Being civilized

 If I call someone uncivilized then he will probably be very angry with me. That is because we consider ourselves to be civilized. In dictionary the common synonyms of civilized will be educated, refined, polished, gentle, refined, polite, well mannered, sophisticated, urban etc. Antonyms would include ignorant, uneducated, uncultured, vulgar, ill-mannered, barbaric, crude, rustic etc. So if we try to picture a civilized person our mind will come up with the picture of someone in a proper western dress doing a good white colored job or business. On the other hand the picture of an uncivilized person will be a native American or the Australian aboriginals or African tribal. In fact now everything civilized is as per what the western world is doing.

Civilization is an evolving thing. The early human hunter gatherers were not civilized because they did not have any higher purpose other than the day to day living. Then the societies and kingdoms started to form and they decided the rules of the society and what is right and wrong. If you are doing the right thing then you are considered civilized and if you are doing the wrong thing then you are considered as uncivilized. In other words one had to conform to the dictates of the society and the ruler. With the advent of industrialization many European countries went on a spree to conquer countries in Africa and Asia and imposed there parameters of civilized society. Customs and cultures which were local were considered uncivilized. An industrial society was considered civilized and a agrarian society was considered un civilized. Then came the age of science and technology which further complicated the idea of civilized society. A country which is advance in these is considered more civilized than the others. A person adopting the natural way of living is uncivilized and a person adopting the technological lifestyle is civilized.

If we go a few centuries back we will see that in Europe there was witch hunting and burning, which was accepted then. Countries’ fighting with each other was considered ok, burdening the poor working class was considered ok, slavery was ok, uprooting locals and sending them to far off countries to work was ok, looting the wealth of other countries was considered ok, killing in the name of religion was considered ok, wiping off the aboriginals was considered ok. Were these things civilized and expected from countries which considered then civilized? These things are happening even today but in a subtle and refined way without the stigma of doing it.

Then came democracy in the West as a better option than monarchy and dictatorship. This was spread to countries as a better form of governance even though many countries did not ask for any advice. Now a democratic government following capitalism was considered civilized and communist governments were considered uncivilized. To impose their system we had the cold war and even the hot wars.

At last came equality of men and women and the discrimination based on race, colour etc. Even after adoption of democracy it is only in the last century that women had the right to vote, work, a say and value. But the spirit of brotherhood as envisioned in the Universal declaration of human rights is still a far off dream.

When we look at the life of the aboriginal tribes across the world through our civilized lenses we tend to miss out the fact that they are actually civilized in their own ways. Though it may not fit our definition but that doesn’t mean they are not. Their life is also based on kinship, clans and in complete harmony with nature which developed over thousands of years and steeped in rituals and spirituality. They had developed their own weapons for hunting, they had vast knowledge of flora and fauna and their medicinal value, they also used the stars to navigate, they also had the knowledge to build shelters and cook, they also had the knowledge to deliver a baby, they also had rules governing their lives, they also had their myths and folklores dances and songs and they also had wisdom of the wise man. They had their own ‘uncivilized’ civilized life. But it did not take much time for the white westerners to almost wipe them off, capture their land, and enslave them.

We know that even now it doesn’t take much of an effort for an individual or a nation to transform from civilized to uncivilized.  It didn’t take much for America to invade Vietnam and Iraq; it doesn’t take much for China to loan money to poor countries and usurp their land and infrastructure. It doesn’t take much for a man to cheat others; it doesn’t take much for big corporations to create monopoly and evade taxes. It doesn’t take much for a person to fight each other for small reasons.