I have only now, in the evening of my life, come to understand that civilized society is a dream, not a reality.
Day after day the paint peels a little more off the facade of my world. The civilized world. The 'First World'. As a species, we homo sapiens had dared believe we were set apart from the lower animals, invertebrates and insects. We were intelligent. We were special. We were civilized.
It could be I am merely walking a path common to this stage of life. Maybe nothing has changed. Maybe I am simply becoming aware of what has always been true.
To my eye, however, it seems the more technologically advanced we become, the more dangerous, barbaric, our world becomes. Tech enables those who wish first and foremost to become rich to do so with increasing speed. Wealth brings power, and as always, power allows people to do what they want.
In a civilized world, powerful people use their power to improve life in general. In our modern world it seems the powerful think of themselves first. That is a very old theme, one that dominated before we became 'civilized'.
The Law of the Jungle.
The powerful are not just people these days. Commerce itself takes unfair advantage of its mass. People are presented with ultimatums when attempting to acquire goods and services that are considered necessities. The "I have read and agree" checkbox is ubiquitous and for all practical purposes meaningless. We need what is on the other side of that "Agreement" screen. We do what everyone does. We check the box. We are owned by that action.
We click and share with our commercial world today and discover tomorrow that someone has found a way to capitalize on what we shared. The cost may be everything. Our trust in institutions once believed to protect exposes us to increasing risk. Few care. Fewer will help.
It is disheartening to lose faith. The rule of civility held such promise. Technology, too, had such potential to raise us up. It hurts to see such promise turn into a wasteland of opportunistic grab, stealing from those who have so little. Making us all seem a little less human.
Lost is the hope something will happen to right the wrongs. The enticement of easy wealth is strong. Many are willing to do whatever it takes to get there.
So good luck, my friend! Watch your back.
