Prehistoric Man May Not Have Needed Insurance But We Most Certainly Do
Post date: December 10th, 2010 |
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The people of prehistoric times were hunter gathers and did not need insurance. They were nomadic and traveled in small groups often consisting of close family members. The only time that they might have stayed in one place for any length of time was if it was a source of fresh water and edible foodstuffs like roots and berries. It was only when people began to settle permanently and farm the land that the need for insurance began to emerge.
Furthermore, the need for insurance has escalated through the ages to such an extent that modern man cannot do without it. We need cars to get around and have properly constructed homes to live in that protect us and all our possessions from the weather. The human population has grown to such an extent that there is now overcrowding and competition for space and traffic accidents are a common occurrence to the extent that car insurance is a necessity. The ever increasing gap between the haves and the have nots has also led to theft becoming an everyday occurrence and the prevalence of electronic equipment and appliances both in homes and on the street is a temptation to thieves. Prehistoric man may have had one or two stone tools in his possession but certainly nothing heavy as it would have impeded traveling. If one of these stone tools got lost or lodged in the hide of escaping prey then it would have been a simple matter to make another one. No one had anything of value in those times, unlike today, when it is a necessity to insure one’s valuable possessions, not only from theft but also from damage and fire, for example. Hunter gatherers also did not have permanent homes with swimming pools, tennis courts and jacuzzis like we do today, so they would not have needed home insurance, nor was the wheel invented so there were no cars, trucks and RVs to insure.
Medical insurance would also have been redundant in prehistoric times as there would not have been much you could do to protect yourself from a 160kg jaguar, ditto life insurance. If you were able to escape from a predator like this without being killed outright then you would most likely die from your injuries. In short, there was simply no way an herbal poultice was going to work under these circumstances. What is more, people in prehistoric times did not have a great life expectancy. The chances of surviving past middle age were second to none so there would not have been any need for medical aid to assist with the consequences of ageing. As civilization developed, people devised ways of protecting themselves from predators and other causes of injury. Eventually the medical industry came about and surgeons were no longer barbers wielding knives but specialists performing life saving medical procedures extremely expensive to perform making it necessary for people to have hospital plans.
And lastly, there was no money in prehistoric times so nobody would have been able to buy insurance anyway. The service industry only really began when trade became a mainstay of society and products like insurance developed as the need for them arose. However, the nature of modern society is such that there are many reasons why we cannot do without insurance, most of which, ironically, are the exact opposite of why prehistoric man did not need it.