The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century by Walter Scheidel

Since the dawn of human history, there has been a tremendous amount of inequality between individuals and groups of people. But, the question of how we can reduce this inequality has been asked for centuries. In his book, The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century, Walter Scheidel proposes a radical answer to this oft-asked question. Through careful analysis of historical records and modern scholarship, he describes how only large-scale violence, such as wars, epidemics, and revolution, can significantly level the playing field in terms of wealth and power.

Scheidel begins by illustrating how inequality has existed ever since the beginning of civilization, propelled by the development and expansion of cities and states, advances in technology, and economic and military competition between societies. He further elucidates that there have been remarkably few periods in history during which inequality has been successfully decreased in a broad, long-term sense. Throughout history, poverty and destitution have been the norm instead of the exception, with only a small minority of privileged few holding the majority of the wealth and power.

Having sketched this historical background, Scheidel then turns to what he terms the “Four Horsemen of Leveling,” which are the only forces he claims can massively reduce inequality. Wars, which often shift to different combatants in a cyclical manner, have proven to be the most important and consistent of these forces. During a conflict, all of society’s resources, from manpower to infrastructure, are committed to supporting it and economic inequality is leveled as a result. Also, despite their physical and economic devastation, wars have a tendency to spur more equal, popular forms of government when they come to an end. Epidemics, although less efficient than wars, have nonetheless eliminated inequality by taking wealth out of the hands of the rich and distributing it among the poor. The Great Leveler highlights several examples in which outbreaks of disease served to redistribute wealth. Meanwhile, systemic collapse and state failure have affected societies in various ways. In some cases, they have depressed economic inequality by bringing down the wealthy, while in others they have caused it to spike. Finally, revolutions and armed conflicts have disrupted societies and reversed social hierarchies, once again leveling wealth.

By discussing the Four Horsemen in such detail, Scheidel serves to educate readers on the history and reality of inequality. Drawing from a great deal of sources and evidence, he makes a convincing and thought-provoking case that violence — both real and symbolic — is the only way to make a significant dent in inequality. He concludes that, as long as humans are bound to the same laws of nature, history will likely continue to repeat itself and only through large-scale violence can we hope to level the playing field of wealth and power.