    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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