The Essence of Civil Service
Long ago, mankind used to live in isolated groups in the wilderness of earth, and engaged in hunting and gathering for its subsistence. Almost every activity needed for survival could be performed by every single individual. Yet, for convenience, the various essential tasks were divided among the members of the group or clan, usually at the whim of the clan leader or group of elders. The smallness of the group, however, did not require an elaborate scheme of apportionment of duties and specialization of functions. According to Yuval Noah Harari in his book Sapiens, the size of such hunter-gatherer groups peaked at 150, before it splintered. Everyone could still do everything, yet they found it more suitable in sticking to one particular task and doing it more efficiently. With the dawn of agriculture, the social units grew bigger than small tribal clans, and the division of labor among the people of such groups also grew more pronounc...