jared diamond's quest to uncover the roots of inequality began on the rainforests of Papua New Guinea Oh diamond is a professor at UCLA in Los Angeles he's a biologist by training a specialist in human physiology his real passion has always been the study of birds I loved watching birds in this place I began watching birds when I was 7 years old in the United States then it was just a matter of identifying them I came here when I was 26 years old to New Guinea and it was love at first sight Diamond has been making regular trips to New Guinea ever since and is now a leading expert on the bird life of the island morning one talk but in the course of his fieldwork he's become just as curious about the people of New Guinea plenty pissed she got that's all number two Bush cow cry wrong over the years I've gotten to know and like thousands of New Guineans the name Jana Jana yeah I've learned several of their languages and much of what I know about birds I picked up from them that's a hard walk there have been people living in New Guinea for at least 40,000 years much longer than on the continents of North and South America welcome one two three four five six Bella they're among the most culturally diverse and adaptable people in the world so why are they so much poorer than modern Americans the question was put to Dimond bluntly by a man called Yali whom he met on a beach more than 30 years ago why are you white men have so much cobble and we New Guineans have so little yollie's question really threw me it seemed so simple and obvious and I thought it must have a simple and obvious answer but when he asked me I had no idea what that answer was why you have so much cobble and we unions have so little New Guineans use the word cargo to describe the material goods first brought to their country by Westerners cargo was regarded by many as evidence of the white man's power it was treated with an almost religious reverence for their part Western Colonials typically believed that power was determined by race they saw themselves as genetically superior to the native population to them it was only natural that they should have so much cargo and New Guineans so little