I think it was Gandhi who was asked for his opinion of Western civilization, and replied that he thought "it was a very good idea.".

We may fancy we are civilized in some way because we have conquered so many material problems, and have a steady food chain, more or less.

But the fact is that we haven't even begun to guess at what truly civilized life might be like--a world without hatred, hunger, brutality and without war. We haven't even begun to design the rudiments of civilization on that order of magnitude. The fact that we can lift pinkies with those of the right color and income level is laughable parody compared ot what the real thing would look like, I imagine.

One can hope.


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