19
b ecomes less rosy. They are sent off to war. And there, they die. On
the average, 28 out of every 128 never make it to maturity. Their lives
are simply tossed away.23
In the modern world, we have taken that primitive principle to
unimaginable depths. During the 20th century, over 90 million humans
have died in wars.24 That's more than the entire population of New
England, New York State, California, Texas and Florida combined.
And the overwhelming majority of the casualties were men and boys.
Ironically, nature is most cynical about the expendability of
males where the environment provides a relative paradise. Polygamy
among primitive human beings proliferates in the south.25 There the
men are the most expendable. There, if necessary, women can raise
children themselves.26 The female in the Southern clime can simply
walk over to the nearest berry bush (or mongongo nut27 tree), pluck it
and use it to feed her brood. So men fling themselves against each
other in a constant competition to amass the greatest number of wives.
The competition reduces the number of men. Polygamy is the
privilege of societies where men are ultimately expendable.28
Male trouble in paradise is not limited to humans. In southern
climes, male birds wear the gaudiest of all possible plumage: long tails
with iridescent feathers, silly curled plumes bobbing up and down on
their heads. They're decked out in the avian equivalent of neon signs
flashing a dinner signal to passing predators.29 The fancy feathers are
designed to attract the ladies. But they also say, "Fresh meat,
absolutely delicious, stop and have a bite."30
Nature, that cruel female goddess has said, "These creatures are
useless for anything but their seed. Might as well throw them up
against the wall and see which ones stick; make them bait for the
nearest hungry carnivore and see who survives the chase. Only those
with the brightest eyes, the best brains, the quickest wings, will make
it. Why should my precious girls waste their time caring for the chicks
of incompetents who can't even elude a hyena or a cat? If only one out
of a hundred males survive, so much the better. The remaining
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