by Jishi Santos

Created on: September 03, 2008

What does it mean to be civilized?

Civilization is defined as an advanced state of social development and not barbarous, not military and not criminal. To civilize means to bring out of barbarism. Well by these definitions we have not had a civilization as such on planet earth. But remember these are only words like 'Utopia' and can be talked of in lofty, academic circles. There they can sprout their knowledge of the Assyrian or the Minoan or the Egyptian or the Roman or the Greek peoples, not civilizations in my opinion, mainly learnt through wall paintings, some ancient scrolls and archeology.

I have always had lingering doubts as to the civilizations of the past as being glorious. Yes, in one sense if you base this on art and modern methods of plumbing that were back then and various works of philosophy then fine, but someone has to do the back breaking work to build the foundations for any empire and the equation is simple. Brutal rulers and slaves, wars and conscription and who do they choose? The very people who could make a peaceful civilization if left alone. The humble workers who seek not power and its consolidation but just want to live a happy life .
Who has been the greatest messenger of the last 2,000 years with one or two simple civilized messages? Why Jesus Christ, and he belonged to just this strata of society. "The meek will inherit the earth and love thy neighbour as thyself and do unto other as you would have done to you."
Follow these rules and you might just be on the right path to being civilized but then who creeps in Mr Money and Mr Power. These addictive temptations appeal to the weak, who can't get there as a humble messenger of peace, and can only do it in a gang of bullies and take all with them in their march to personal glory. This has been labeled civilization in our university history books? It was Herodius, the Greek historian, who upon visiting Egypt made note of how dictatorial and tyrannical the Pharoahs were in the recruitment of slaves and making them work to build huge monuments to their own ego and glory. I don't mean the pyramids but the statues( like Saddam Hussein did too.) The pyramids were built by an advanced civilization and here we are getting closer to the real meaning, peace loving peoples from space who arrived and laser cut and levitated the huge blocks with their light ships using anti gravitational forces and those of magnetism to build them so they could map the earth accurately for their space trips; they

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