Thanks for an especially interesting essay. The Bible also says Cain "built the world's first city,'" which of course followed from the estblishment of farming--and which to my mind also has certain moral implications for the existence of civilization.

I did finally manage to actually purchase a book of yours. Having read so many of your articles, I am pleasantly surprised by how much more is in it.

I would most highly recommend to you (if I haven't already, and though you may well have already read it) Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. In the story Ismael is a gorilla that communicates telepathically with the narrator to relate a view of history as a contest between "givers" (basically, non-civilzed peoples) and "takers" (civilized peoples), bringing the tale of Cain and Abel into it at the end.