Barbarism or Civilisation? It’s Our Choice.
One of the most alarming experiences that I had as a schoolboy was when a school assembly was interrupted by an angry parent bursting into the room to confront the headmaster, Mr Graham.
“Mr Graham?! Mr Graham?!” the man enquired forcefully. Mr Graham was addressing the school at the time of the man’s interruption, but duly left the room to deal with his concern. Whereas we couldn’t see what happened when they both left the room, we could hear shouting and commotion. Something was kicking off! It later came to light that the father of the pupil had punched the headmaster during the altercation, before being removed from the building.
Prior to that incident, I had seen the headmaster being rough with the man’s son – forcing the boy to move with his knee. It was nothing that might have hurt him or done serious harm, but a line had clearly been crossed.
Both the headmaster’s rough treatment of the boy and his father’s subsequent assault of the headmaster were quite shocking to me (seven or eight years old at the time). It called into question a lot of what I believed to be normal and appropriate about relationships between teachers and pupils and parents and teachers.
Respect and trust had been seriously undermined. But perhaps the biggest impact that it had on my young mind came in the form of the lesson that violence is possible anywhere.
Escalating Quickly
Events over recent weeks have reminded me of that early lesson, whether through seeing the awful sight of another black man murdered by a cop in broad daylight while pleading for his life, or seeing cities across America ablaze from ensuing riots. Violence really is possible anywhere.
Good cops (who abhor racism, brutality and the abuse of power) and conscientious citizens (who wish to protest non-violently against racism and police brutality) alike may well ask the question, what is to be done? Many may wonder how civilisation and social mores seemed to implode so quickly.
“When mores are sufficient, laws are unnecessary; when mores are insufficient, laws are unenforceable.” – Émile Durkheim
Civilisation Cannot be Taken for Granted
At the conclusion of his book, Barbarism & Civilization: A History of Europe in Our Time, historian Bernard Wasserstein notes how throughout the twentieth century civilisation and barbarism were “locked together in a dialectical relationship”. There is a chill to the book’s final sentence:
“Evil stalked the earth in this era, moving men’s minds, ruling their actions, and begetting the lies, greed, deceit, and cruelty that are the stuff of the history of Europe in our time.”
Norman Doidge (psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and researcher) writes of the relationship between civilisation and barbarism at a more fundamental level in The Brain that Changes Itself:
“Civilization is a series of techniques in which the hunter-gatherer brain teaches itself to rewire itself. And the sad proof that civilization is a composite of the higher and lower brain functions is seen when civilization breaks down in civil wars, and brutal instincts emerge full-force, and theft, rape, destruction, and murder become commonplace.”
Doidge then goes on to say that in view of the brain’s plasticity, “a regression to barbarism is always possible, and civilization will always be a tenuous affair that must be taught in each generation and is always, at most, one generation deep.”
How is civilisation to be taught, though?
Well over a hundred years after philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche declared that “God is dead”, Wasserstein (having noted the decline of religion in European societies throughout the twentieth century) struggled to answer the question of what has replaced religion as a source of values.
It raises the question of whether societies are feeling the consequences of a values vacuum since the decline of religion.
We learn from the neuroscience of brain plasticity that we have choices in what sort of cultures, societies and civilisations we will create and maintain. This reality is empowering in one sense, but it isn’t risk-free; for if we fail to be proactive in making our choices, constantly reacting to our whims and passions of the moment instead, we can all too easily sleepwalk our way (individually and collectively) into any number of highly undesirable states and situations.
It Starts with the Individual
As tempting as it is to look at these matters almost exclusively from a collective, societal point of view, they can only really be resolved on an individual basis. Societies are dependent on the choices of their constituents and cannot enforce values and behaviours as omnipotent entities. Each person has sovereignty over their own lives and choices. And each must decide which values they will live by.
But choosing which values to live by isn’t the same as choosing which car to buy or which breakfast cereal to eat; choosing values to any meaningful degree means creating new habits of thought and action. Our values are lived, and communicated, through our behaviour, not merely our intentions.
As Norman Doidge points out in his work, the plastic nature of our brains makes it possible for us to form new habits. We literally rewire our brains through changing our thoughts and behaviour. We can either do this on an unconscious, reactive basis or on a conscious, proactive basis, choosing who we want to be and then changing our habits accordingly. It’s not magic, it’s simply how the brain works.
Which values will we choose to live by, then? Who do we want to be?
Stewardship: A Transformational Principle
As I’ve asked myself questions about which values I want to live by and who I want to be, a single principle has stuck with me: stewardship.
A stewardship, or area of stewardship, is a conscience-based responsibility to care.
Stewardship in action is simply care through self-governance. It relies on a person’s choice to care through taking action. No one is dictating that you must care or manipulating you to do so through carrot or stick.
Stewardship starts with each individual and its impact ripples throughout communities and societies.
Understanding the definition and meaning of stewardship is quite simple. Consistently living your life by it, however, is a lifelong pursuit. The rewards are great, however, and include developing a greater sense of purpose, meaning and fulfilment in life, as well as several positive personal transformations along the way.
The principle of stewardship encapsulates many of the best values that are taught in Judeo-Christian scripture and other religious texts throughout the world. It is simply the right way to live for sustainable fulfilment, joy and success in life.
Peace is Possible Anywhere, too
I began this piece by sharing a poignant lesson that I learned as a young boy: violence is possible anywhere.
But I have also learned that peace is possible anywhere, too. It’s a matter of choice that begins with each individual.
Stewardship is a solution to ending the abuse of others. It is a solution to ending gratuitous violence. And if enough of us live by it, it is a safeguard for our societies and even civilisation itself.
Some of the best people I’ve known have been paragons of stewardship in how they’ve lived their lives. They have shone like beacons of light, sometimes in dark places. They had the love and the faith to overcome cynicism, misanthropy, malevolence and the toxic distractions of blame and shame. I owe a lot to them for their example.
It was through applying the principle of stewardship that I was able to escape the hedonism trap that I’d sleepwalked into as a student. Stewardship is also the foundational principle through which I mentor others, empowering them to become unstuck and live lives of purpose, meaning and fulfilment through their unique gifts, abilities and opportunities.
In conclusion, dear reader, I leave you to ponder on the following questions: Who do you want to be? And how will you become it?
Once you answer those questions in thought, word and deed you will be amazed at how the world around you changes for the better.