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The advance of civilization does cause new problems, but to say it leads to moral decline is in my opinion, completely false.There's a lot of evidence to show how things like urbanization leads to crime, or to materialism. To solve this, let's examine where the crime comes from.

Most of urban crime comes from minority groups and it would not be false to say this. Educated, well off people are much less likely to commit a serious offense when compared to a less well off, uneducated person. It seems to me that the only reason there is this crime is because of competition in the modern world. Now I'm not saying that only the poor man will steal or that only the fool will murder, but there must be some reason why it is truer to these people than to the well off, and I believe that reason is competition.

This type of competition can only be seen in civilization so you would argue that I am wrong, civilization does lead to moral decline; but it is not civilization that is to blame. Well not directly, these are simply just new problems, in this case brought about by civilization. In another case there could be another problem caused by the change of the earth or a new discovery.

It has been argued that ethics is just an invention by man, so that we find it easier to live with one another. There is no moral decline because of civilization, just new challenges that we must overcome. Morals change, constantly. They are different in other locations.

Cannibals believe it is alright to kill and eat people. They don't think it is morally wrong, and who am I to say they're wrong. It was considered okay to have sexual relations with young boys in ancient Greece. I have my reasons for thinking why that is morally wrong, but then again, maybe it was right for the time. Our times are changing, so maybe our morals should be to.

It is unfair that there are people less well off than others. We have to start thinking if it is morally wrong to live in a materialistic society. Some would say, yes, it is. Some would believe we should be looking at communism as a means of solving some moral problems that have arisen along with civilization. The point I am trying to make is that to say that moral decline is caused by civilization is incorrect.

What should be said is that civilization has produced new ethical problems that need solving. New moral problems are not solely to blame on civilization. Another example would be the arrival of a new disease that leads to difficult moral decisions over what is right. There will always be new moral problems that arise. We cannot say that the moral problems that arise from civilization lead to moral decline before we define moral decline. Maybe it's just Man again trying to find a way to live with one another and live better lives in a different environment. It is not moral decline, it is moral change.

Learn more about this author, Chris Finn.
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