Culture and Civilization

- A short essay I wrote in 2007, reproducing here

Isaac Newton once said,"We stand on the shoulders of giants". Yes, humanity has progressed over the ages by building on the contribution of our forefathers. The struggles, aspirations, successes and failures of our ancestors have shaped our collective conscience and our identity. This wealth of inheritance that is constantly evolving, we identify as our culture.

Thus we can speak of a global culture as the synthesis of some overarching beliefs, ideas and yearnings that at once characterize both the human race and each individual. These apparently unifying attributes can be considered to be the definitional constructs of a human being or organism.

However these macrocosmic characteristics notwithstanding, there exist multiple identities and hence multiple cultures. This is due to the enormous diversity of the human race. Thus we have national cultures and regional cultures where culture derives its identity from commonality of geography. One could also think of religious cultures which cut across geographies. We also frequently hear of the culture of the rich and the elite, the culture of the poor and downtrodden, tribal culture and even political and bureaucratic cultures.

Seen in this light, every society can be considered both as an amalgamation of different cultures and also as having one culture, when the unifying factor that defines the society is used to define the culture as well. Even every individual owes his allegiance to multiple cultures; it is just that one of these supersedes the others in any given situation.

So inherently diverse as every society is, the growth of a society depends critically on the interplay of these different cultures and identities cherished implicitly or explicitly by each individual. When the unifying ethos of the society is strong and appealing enough to be embraced by a large majority, society thrives - it has the potential to weather many a crisis. When this near-Utopian state - wherein differences are respected, inequality is low and wherein inherent heterogeneity(not homogeneity) becomes a unifying force in itself, thereby dispelling or reducing artificial heterogeneity - is attained, a society is said to be civilized.

Hence civilization is inextricably linked with the social and economic well-being of the people. A civilized society is one in which the people are prosperous, human values are respected and social and technological advancements exist to sustain that state.

There have been some great civilizations in the past like those of Egypt, Indus-Valley and Mesopotamia. However most of them fell prey to man's greed - his desire to conquer and acquire. The clash between civilizations that originated then exists even today and dominates the arena of global politics. The alarming disparities in the distribution of wealth over the ages have resulted in a huge socio-economic divide between the haves and the have-nots. Even in the USA - one of the most developed countries of the world - the disparity between the rich majority and the poor minority is very huge.

Therefore, civilization as we understand it, probably exists only in history textbooks. However there is room for hope. Many of the so-called 'emerging economies' like India and China are really on an upward growth spiral. This has inspired and enabled many people to take up philanthropic activities. Let us hope that we are able to lead and participate in a revolution that could eventually result in a rebirth of civilizations. We would do well to remember the words of the Father of our Nation, "We have enough on this planet for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed".