(image source: flickr)

Do the Taliban men deserve to be reckoned civilised ? All sensible people will utter a rigid No with one voice in response to this query. Who then deserve the recognition as civilised truly ? The powers that be in China ? But they're Fascist. Believers in God or religion ? But they're Damn silly and superstitious people. Hardly a grain of Truth occurs in their beliefs. Capitalists ? But they belong to the exploiting class. The working class that produce all wealth and thus keep civilisations moving and advancing ? But they're Damn silly— so much so that they're even unaware of the significance of their great role in societies and civilisations ; they also seem to be devoid of all sense of shame and self-respect— so much so that they don't feel ashamed of their ignominious, pathetic plight under capitalism. People of the Middle Ages ? They canNot appear civilised in the eyes of the Space-age people. can they ? Not all are civilised; but are all those that seem to belong to the category of the civilised civilised wholly or equally ? Is there any criterion for distinguishing between the civilised and the uncivilised ? This humble essay by me is aimed at dealing with all these questions.

The US Army Men in Afghanistan: they're Good men, but they Still canNot see anything Wrong with the Division of Society into classes as well as the Grave social injustice originating from the classes. Americans are Not civilised wholly, are they?

(photo source: flickr)

The Meaning of Civilisation

In order to know the Uncivilised from the Civilised, you need have a clear concept of civilisation first off. As I see it, the term civilisation denotes an era that followed barbarism, the last prehistoric epoch preceded by savagery. History began with civilisation that began with so many barbarian institutions : slavery, private property, matrimony, prostitution, the production & exchange of commodities, money, market, the division of society into classes, the phenomenon called social injustice, the state etc. Slavery was the first form of the exploitation of humans by humans, with which society was divided into the exploiting class and the exploited. Private property brought about the division of society into the propertied class (the rich & the super-rich) and the non-propertied (swarms of the poor & the penniless). With the division of society into classes, the ignominious phenomenon of social injustice came into being. All those born in the propertied class were all either born rich or born super-rich, which fact was Not attributable to any noble or creditable acts or achievements of theirs while all those born in the non-propertied class were all born poor or born penniless to be exploited by the propertied class and thus grow poorer and poorer, which fact was Not attributable to any faults or failings of theirs. Money, market, and matrimony contributed to the perpetuation of this agonizing and obnoxious social injustice. With the evolution of classes, arose the antagonism between classes, which led members of hostile classes to engage in constant clashes & conflicts aimed at eliminating one another. Out of this irreconcilable class antagonism, a political power called state arose. It was aimed at holding the exploited & deprived millions in check and thus protecting the interest of the ruling class (the propertied class).

All the institutions of barbarian origin as well as the diabolical evil of the most agonizing social injustice are Still existent in this Space age. The barbarian slavery has been replaced with the wage slavery in modern times. The capitalists happen to be in the position of the slave masters, the barbarian exploiting class, today. The exploited of today are comprised of the wage slaves, the army of the born poor & the born penniless, who, like their barbarian peers, sweat blood to produce all wealth & luxuries and thus keep civilisations moving & advancing but have to lead a life befitting beasts of burden, a life full of hardship & deprivation, throughout their life. To get an idea of the horrendous deprivation of the born poor & deprived under capitalism, you have to have a look at the Oxfam International's 2018-report which states : ' Eighty two percent of the wealth generated last year went to the richest one percent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world saw no increase in their wealth '. This also gives you an idea of the magnitude of the social injustice of which they're innocent victims Really. Then, what constitutes the basic distinction between civilisation and barbarism? This is a big question. A most glaring distinction, too glaring to escape a Sensible guy's notice, is humanity's achievements in the area of science & technology during civilisation. Humanity of the Space age knows a lot about life and the universe while barbarians did Not even know that plants & trees as well as mushrooms have life too or that the earth is a mere planet, an Insignificant entity in the Great big universe, which receives warmth & illumination from the sun, one of over a trillion trillion stars that make up over two trillion galaxies. Humanity today use metaled roads, steel-made railroads, incredibly long suspension & cable-stayed bridges, gigantic overpasses, underground tunnels, underwater tunnels, aerial tramways, awesome high-rises, etc., none of which were known to the barbarians. The barbarians were Not acquainted with even a bike either while humanity of today is used to travelling by motorbikes, motor cars, buses, trains, giant ships, aerial trams, supersonic jets, and giant space vehicles. They had No idea of photography, xerography, holography, videography, X-ray, ultrasonography, computerized tomography, MRI, ECG, EEG, echocardiography, blood transfusion, bone-marrow transplantation, kidney transplantation, heart transplantation, etc. Barbarians did Not have, like the ancients and the medieval people, any respect for the freedom of speech & pen, right to vote, and other human rights of the masses whose toils and travails keep civilisations moving & advancing. None of the barbarians, the ancients or the medieval men regarded human females as human fully. Barbarians were Not civilised. But do the ancients or the medieval people deserve to be reckoned as much civilised as the humanity of today? My answer is a firm No. But do humans of today, the Space age, deserve to be recognised as civilised through and through yet?

As I see it, the ancients were Not barbarian fully. Nevertheless, they, like their medieval counterparts, were Not civilised fully either. But then, humanity of the Space age still does Not deserve to be recognised as civilised wholly Really only because of the most ignominious and agonizing Fact that 99% of humanity who make up the army of the born poor ( Nobel laureates, scientists, technologists, researchers, writers, editors, doctors, engineers, lawyers, actors, painters, singers, dancers, sculptors, etc. included ) i.e. the army of the hard-working people that produce all wealth & luxuries and thus keep civilisations moving & advancing, are innocent victims of the loathsome social injustice referred to above.

Thus, to my way of thinking, civilisation denotes a historical epoch when humanity started undergoing a transformation of itself, a transformation from the barbarian state into the civilised state. The process is still going on.

This guy that's standing before an idol is the current PM of India: a pathological Liar & professed Hindutvaite, he believes in the Silly idol worship although his Holy books do Not approve of such acts; he also believes in the cult of Yoga & Meditation, Homoeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, etc. Rubbish. Is he civilised ?

(photo source: PMINDIA PHOTO GALLERY) 

The Criterion for Knowing the Civilised from the Uncivilised

The humanity of the Space age consists of two basic sorts: democrats and fascists. The fascists canNot deserve to be reckoned civilised wholly just because they're fascist. The democrats that respect right to vote, the freedom of expression, and other human rights include the capitalists, guys that make up the exploiting class, who find Nothing wrong with the Fact that it's because of their exploitation that the working people, the 99%, are born victims of the demonic evil of social injustice. The working-class democrats are still disgustingly silly and insignificant— so much so that they doN't feel ashamed of their pathetic plight. The very Fact that capitalism that's premised on the exploitation of the working people by the capitalists is still existent in the developed First World proves incontestably that the exploited and deprived there do Not want to say goodbye and good riddance to capitalism yet. Thus being a democrat and standing for the freedom of expression, and other human rights are Not enough to deserve to be recognised as civilised wholly.

Is a drug or alcohol addict, a paeophile or someone corrupt from head to toe, although they're true democrats and true advocates of the freedom of expression and other human rights, worthy of being recognised as civilised wholly? Is a believer in God or any stuff like religion that does Not contain a grain of Truth or some pseudoscience (yoga & meditation, homoeopathy, osteopathy, etc.) worthy of recognition as civilised through and through? The way I see it, such people do Not deserve to be reckoned civilised through and through because their addiction, despicable sexual behaviour, corruption, and silly beliefs are irreconcilable with the Principle of Healthy & Meaningful Living.

Thus, the criterion at issue is in my view the Principle of Healthy & Meaningful Living. It's only when all your beliefs and practices have the endorsement of this principle that you'll qualify for recognition as civilised through and through.

Things endorsed by the Principle of Healthy & Meaningful Living are the Truth, democracy, and all human rights including the freedom of thought & expression.

Things Not endorsed by the Principle of Healthy & Meaningful Living are the Falsehood, fascism, the division of society into classes, the social order based on such a division, and all sorts of social injustice.

conclusion

In order to deserve the recognition as civilised through and through, you must make the Principle of Healthy & Meaningful Living your life principle and remain true to it always.