The Trouble with Civilization Part 3

Before the birth of Christ, we had oral and written language that governed human behavior with its various consequences. Within the evolutionary development of man, with the creation of large groups of people, rulers surfaced and implemented strategies to correct, control and limit man’s food, sexual, aggressive, and dominance needs. Per the 10 Commandments, swearing, honoring the father and mother, not murdering and committing adultery, not stealing, not lying and not coveting were considered affronts to God if broken. Marriage and monogamy were created, established and expected to be the norm. How’s that working out? The United States currently has produced the most advanced killing operation ever. Doesn’t that fact contradict the Judeo-Christian “thou shall not kill” rule? The 10 Commandments and the Hammurabi code correlates with the establishment of civilization. Now, man’s inhumanity to man was exacerbated. Since 12,000 BC, group and individual violence has dramatically increased. Mythical reasons such as my God is the only true God; belief in one God; fighting for land or territory; fighting for national resources; fighting for national interests were some of the reasons given to go to war in order to kill. Nowadays, killing and maiming, has become more widespread by mentally sick sadomasochistic individuals. Start with man’s nature; thwart growth by creating an atmosphere of insecurity, hate and prejudice; market Second Amendment mythology; produce a plethora of guns and military weapons, and you have a recipe for evil. Man’s nature is man’s nature. At this juncture, man’s aggressive drive and cruelty toward others is the biggest threat toward peace within our civilization. I wonder, if it’s possible for this society to reduce mechanisms that produce inequality and transpose it into equality reforms between and among people? We must first take into account man’s insecurity, sexual and aggressive drives and needs for dominance and promote rationality. In other words, a society based on humanistic principles can be a start. For instance, it’s necessary to eliminate man made prejudicial distinctions, divisions, and/ or illusions such as upper, middle, lower, white and black; patricians and plebeians; male and female and the rich and the poor. Unregulated classifications and divisions between people would nullify the myths that justify making some people legally, socially, morally and politically superior. If man’s evolution does not occur, we can expect continued acts of violence against other humans. Extinction follows. Sources: Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud; Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari