The method by which these commodities are produced and the way they are distributed or shared, constitutes the economy of the society. The relation between the members of the society and the relation that every individual has to the means and the process of production determines the type of the society.

There have been and still are different types of relations to the productive forces in past and present Human societies.
Probably what we call "primitive communistic" was the earliest socio-economic organism. Within the large family groups and tribes the concept of property of the land and natural resources did not exist, the Natural Environment and the Land was considered to be the Mother of all Life. Even if the chance for survival was greatly improved by belonging to a group, each individual, because of the primitive technology, could fabricate its own implements and weapons and, therefore, could try to survive on his own.

They had a simple and primitive economy. They were hunters, food gatherers and warriors at the same time. They had no personal belonging worth more than a few hours or at most a few days of a man labour. As every individual could be self sufficient, there was little difference in their status within the community. The decisions affecting the community were taken by general consensus.

Life evolved slowly, seldom changing for many generations. Therefore, the experiences and wisdom of the elders was valid and useful to the young. In times of trouble, leadership was naturally either entrusted to, or taken by, those who were stronger and had more experience, therefore improving the chance of survival for the whole group.
Generally speaking, as the Human race evolved, as the families became tribes, the tribes became Nations and the technology of production improved so also their socio-economic organisation evolved too.

The next form of socio-economic organism probably was one where a small town or village had developed. Some of the early tribes of hunters and gatherers began to cultivate the land and formed small pastoral and agricultural settlements. These communities were comprised by farmers and few artisans. They were mostly freemen and each cultivated all the land that the size of their family could handle. In these communities all males had to bear arms and take part in the defence of the community whenever it was threatened.

There was not much difference in property and wealth between the members of a small community, no standing army or police that could be manipulated, there was affinity between the families and each individual had the ability to bear arms. Because of these factors the decision-making and power structure must have been fairly democratic; the main feature being the equality and economic independence of each family in the community.

Eventually, from some of these small socio-economic organisms big and powerful Nations developed. As the small communities grew, by necessity the nature of their economies began to change. In their expansion, they had to engage in war, and the first division of labour or economic tasks became necessary. Moreover, as the size of the community increased, it became possible for artisans to specialise in the mass production of certain commodities. As the early farmer-soldiers could not leave their farms for protracted wars, the formation of standing armies became necessary.

Leadership and valour in war was rewarded with land and slaves to work the land. Taxes had to be instituted for the maintenance of armies and the construction of roads and other public works - this was the beginning of the State. Therefore the nature of the methods and relations of production (the economy of the society) began to change and became more complex; beside the small self sufficient independent farmers, large agricultural estates and commercial enterprises with hundreds of slaves began to develop, and also an urban population of landless artisans and traders servicing the needs of a growing more complex society.

Leadership in war, ownership of land and slaves became the prerequisite for wealth. As wealth accumulated in the hand of a few families they also became very powerful. This accumulation of great wealth in the hand of fewer individuals, their influence in the army and in the running of the State and their ambition for power created the situation in which democracy could not last. These factors favoured the advent of absolute rule by oligarchies, tyrants or dictators. These socio-economic organisms can be described as societies with a totalitarian power structure, societies sustained by a slave economy.

Such were the ancient civilisations of Egypt and Rome.
So far I have mentioned three of the main forms of societies. There are other that will be mentioned in the next chapters. Beside these there are many more variations of the main forms; these variations have been determined by the different combinations of different compelling factors: the factor of chance and the powerful Human ability to alter or to adapt to any environment or situation to be able to survive.

Within all socio-economic organisms there is an underlying continuous struggle amongst the various groups for their share in the distribution of the commodities produced. This struggle is called politics, and it has been going on in various forms and with different intensity since the beginning of time. It is one of the many aspects of the struggle for survival.
It is not only the cold mechanical relation of production which determines the quality of a society, but also the degree of trust, concern and affection amongst the individuals in the society.An organism where this trust and concern is lacking and where people are becoming isolated is a sick society.

It should be evident that socio economic organisms have undergone an uneven but continuous change since the beginning of Human life. They have come and gone, and there is no reason to believe that the present one is going to be the last one, unless we destroy ourselves and our planet, and put an end to our history.

As it was mentioned before, the environment, the level of technology in production, and the knowledge or ignorance about ourselves and the laws of Nature and the Universe, these are the main elements that together determine the type and quality of a socio economic system. Differences in these factors have determined the different developments and features of societies and their economies.

Each form of socio-economic organism is generally sustained by definite beliefs or philosophies. It is not easy to define whether these philosophies are the prime reason for the type of the society or they are mainly produced by the necessity to explain or justify the existing form and power structure of the society. Probably both these possibilities are partly true, as when an economic organism is degenerating and is becoming obnoxious, some people with more foresight and those who are becoming alienated will try to change the form of the society and, therefore, by trying to explain the necessity for change, will promote beliefs and philosophies that are different to the existing ones.

Revolutionary changes in Human societies cannot be retarded for very long without the risk of social degeneration and eventual social upheaval.
Revolutionary movements and also terrorism are the result of a situation of frustration and despair when natural changes are prevented and meaningful democratic processes are hindered, perverted or suppressed. Therefore, extreme conservatism and repression are the principal causes of revolution and terrorism.

Before we have a brief look at the main socio‑economic systems in the evolution of Western society, we should consider the most important negative factor in our development: our original ignorance.
Evidently, because of our presumption, this factor has been largely ignored. It must be evident that, compared with what we do not know or do not understand, our knowledge has been and still is infinitesimal. Therefore, it has been this negative factor, our ignorance and not our knowledge, which had the greater influence in the development of all socio‑economic systems so far, Capitalism included.

There should be little doubt that this ignorance has been Humanity's major handicap since our primordial natural instinct became affected by the beginning of our consciousness. Had Humanity been born with the perfect knowledge of the world of Nature and the Universe with all its laws, it could have devised a perfect society from the start.
It seems that we have been destined to evolve in darkness, never sure to come out unscathed from our inevitable mistakes.

Our ignorance, the harshness of our primitive environment, the scarcity of the means of subsistence, the fear of being overtaken or destroyed by strangers with the same fears as our own, all these factors have contributed to the development of the worst features in our behaviour and in our socio-economic systems: our suspicion of strangers, our jealousy of our neighbours' success, our insecurity and our greed for property and power, all these derive mainly from those factors.