It is to my understanding that Theodore Dalrymple’s main argument is that civilization and culture is precious and should be conserved and defended. He brings to mind the question of “Why do we do the tasks we do and how does it compare to the bigger picture?” It is important for human beings of set societies to vitalize and protect their identity. Barbarians and brutes will exist as long as mankind does and will lash out upon societies when they feel threatened or unjustified and as long as there are these brutes and barbarians, there will be destruction. Dalrymple argues that we must not let the wrath of barbarians corrupt or even abolish civilization or a civilization’s culture. History has shown that groups or factions have tried to wipe out a race of people, enslave them or just plain revolt after years of cruelty and justification. The destruction of people and/or their culture is a means for a group to try and erase that civilizations’ identity or existence. Dalrymple believes that brutes destroy art, musical equipment, buildings, etc. as a way to and lower the value of a civilization’s culture or environment.
Men have brutish ways of thinking and behaving but it is important for man to suppress those instincts and to behave in accordance of society. It is known but not understood how effective laws and the authority play a role in keeping order and peace. Man is at battle with himself in terms of civilization versus barbarianism. Mankind has those urges and temptations to give into their inner beast but it is the control and suppression of those feelings and thoughts that help separate the man from beast. When man can control himself and help to further himself and others in his community in accordance to the laws set in ...
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...st of the many in mind? These kinds of actions and situations are prevalent in our world. This is why the author argues that civilization is worth defending.
As I said above, the meaning of civilization and freedom is changing, and it happens daily. I agree that people who don’t want to learn from the past will lose much more than what they want. But on the other hand, there is still hope to be found. Even though the spirit of civilization has been forgotten, people can cooperate in networks now to connect and communicate. When an event or disaster occurs, people can gather on the internet, and make public forums to either help or hurt the cause. I don’t necessarily like to network via the internet, but if it is a means for people to come together and connect then maybe not all hope is lost for civilization and it’s a small but gradual step towards uniting as one.
From the monarchs of the ancient era to the democracy of today, order has been maintained by means of rules and regulations known as laws. Compliance with these laws is enforced through punishments ranging in severity according to the crimes committed to reduce violence and misconduct from individuals within a society. However, just as citizens consent to abide by the laws of the state in which they reside, one is compelled to preserve justice and condemn the unjust decisions of man when the social contract contradicts the laws sanctioned by God. Approaching this conflict between natural and manmade laws in a non-violent manner is called “civil disobedience”.
This superior attitude has been evidently pervasive throughout mankind’s history; some strong examples of these are the war in Bosnia, the slaughter of the Tutus in Rwanda and the white settlers near annihilation of the Native Americans.
While maintaining a open look of this moral law, Lewis presents two objections one would present to the moral law: “The moral law is just herd instinct” and “Morality is just social convention. The moral law is not a herd instinct due to man’s choice to suppress stronger instincts in fa...
The idea that a single person’s actions can resonate and intrude into other people’s lives is a concept not often though about. Being that each of us has our own individual life to worry about, it is hard to imagine that we are all deeply interconnected to others within the human race. We often tend to only think of ourselves and our immediate families; disregarding our relationship to everyone else in this world. Each one of us holds a position in life in which we all influence one or more persons. Depending on the amount of a power a person holds certain people can influence an even wider range of others. These positions do not always have to do with a career or a job, as socioeconomic positions are fair play in this world (a rich man of resources exudes more power and influence than a homeless man). Even though those who hold more power in society actions and personality can also influences more people than one may think. A person’s occupation can also establish a connection with others which allows for influence. Since people are highly interconnected to others and their surroundings, we must approach the decisions we make with regard to the preservation of morality. Certainly we have law, however it is the duty of the people to make the right choices and to teach doctrines that do not threaten or hurt others. Individuals yield more power than they think they do, as many are influenced by the ways that others approach things. In Susan Griffin’s “Our Secret” and the critically acclaimed film “Babel”, the way in which people are connected seems to be a consistent theme though out both of the texts. In these works we see how the actions or decisions of a single person can influence and corrupt the lives of many.
They are spatial versus temporal in orientation; attachment to versus ownership of particular lands or territory; community focused versus individual gain; and a consistent notion of the interrelatedness of humans with versus stewardship over the rest of creation. (p. 7) Tinker states, “these four cultural identifiers are so interconnected that any damage to one cultural aspect extends the damaging effect to the other three.” (p. 9) His focus is obviously on the first peoples, although this phenomenon can arguably be true for both cultures. In fact, it is the clash of these bi-polar stances that have inflicted the most genocidal damages. For instance, the temporal view of Euro-American culture kept greed, in all its forms, alive. Ownership of lands and territory took center stage due to a combination of the theology of stewardship over the untamed west and the need for more land and resources becoming more obvious in the eyes of the colonizing. Thusly, the individual attainment of land followed suit. These cultural elements of the Euro-Americans led to years of genocidal attacks on the Native
In this society, one does not think, speak, or act, in a way that is beneficial for oneself. Every single citizen is indoctrinated with the belief that by acting for one’s own benefit, they are sinning. From a young age, they are taught the mantra of their society, “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen” (21).
the laws of man and kept in check by society's own norms. The human struggle to
In his famous writing, “The Leviathan”, Thomas Hobbes explains that the natural condition of mankind is when a society lives together without the rule of a common authority or power; this creates a “dog-eat-dog” world in which the citizens live in a perpetual state of utter chaos and fear. The fears experienced by the citizens are not only of the unequal distribution of the power of others, but also fear of the loss of their own power. In Hobbes’ state of nature there is complete liberty for society in the idea that each member may do whatever he or she pleases without having to worry about infringing upon the rights of the rest of society; in other words, one is allowed to do whatever necessary to pursue their own happiness. Ho...
I think that the biggest cause of Rome’s decline was the Barbarians strategy for war. The Romans conquered the barbarians and they were allowed to join the army because the Roman army was too stretched throughout the land that they owned. So because the Barbarians did not have a good strategy, they lost a war with the Visigoths. This led to the sack of Rome. So that is why I think that the Barbarians knowledge about war led to the decline of Rome.
They spoke almost as loudly as Feeling… “Oh comply!” it said. “Think of his misery; …soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?” Still indomitable was the reply: “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. Pg322
...of civilizations fitted the modern world dynamics. In the mid-term election in 2006, the American voters challenged the clash of civilizations by opposing to Bush Administration's policy towards Iraq (Kellner, 2004). – 3 (spelling punctuation,wordiness)
There are three principle causes of quarrel in the nature of man. They are competition, diffidence (or distrust), and glory. In human nature, competition is for gain, diffidence is for safety, and glory is for reputation. It is the competitive human nature that renders people apt to invade and destroy one another. The reading gives and example of a man who arms himself when taking a journey, locks his doors when he goes to sleep, and locks his chest even when he’s home. He is trying to protect himself from others competing against him for what he has. The reading give another example of how governments and leaders have their weapons pointed at the enemy at all times and how leaders continually spy on their neighbors. This is true because for years the US and Russia have had weapons pointed at each other and the U.
As we all have observed, throughout history each culture or society has unique norms that are acceptable to that group of people. Therefore, to establish and come to the acceptance of these basic norms, each society must develop its’ own strategies and techniques to encourage the fundamentals of behavior, which is clear in our modern society. Most do assume that everyone in a society will follow and respect such norms. However, some tend to deviate from the adequate norms and demonstrate deviant behavior. Nevertheless, we are inclined to ask ourselves, why do people decide to violate such important standards of living?
Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as to determine what we shall do (225) 1.
Most importantly it is cited that the most severe and dangerous conflicts will arise between none other than people with different cultural entities, specifically those along the fault lines between civilizations. Reason for this being that they are all in search of the identities and as Huntington has already said that there is no way you can love what you are if you do not hate what you are not , hence the arousal of the conflicts. In their search of identities they hate what they are not so that they can have a deeper love for what they are.