Who Do We Think We Are?

DICTIONARY

civilization

Definition

civ·i·li·za·tion

[ sìvv'li záysh'n ]

civ·i·li·za·tions

Plural

NOUN

1.

highly developed society: a society that has a high level of culture and social organization

2.

advanced development of society: an advanced level of development in society that is marked by complex social and political organization, and material, scientific, and artistic progress

3.

advanced society in general: all the societies at an advanced level of development considered collectively

4.

populated areas: places where people live, rather than uninhabited areas

5.

civilizing process: the process of creating a high level of culture in a particular society or region

6.

comfort: the level of material comfort that somebody is used to ( humorous )

Thesaurus

NOUN

Synonyms: society, nation, culture, empire, polity

Synonyms: development, evolution, progress, cultivation, refinement, sophistication, advancement

Translations

Select a language Spanish Italian German French

civilización feminine

civilizzazione feminine

[sɪvəlaɪ'zeɪ∫n]

Zivilisation

der Griechen, Azteken usw Kultur

[sɪvəlaɪ'zeɪ∫n]civilisation feminine

Content above provided by

Encarta® World English Dictionary[North American Edition] © & (P) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

The thing is, none of this really describes what most people seem to mean by civilized/civilization. Also, the words used to define civilization are all really subjective value loaded words. By that, I mean most of them don’t really mean anything.

While I am not sure of its truth, there is an apocryphal story of a conversation between Lord Mountbatten and Ghandi. Mountbatten is supposed to have asked what Ghandi thought of Western Civilization. The answer was, “I think it would be a good idea.” While I am not sure it happened, I am sure of the sentiment.

The organizing principle of almost all societies is the ability to wage war. This requires organization and planning most small groups (family groups) don’t have the capacity for, at least not on a large scale. Many in the West, when they think of “civilized behavior”, consider war the exact opposite, when in fact it is the epitome of civilized behavior.

War, for the most part, has been an instrument by which the resources of a neighbor are plundered. It might be couched in a rhetoric of religion (destroy the infidels) or national security (we have to destroy them before they can destroy us) but for the most part, once you dig behind the thin veneer of rationalization, it is about profit of some kind, whether ore, gold, palm oil, ivory or petroleum. Hence, it is the ultimate in Hunter-Gatherer behavior.

Another side of “civilized” behavior is genocide. It has been part of the human condition since there were enough of us to compete for resources. Studies of Primates suggest it is part of some primate behavior as well. Maybe it is in the DNA. It is there, in our histories, if we look closely.

Evidence suggests there were lots of different versions of hominid at one time. Among the more prominent, archeologically was the Neanderthal. Apparently, so the theory goes, the Cro-Magnon showed up and the Neanderthal was wiped out. Now, there is some belief some genes survived but a pattern is established. There is evidence of a native hominid in South America which was then wiped out by encroaching humans.

Since the hominid which prevailed was from Africa, why are we not all black? I suspect the regional differences were the result of the incorporation of the local genetic loser into the mix. There is genetic evidence the Neanderthal was white. Red hair was also a Neanderthal trait. I have no doubt we will one day find evidence of a different hominid in Asia with a different base gene set. Actually, the fact the Neanderthal were thought to be quite aggressive and powerful says a lot about who we are today. Genes run true?

When God tells Moses Canaan is the Promised Land, Canaan is not devoid of people. Yet. The Israelites don’t show up at the border with an eviction notice from God. They conquer. In the process, the Canaanites, for the most part, disappear. The men and old people were killed, women and children taken as slaves. Whatever passed for culture in Canaanite society disappeared or was incorporated into the Hebrew culture. They were simply gone. That is also called genocide. It is the basis for Israel. Not much has changed.

When the Celts invaded Italy, the Etruscans were the victims. The Romans were able to fight them off. When the Romans conquered, in those early years of the Empire, they eliminated the problem by killing those who were a threat. In Roman society, a Senator who became a threat was not only killed but his extended family, as well as his friends and supporters and all their families. It was an efficient way to prevent problems later. Children tend to grow up and want to revenge parents, etc.

As an instrument of State Policy, genocide was sparingly used by the Romans later. Seems if you denude the area of people, you pretty much finish it off as an economic unit. So they scaled it down to selective massacre, to make a point when needed. It was not a matter of scruples or morality. It was practicality.

In reality, genocide as an instrument of policy has only become anathema since World War II. It was practiced, mostly on a local level, in the Americas (North and South) as a way to clear the way for European expansion. The natives were considered an impediment to “civilization”. As they were not Christian, they were not considered actual “people”, so whatever happened to them was not deemed important. Only after native populations were converted were they deemed worthy of protection, while still not quite human, since they were not white.

Certainly there were and are people who are outraged and appalled concerning the inhumane treatment others. Mostly these people labor under the illusion of civilization as presented in textbooks and the New Testament. Practice, however, in the real world of competition for resources is done on an Old Testament basis.

More often than not, when one cites “civilized behavior”, what is meant is “behavior which does not offend me or inconvenience me or make me see how the sausages are made”. Usually, these are not people who have had to scramble to eat, find shelter or clothing even once in their lives. They work under many assumptions about how and why things are. These are usually based on how their lives have unfolded. They think it is the same everywhere. Or it should be.

Introduction

I am an observer and a good one. I also am able to process what I see, hear, and feel from the information stage to the knowledge stage. Most of what we “know” about ourselves as a species (macro) to individuals (micro) is just wrong.

Our understanding of humanity is colored by the observers’ attempts to explain it all in terms of religion, ideology or philosophy. Much of what we “know” is colored by belief, whether belief in a deity, as cause or a particular vehicle for explaining it all. These are neither unbiased nor do they address all the facts. Mostly, they address those that support the end result most fervently desired. The others are discarded. Whether you want to call it dishonesty, hypocrisy or bias, it amounts to the same thing; an incomplete picture.

Too often attempts to find answers proceed backwards. A desired answer is conceived. Facts are then marshaled to support this answer. Douglas Adams knew this better than almost anyone on the planet in the last century. He is one of the few actual thinkers we have produced in the industrial and post-industrial age in the West. Earlier in the Century, Walt Kelly was among its foremost political thinkers.

We are not who we think we are. Neither are we who we hoped we would be by now. Nor is it likely we ever will be. Our one hope is to survive long enough to escape this planet in hope other conditions elsewhere will allow our descendents to outgrow our hunter-gatherer evolution, to become some form of higher being. I see no hope here as long as we continue to struggle for self-defeating ends against each other. Truly, we are (and always have been) our own worst enemy. Until we turn this fact into knowledge, we are doomed to live and die within the same narrow spectrum of actions and thoughts as Neanderthal or Cro-Magnon man.