Hi Dave and CB, I was going to stay away from this particular discussion. I cannot help myself, now that I am back in Hong Kong, in my den, fed and saw “Cultural Revolution” on the screen so many times. I am working, but I have two PCs humming, and several screens opened.
As CB had mentioned, we all have our own definition of civilization, and we would all be correct. My idea of civilization? It is constituted of the prerequisites, and the add-on “nice to haves”.
Pre-requisites:
(a) humanity (the ability to search, explore, experiment, reason, feel)
(b) family groupings, and groupings of families, and ties that matter
(c) ability to communicate and teach, through space and time, by words, writing, music …
(d) rules for interaction, including violence, finance, commerce
Some civilizations are hardier than others. Each civilization, those that are still going and those that have long disappeared, often mistaken luck for genius, fortune for brilliance, might for right, bad for wrong, necessity for choice, rule for humanity, and, even wealth for happiness, poverty for despair. The survival of one civilization and the extinguishment of another is often presented under the light of right and the darkness of wrong. The truth is, it often simply just was.
On the subject of Cultural Revolution and civilization, I have an anecdote, then a view:
Message 15560046
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[EDIT: Now I go on line to look at our beloved den; switch sound energy to “A Toda Cuba le Gusta” – no idea what it means, but sounds mean enough]
Second to last paragraph on Nausages and Sausages. My parents and I were exiled into the countryside of China in 1969-1970. Their accounts were frozen, possessions taken. We were helped by friends in high places, but only to the extent of being placed in village controlled by peasants (I use that word in gratitude) friendly to the forces of right, light, and human. Had that not been the case, my then 60 some year old dad would have perished under a tractor track, and now I a smartie-pants BBC listening water melon sales assistant along the newly built expressways of China.
We had a one-room mud hut, next to the pigpen, no light, no fresh water, no income, and no way out. Little Jay had a large jar of coins (oops, little Sausages) generating no passive Nausages, but enough to buy one year's worth of eggs, some hatching chicks, some for boiling, and some piglets, not for eating, but for selling. My father's Oxford education (no, like Richard Li, he did not graduate either, as he was too adventurous and lively for that routine) and my mom's St Mary's finishing, and the determination of a Shanghai lady and the optimism of a Trinidadian Creole Chinese man was reduced to doing the basics ... replacing paper window with translucent plastic (that caused a stir in the village, mixing innovation with perceived wealth ... oops, Nausages), doing some good for the villagers with little Jay's jar of Sausages, so that when the red guards came for my dad, with the tractor ready, the lawless and authority-less old world peasants gathered with sticks and stones.
Not exactly 1929 stuff, but dramatic enough for a 10 year old. The basic lesson is easy to learn, obvious to relate, and hard to forget.
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Coming back to the present. The Cultural Revolution satisfied my pre-requisite for civilization. It was human, with groupings, communicating harshly, within very broad rules of engagement. And, of course, it was harsh. It was an experience not purchasable with wealth.
I used to be bitter about the experience, and now, I simply put it down to “just was”. It was an episode involving politicians who knew better but led the immature minds on a rampage for their own selfish or altruistic purposes. The politicians came in several flavors, as usual, namely the good, the bad and the ugly. It was a fight between right and wrong, light and darkness, hope and despair. And if one were to just stop for one moment and reflect on it, the good guys won, as usual.
I am figuring that the surviving civilizations are the ones that can straighten themselves out, where the good guys win, and the dying civilizations are those where the good guys were not good enough to win. Just is, and outsiders cannot help in any sustained manner without messing up matters.
Chugs, Jay |
