'CIVILIZATION'

I can barely stand to write the word 'civilization' with-
out using quotation marks, which means to me the
equivalent of: "Civilization? Not really." Shouldn't
civilizations be civil? Then why are they so noted for
their abominable treatment of subaltern peoples?
(sub=under, altern=alternative, different, and ulti-
mately, inferior.)


It is virtually a given that societies of power will press
their will against weaker societies. The US is no excep-
tion. Civilization is supposed to mean 'advanced' in
science, technology, and the arts, but what good are
they in the face of the urge to dominate others, often
to their great suffering? The pictorial equivalent is of
a person wearing fine clothes while doing evil. What
do the clothes matter in the face of the fundamentals
of being truly human? Was Nazi Germany civilized?


In light of the woeful fact that human societies (and
individuals) are all too capable of the demonic, i pro-
pose a single standard for 'civilization' that transcends
all others. Compassion is the term for the society or
individual who is not taken over by its/her/his will for
power. The Hindus have a word for it: ahimsa, which
means 'harmlessness'. If that is the standard, then
Clara Barton and Mohandas Gandhi are the truly civil-
ized, along w the Dalai Lama in our own time. Most
politicians (but surely not all) would be uncivilized
in this regard.


We are at a crossroads of 'civilization' in this time. We
are like a ten-year-old with a chemistry set: old enough
to create serious trouble but not old enough to be res-
ponsible about it. We need to grow now in a way that
takes responsibility for the well-being of all.


But how does one communicate this essential idea to
those who are immune to it? The crude will laugh and
jeer; they know only their own appetites in a setting
that encourages those appetites. What they will or will
not do will have great effect in our present world. How
does one explain color to the blind?


Compassion then, including compassion for oneself,
is the hope of the world. Fortunately, there are many
today who understand this.