What is Civil?

What is civilization? Is it the armies of ants building homes and supplying food for the queen and colony? Or is it perhaps the bass fish swirling past the see in large groups as to protect themselves from predators? Could civilization even be Native American hunters in our countries early days building a community of hunt or be hunted; a primal salute to human origin?

Although I fold in knowing the true meaning of civilization, despite the endless studies I begot throughout this course. I acknowledge my ignorance and perhaps this itself is the start of a civilized mentality. Socrates once said, “true intelligence is measured by knowing just how ignorant you are.”  My mind seems to hinder a glisten of thought amongst Socrates’ wisdom. I know I am not all I am capable of… perhaps it is this inner strife that keeps me going. I have, in a sense, a gratitude to the un-civilized contributions of Socrates. I myself, abolish civilized expectations from time to time. This uncivil behavior reminds me of my free well in an otherwise very civil and controlled environment. So is this Civilization I ask? Is it a controlled society?

Socrates wisdom that seemed so anti-democratic in the eyes of Athens became his own demise as he swallowed poison leading him to the “true” divinity.

            Let us examine for a moment the idea that civilization is a controlled society. Can chaos become a great civilization? Doubtful, even anarchy, whose radical ideas are at the least, familiar to me, cannot sustain itself without some form of hierarchy or dictatorship. So a civilization seems to be of relevance with a leader. Have all great societies had a leader? It seems inevitable that such civil merit cannot exist without a leader. Alexander’s triumphs gave way to an ever-growing empire whose own civilization cascaded its way over onto others. He was keen of one very important details that few visionaries from that day could have foreseen.

            I speak of the need to retain values and morals in-between a civilized community. Maybe this is why anarchy doesn’t seem to work; because it doesn’t retain a moral value within the community. It does so, within its members, but the anarchists themselves remain outcasts of society or the whole. Great civilizations also prospered because of the unity the people with the community had. They traded in goods, skills, and coins amongst themselves to retain the wealth or benefits within themselves. Today’s great cities have become so due to the ability to retain as much of its income with the city streets. The El Paso Del Norte is working on a major project within our community in an effort to rebuild downtown El Paso. This plan is destined to generate greater income and an increase in city prosperity may lead to a greater border civilization.

            The Greeks were indeed a great civilization. At times, I can’t help but think that they are perhaps more advanced than the Romans ever were. It is important to recognize that Rome itself was highly influenced by Greek Culture. Certain aspects of the Greek culture led to its rise. The ideas of a polis… great minds like that of Plato and Aristotle or even great literature like Homer’s Illiad became important milestones not just for the Greeks, but also all societies thereafter. These pieces of literature in themselves also play a great role in the future expansion of Greek power. The great Alexander looked up to the hero Achilles and felt a divine connection with him. It was perhaps through this confidence that he was able to accomplish all he did.

            In turn, Rome also became a great civilization. But how…? Well… the city-state began its incredible journey through its strong agricultural methods. The farmers of the land are what initially gave it its wealth. This power in trade made the Romans an economic force to be reckoned with. Due to Greeks own lack of unity, the Romans began an invasion that eventually led to the fall of the Greek Empire under the Roman name. Treasures were gathered from East to West and democracy became an essential part of daily lives. In Roman society, most were given the honor to participate in decisions for the polis.

            It seems like many attributes contributed to the rise of Greek and Roman civilizations. But the question still lingers in my mind. What is a civilization? Was Greek and Rome amongst our earliest civilized societies… But just how civil were they? Rome alone had infested itself with disease inside its interior walls due to lack of proper hygiene. Greek’s Spartan were known for many things, but being civil was definitely not one…

                        Civilization is everything I thought it to be and nothing all the same. It is communities working together to benefit the whole and communities working together against the whole, as in the anti-downtown plan group. Civilization is the product of a leader or groups thereof, or perhaps just nature’s creatures in a dynamic plan to procreate by carrying civilized attributes into their ecological tendencies. So the final question results in not what is civilization, but moreso, what do we wish for civilization to be?