The problems shared by cultures according to historical records are the problems of cities I'm talking about. Whether you would call them cities or not, among the fertile crescent civilizations there were definitely empires and there have been empires ever since. The written records history is based on are more modern than either empires or agriculture. I struggle to think of any issue which exists in my lifetime which was not caused in some way by the effects of empires.
Agriculture is the enabling factor for empires, so in my opinion agriculture must be practiced in a deliberate way which prevents the formation of empires. To this end I think people living intentionally in agrarian communities which minimize the burdens of regular life is less likely to plant the seeds of caste and hierarchy than a community in which people are alienated from the influence of their labor or have weaker connections to the people sustaining their lives.
The historical record doesn't cover any culture at all which does not in some way have to deal with agricultural and imperial societies, even if those cultures are resisting these forces.
Exactly my point.
Agriculture is not the enabling factor of human existence in most areas. Agriculture is the enabling factor for settlements of many people in most areas. Humans populated the entire Earth prior to agriculture.
Again, exactly my point. Agriculture is the thing enables hierarchies like this. Personal agrarian community is a compromise to me because we already have people to support who wouldn't survive a transition to a system we know hierarchy can't proliferate, which is hunting and gathering. I think civilization is possible (however unlikely) only at the most personal level, and every step beyond that personal level we see the consequences of empires.