Once humans discovered the methods and benefits of producing iron and steel, we gained the ability to stop living as hand to mouth nomads.
Iron gave us the ability to build long lasting shelter, defend our crops and families, create an industrial economy, and develop the level of affluence that let us progress beyond mere survival. By using steel to create the industry that allows these innovations, we, and our children are not condemned to live the lives that historians referred to as "Nasty, Brutish, and short".