The Barbarians Within

Have we as a species really changed much throughout history? I mean, really? Are we the same barbarians as our ancestors? What’s different now? There are more people on the planet, it is easier to travel throughout the world, our weapons are more massive, and oh yeah, we have 500 “channels of shit on the TV to choose from.”

That’s about it. The species has not become more “civilized,” our luxuries only make it appear as such. We are still the same warring species we have always been. Power, greed, and the mindset of doing anything in order to achieve power and wealth are still with us. Are they ingrained in our species? Is it part of our nature to do whatever it takes to obtain power and wealth? Are we designed with the drive to crush the weaker of those among us in order to climb to the top?

I would like to think this is not the case. However, the actions around the globe appear to be counterexamples to this thought. Think back to the tribes, empires, civilizations, and dungeons of history and tell me today is any different. It is not. We are still barbarians. Atrocities are still committed in the name of power, greed, and in the name of a god.

We have been brainwashed to believe we are more civilized today than at any time in history. Again, appearances do not make one civilized. One’s actions do. And the actions we are witnessing today are definitely barbaric. Why?

From Webster.com the word barbaric is defined as: “possessing or characteristic of a cultural level more complex than primitive savagery but less sophisticated than advanced civilization; marked by a lack of restraint; wild; having a bizarre, primitive, or unsophisticated quality.”

Again, sophistication is merely an appearance. And “advanced civilization” is definitely a subjective phrase. Thus, I claim humanity has not evolved from its barbaric roots.

If Darwin was correct then why hasn’t humanity evolved away from such barbarianism? Maybe Darwin was not correct, thus leaving the fact that humanity can not change from its barbaric ways. There is a sobering thought. I need another drink.

And I am not just talking about the actions of world governments. The actions of corporations and the actions within corporations, cities, businesses, schools, and relationships are all subject to barbarianism.

Climbing the corporate ladder, maximizing profits, petty politics, overcrowded schools, and sexual conquests are all symptoms of our barbaric mentality. Some of the actions of this mentality are difficult to hear: backstabbing, lying, manipulating, forcing, hiding evidence, bribing, conspiring, threatening, strongly coercing, etc. We all know these things happen, but yet we call ourselves civilized. We refuse to believe that we, as a species, have not evolved to a higher level.

I hate to break the news to you, but we haven’t. There are those among us who thrive on obtaining power and wealth; thrive on warfare; that get a thrill out of watching people suffer (physically, mentally, and emotionally); and those that refuse to see their actions as barbaric.

Still, we are told we are the most civilized peoples to have ever graced this planet.

Is it that we have become “more civilized” as a species or is it that we have become “more conditioned” to the fear of punishment, that on an every day basis we appear to be civilized?

The thing about appearances is that at various times one can always see through them. The veil will always drop, even if for a second, and the real humanity will show its true face.

--Randy Anderson