needs, while family love drove the provision for dependents' future requirements. Vanity inspired the display of accumulated possessions, and position-seeking led to the purchase of social and political prestige through a commercialized nobility system. The craving for power promoted treasure lending as a means of enslavement with exorbitant interest rates, while religious fear generated priest fees for supposed protection in the afterlife. The sex urge facilitated woman exchange as mankind's first form of trading, though this traffic in sex slaves hindered family development and compromised the biological fitness of superior peoples. As civilization developed, new incentives for saving emerged beyond basic survival needs, with poverty becoming so abhorred that wealth was increasingly viewed as a prerequisite for divine favor and spiritual advancement.

Primitive society with its industrial, regulative, religious, and military divisions rose through the instrumentality of four key elements: fire, animals, slaves, and property. Fire building represented a quantum leap in human evolution, forever separating humans from animals by enabling people to remain safely on the ground at night, as all animals instinctively fear flames. Fire encouraged evening social interactions, providing not only protection against cold and wild beasts but also serving as perceived security against hostile ghosts and spirits, thus simultaneously addressing both physical and psychological human needs.

Fire functioned as a great civilizer by providing humans their first opportunity for altruism without personal loss, allowing the sharing of live coals without self-deprivation. The household fire, typically tended by the mother or eldest daughter, served as humanity's first educational institution, requiring vigilance and reliability for its maintenance. Early home life centered not around a physical structure but around the family hearth, with new household establishment marked by carrying a firebrand from the family fire. While Andon, fire's discoverer, avoided treating it as an object of worship, many of his descendants regarded flames as fetishes or spirits, leading to various superstitious practices and taboos. Fire ultimately opened the door to metalwork and led to the subsequent discoveries of steam power and electricity, fundamentally transforming human civilization's technological capabilities across millennia of development.

Initially, the entire animal world represented an adversarial force to humanity; humans first consumed animals for sustenance before gradually learning to domesticate and utilize them for service. The domestication process began accidentally through hunting practices, as early humans would surround herds much as American Indians encircled bison, maintaining control over the animals to facilitate selective killing for food. Over time, corrals were constructed to capture entire herds, and through observation, humans discovered that certain species would tolerate human presence and reproduce in captivity, leading to the practice of selective breeding that advanced significantly since the days of Dalamatia.

The dog was the first animal to be domesticated, with the challenging process beginning when a particular canine, after following a hunter throughout the day, actually accompanied him home. Dogs were initially utilized for food, hunting, transportation, and companionship, evolving from merely howling creatures to those that learned to bark as a form of communication. The dog's acute sense of smell led to beliefs that it could detect spirits, giving rise to dog-fetish cults and the establishment of watchdogs to protect against both physical threats and supposed spiritual entities. The employment of watchdogs represented a significant advancement in security, enabling entire clans to sleep through the night with reduced fear. Unfortunately, the domestication of animals, particularly when combined with the Caligastia confusion, contributed to many tribes' shameful treatment of women, often regarding them with no more consideration than they showed their animals.

Primitive humans showed no hesitation in enslaving their fellows, with women becoming the first slaves in the context of family structures. Pastoral man enslaved woman as his inferior sex partner, a practice that developed directly from man's decreasing dependence upon woman in the evolving social order. While slavery represented a morally problematic institution, it nevertheless constituted a significant advancement over earlier practices of massacre and cannibalism that had previously been the fate of military captives and conquered peoples.

Slavery functioned as an indispensable link in the chain of human civilization, serving as a bridge from chaos and indolence to order and productive activity by compelling backward and unproductive peoples to engage in labor. This forced productivity generated wealth and leisure that facilitated the social advancement of the dominant groups, giving rise to the beginnings of government through regulatory mechanisms necessary to control slave populations. While undeniably oppressive, slavery schools taught industry to generations who might otherwise have remained idle, creating an organization of culture and social achievement that paradoxically contained the seeds of its own destruction. Eventually, modern mechanical inventions rendered slavery obsolete as technological advancements created more efficient means of production, though the transition from slavery to freedom proved most successful when implemented gradually rather than through sudden emancipation of large populations without preparation for self-sufficiency.

While primitive society functioned largely as a communal system, early humans did not adhere to the modern doctrines of communism; their communal arrangements represented practical automatic adjustments to survival pressures rather than ideological commitments. These early communal practices effectively prevented extreme poverty and want, with begging and prostitution remaining almost unknown among ancient tribes, yet they gradually gave way to more individualistic property systems as four powerful human proclivities asserted themselves: the family impulse, religious tendencies, the desire for liberty and leisure, and the urge for security and power.

The family impulse drove individuals to accumulate and bequeath property to their progeny, resisting the early communal practice in which a person's assets were immediately consumed or distributed upon death. Religious tendencies motivated property accumulation as preparation for the afterlife, explaining the widespread custom of burying possessions with the deceased. The desire for liberty and leisure resisted the communal apportionment of individual earnings that effectively enslaved productive workers to support the idle. The urge for security and power led successful individuals to develop various strategies for evading the expected distribution of their accumulated resources.

As private property systems evolved, they brought increased liberty and stability despite creating various forms of economic inequality and dependence. Although the right to property is not absolute but rooted in social convention, nearly every aspect of modern civilization—government, law, order, civil rights, social freedoms, peace, and general well-being—has evolved around the concept of private ownership. This suggests that, while the current social order may not be divinely ordained, humanity should proceed with caution when attempting systemic changes.