A few years ago, I wouldn’t have written this missive. Not because it did not apply then, but because it was unnecessary. There were no conflicting arguments! We truly had a near-universal consensus on what constituted a positive, worthwhile, good civilization! Now, not so much. Let’s dig.
What makes for a ‘good’ civilization? Some likely answers will include relative safety, freedom from war, lowest possible disease rate, gainful employment for all that want it, equal opportunities for all for self-improvement, getting along with neighbors, ample leisure time—and activities to pursue it.
I think most agree that collectively, we can fund necessary things that individuals just can’t accomplish alone: roads, police and fire protection, military, etc. To what extent may cause some heartburn, but their existence and relative need usually does not. Common traffic laws, for example, allow for thousands of vehicles to coexist relatively peacefully, daily—no one seems to decry 10-over speeding, but reckless driving seems over the edge of the safety margin, especially to others on the road.
Where arguments inevitably arise: laws and their enforcement, personal freedom vs morality laws, etc. Where do my rights end and yours begin? What is a ‘right’, anyway? If we should have a ‘social safety net’, how big should it be, who should receive it, how should it be funded, and how can we minimize fraud, and discourage grifters? While tending to the real needy, do we enable the lazy?
The incentive for this writing is the general state of affairs of the State of California. I’ve addressed this subject in the past, but tying CA to the definition of civilization just seems to make sense. I won’t re-hash CA’s big problems (illegal immigration, homelessness, failure to enforce decency laws, drugs and addictions, etc.), but they do color the picture. When a society (civilization) begins to relax certain norms, the predictable results happen, virtually EVERY time. Stop punishing shoplifters, you get more shoplifting. Get more shoplifters, and the stores either raise prices to cover their losses, or shut down and relocate somewhere with better enforcement. I got to see a microcosm of this in the Detroit area in the 60s and 70s: lacking enforcement, illegal activity skyrocketed; businesses (and their associated jobs) simply left the area. The downward spiral was as predictable as it was severe. Detroit is trying to make yet another comeback—we’ll see if they can pull it off this time.
To add to CA’s woes, the unintended consequences of tacit approval of tent cities of homeless folks has created true devastation of the sanitary conditions that existed previously. Diseases that were previously eradicated from the US are making a scary comeback: Typhus, Hepatitis A, even Bubonic Plague! There are parts of CA that now are near quarantine level. If these diseases spread past the tent cities and into the general population, a contagion-situation is very real and very dangerous.
My simple mind sees this as a voluntary departure from civilization. Catering to a drug and alcohol culture reckons back to the ‘free love’ 1960s (and all of the health issues that spawned). Is it failed leadership? Is it a pendulum swing WAY TOO FAR to the anarchy side, where personal freedoms trump all else, including sanitation (personal and public) and decency laws? The trend line is quite scary, and I don’t pretend to know where it leads. But the world is absolutely watching. I hope, for all involved, that it has a happy ending.
Now for the protests/riots update:
I can’t find ANYONE who agreed with the Derek Chauvin treatment of George Floyd. Not one person. Regardless of the cause of death (which is in dispute), literally no one is on the side of the police on this. It was either a case of police brutality or murder–take your pick. And if people want to peacefully protest such behavior, I have zero qualms with that. Just stay out of the roadways.
But what happened next has NOTHING to do with George Floyd. The riots, mayhem, looting, arson, destruction of cop cars, buildings, businesses, and now a few scattered deaths are NOT protests. They are criminal acts. PERIOD. They are mob mentality, voluntarily stepping outside of the bounds of civilization. There is no political goal to be obtained by this behavior. There is no official or administrative action that can satisfy these criminals. In a perfect world, IMHO, they should be met with the ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality that they deserve: lethal force, of whatever flavor is required to stop the wanton destruction. Every rioter and looter should be put on notice: continue this behavior, you take your lives into your own hands. Society needs to rid itself of those that do not chose to obey the sanctity of property and personal rights. Break these societal norms, you are at risk of extermination. No, you suspended your ‘rights’ when you decided to act in a manner that NO civilized society would, should, or could allow.
Just my opinion, of course. But I’ll bet I’m not alone. Maybe we should poll the victims’ families. Maybe we should ask the business owners, whose life’s work are now piles of rubble, even though they had not a thing to do with the Floyd case. Maybe we should ask the apartment residents, that are now confined to their homes, due to curfews, since it is not safe for them to venture out. Maybe we should ask the clean-up crews, that are trying to remove wanton graffiti from national monuments? Or the members of churches that were burned to the ground–no idea their applicability to the Floyd case, either. If the dividing line is civilization vs savagery, it is time to take them up on their proposal. I hope no innocents get hurt in the process, but they are already at risk. Begin the purge
