It is as yet impossible to determine the world’s oldest city, but the settlement of Jericho is often described as a strong candidate, with signs of occupation dating from 11,000 years ago. With the subsequent millennia to perfect such intricacies as sanitation, transport, and resource distribution, it seems as though mankind should be living in veritable utopias, where no man wants for anything. Unfortunately, in many ways we have hardly progressed past our Neolithic ancestors. Many of today’s cities are crowded centers of poverty, disease, and unimaginable brutality. In a world of fathomless technology, far too many people struggle just to stave off the grinding of starvation.