As multiple wars rage around the globe and modern civilization teeters on the edge of collapse, it is high time to pose the questions, “What IS civilization, anyway? And what is happening now to undermine and destroy it?”
I’d say — and this is my own personal view and definition — that the main purpose of modern civilization is to ensure enough personal safety and social stability to support people in their family, economic, and educational pursuits. Safety and stability are paramount, for without these basic social goods, civilization cannot function or endure.
Of course, there has always been competition between societies and nations over resources, boundaries, ideologies, etc., which at times can lead to conflict and war. Still, the overall purpose of civilization is to minimize these overt conflicts and maximize safety and stability.
However, there is a fundamental human tendency that works against this and can easily undermine or even wreck civilization: descent into brutal “might makes right” thinking and actions. We can even say that civilization exists precisely to limit or overcome the brutality of “might makes right” — while conversely, “might makes right” attitudes always and necessarily sabotage civilization and civilized behavior.
Thus, since “might makes right” attitudes and actions are now prevalent on the world stage, our global civilization and all the societies within it are under severe and increasing threat. The purpose of this essay is to explore this growing threat and identify exactly what we and modern civilization are now rapidly losing — and what we can do about it.
Three autocrats vs. the rule of law
There has been much talk and hand-wringing lately about “the (collapsing) rule of law,” especially in the US. Over the past several years, the rule of law has been under persistent attack by Putin, Netanyahu, and Donald Trump — and their millions of supporters. All three of these powerful rulers have thumbed their noses at civilized society, embraced “might makes right,” and ferociously attacked neighboring nations, territories they lust after, or even distant “enemy nations” like Iran.
All three of these autocratic leaders assert their right to do as they wish, attack other societies at will, and trample international rules and the rule of law. They all pretend they are interested in fairness, safety, and peace, and pretend they wish to support and preserve civilization, but their aggressive statements and hostile actions consistently say otherwise.
In truth, they are all massive, unrepentant bullies on the world stage — and they adore showing off their bullying ways. In their view, the “strong” should always control, attack, or even destroy the so-called “weak,” whether on the personal or national level. They have no shame about this — none. In fact, it’s a point of pride and much satisfaction for them.
Unfortunately, their willful displays of brute force and “power over” others mark the utter undoing of modern civilization. For it’s not just them, alone, perpetrating atrocities — these horrors are also spewing from their shameless accomplices, enablers, and avid, rageful supporters.
“Might makes right” takes many vicious forms
To be fair, it must be said: human civilization has never been highly effective, and often not for very long, since it barely keeps dangerous “might makes right” thinking at bay. But, given humanity’s penchant for conflict and violence, our highly imperfect and flawed attempts at civilization are the best things we’ve got (so far).
Conflict and violence always lurk in the background, still — but that’s the entire point. Civilization’s primary purpose is to keep these tendencies in the background — and woe to us when these tendencies start taking over and move to the foreground.
Clearly, that is exactly what’s happening today, all around the globe. Civilization is in retreat, while brutal aggression and violence are surging. And “might makes right” attitudes take many forms and appear in many guises. Overt bullying and physical intimidation/aggression are the most obvious, but “might makes right” also frequently shows up as economic coercion (for example, Trump’s punitive tariffs), public gaslighting, and intentional deception. Yes, public lying and deliberate deception are forms of “might makes right” — and very dangerous ones.
Public liars and deceivers are saying, in effect, “I can do and say whatever I want, whenever I want; I can overpower the truth with my lies, evasions, and distortions, and there is nothing you can do about it! Screw you!” They are happily thumbing their noses at society and civilization — and most of the time they get away with it (except in a court of law, where it’s called “perjury,” or before Congress).
Racist aggression gets excused: “White makes right!”
However, that is not the whole story, nor is it even the worst of it. Quite often, “might makes right” fits snugly with overt racism and turns into a sneering (even sadistic) “White makes right” attitude.
We can see this horrifying attitude at play in two of the three major, ongoing world conflicts. Netanyahu’s arrogant oppression and overt aggression aimed at the Palestinians and Gazans have clear racist overtones, along with undying religious and ethnic hatred. And both Trump and Netanyahu willfully initiated an unprovoked regional war when they viciously attacked Iran — again, with strong racist overtones accompanying long-standing religious and ethnic hatred.
The ugly truth is that White men — and it’s almost always men — dominate the (Western) world. Of course, no world leader is going to come right out and publicly say, “White makes right!” Rather, they make all kinds of pious-sounding, “patriotic” proclamations. But, as with all things political, it’s what they actually do that counts, not what they say. In the cases of both Gaza and Iran, powerful and aggressive White leaders are attacking or oppressing non-white, “inferior,” and weaker peoples and nations.
Once again, it’s overt, hateful bullying on the world stage — propped up and amplified by the racist “White makes right” mindset.
And there’s plenty of lying and gaslighting accompanying all these brutal events. In fact, as noted, constant lies and gaslighting are mainstays of “might makes right” thinking — since these bullying “leaders” always aim to con the public and convince us they are working to save civilization from its dedicated enemies. Yes, indeed, they are true saviors of civilization — except, that’s blatantly false, and all they are doing is abusing the law, abusing people, and exerting maximum power over others.
These are not people who give a damn about democracy, decency, or civilization — as their actions keep showing.
We the people must overcome “might makes right” — or suffer the consequences
Where does this leave us? How can we extricate ourselves from these horrors? Sadly, if the rule of law and civilization itself are ever to prevail going forward, we have to resist these bullying thugs with all our might and fight them. Actively, but (hopefully) non-violently. We the people — the lawful, peaceful majority — will have to work together to take them down and strip away their vast power(s).
Then, because such human beings are both incorrigible and highly dangerous, we have to punish them and put them away, in a place where they are effectively contained and can’t hurt and abuse people anymore. Not for revenge, but for simple, vitally necessary self-protection.
We cannot save or somehow “convert” them into loving, responsible citizens — and at this point, we shouldn’t even try. They have shown us who they are and how they operate, and as the saying goes, “When someone shows you who they really are — believe them!”
So no, we can’t save them, nor should we try. We have neither the energy nor the time for that anymore. They are lost causes, and need to be treated as the bullying, uncaring aggressors they are.
If civilization is to survive this onslaught, we the people must punish and imprison these foul aggressors — and keep them far, far away from our societies and civilization. We owe it to ourselves and civilization itself to reclaim our world from these vicious “might makes right” tyrants.
The time is now — and time is running out.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Sushanta Rokka on Unsplash
