Compare the historical trend of deaths by violence vs the size and reach of central governments. You want stateless? Here's stateless (7) Pinker admits that war was not universal amongst foraging hunter gatherer groups, but nevertheless frequent for many, as data suggest that 65 to 70% of hunter gatherers are at war at least every 2 years (Pinker 2011: 52). Above all, we should look at the per capita death rates for hunter gatherers, ... and other essentially stateless tribal groups, whether agricultural or pastoral populations. http://socialdemocracy21stcentury.blogspot.com/2013/02/Steven-pinker-on-deaths-by-violence-in.html The downward trend is clear once the modern state appeared. Put it another way. The author, & his followers are some combination of ignorant (unaware of readily available information) stupid, (unwilling/unable to learn new info except from approved authorities) or too lazy to search a few key terms: anthropology violent death rate pre-historic