Rousseau took up the challenge of explaining the origin of social inequality. Primitive humans lived simply and independently. Their natural amour de soi – self-love – was tempered by natural pity. As families connected into tribes, and nomads settled into stationary dwellings, a new sentiment arose: amour propre, or self-esteem. People began to compare themselves to one another and to seek attention. Natural pity was eclipsed by the urge to be admired and to dominate. The introduction of agriculture brought with it private property and competitive accumulation. Human society magnified modest natural inequalities, and immiserated itself in the process. Rousseau’s thought showed a sunnier side in his Du Contrat Sociale: the social contract. He professed not to know how humanity had come to be “everywhere” in chains, but proceeded to show how that condition was legitimate. The device was the social contract, to which individuals bring their possessions in order to secure them as property.