The Origins of the Modern World

The existence of this agricultural surplus meant that others could take it, either by force if necessary or more regularly as taxes. In either case, a major schism opened in society between the agriculturists and the non-producing ruling elite: the job of the agriculturists was to produce the food and the surplus, the role of the priests was to explain how and why the world had come to exist in the first place, and that of the rulers was to protect the agricultural surplus from invading outsiders.