Time for a Civilization do-over

The wellspring of civilization 1.0 was poisoned from the start.

What if I told you, the majority of the world’s problems, are the fault of civilization itself. And we can't fix it. We will need to start another one. Civilization 2.0.

  The wellspring of civilization 1.0 was poisoned from the start. What I want to do is take a step back and look at the big picture. To ask the question, How did humanity find itself in such a mess? When did this all go wrong? So this is a forensic analysis of the historical record. An exercise in deductive reasoning to discover how this all began. To find a primary cause.

Few would argue that we are facing dangerous times. Especially made clear this past two or three years. Many are aware of the rise of dystopian authoritarianism. Unfortunately, many more choose not to see it. Tyrants are growing in numbers and power. Draconian control networks are wrapping their tentacles around the globe.

 For me, the question of how or who is manipulating our world is not the first question to ask. A better question would be, Why is humanity so easily controlled? How did we get like this?

Civilization 1.0 was built on the framework of a critical error. Like a simple game error, but one made in the foundation of the game’s development. The error is in the game’s design, it's broken at its core.

Let me tell you a story, about the birth of civilization. It’s not the same story they tell you in school. It’s the story of the origin of the domesticated human.

Contrary to popular opinion, humans did not domesticate themselves. No animal would ever choose to become a beast of burden. The simple explanation is, some humans domesticated other humans. Or more correctly, a small subset of the human species domesticated a much larger subset of the species.

As with the oxen and the mule, the use of violence and brutal force became the method of domestication. Those with the ability to use violence with extreme brutality became feared. Fear became power. As we know, power corrupts. The first technology of civilization was fear.

Forced human labor was the primary prerequisite for civilization as we know it. Human labor became the first fuel source of industrial energy. All other technology after that was dependent on the engine of servitude and slavery. This one development made the massive scale of wealth, resources, and materials possible. Simultaneously the domestication of humans created a ruling class. The precedent of this power dynamic forged the inherent paradigm of modern civilization.

Archaeologists typically define civilization by a set of landmark developments. In general, five major advancements mark the birth of a civilization. Urban settlements, agriculture, monumental and state buildings, social hierarchy, writing and literacy. These leaps in complexity are necessary for a society to become a civilization.

Although, there is the conspicuous and pivotal development that is never explicitly discussed. That is, the domesticated human. With the exception of writing and literacy all of the prerequisites for civilization required massive amounts of excruciating labor. This was needed for agriculture, buildings, and megalithic monuments. Absolutely none of this, was voluntary. It is no secret, this was done by slaves and peasantry. We openly discuss the evolutionary process of domesticating the oxen. Yet we ignore the fact that the human driving the oxen was also domesticated.

The advent of a ruling elite was the product of learning to manipulate and control people. Using this stolen energy to increase their power and wealth. All of civilization was built on this broken paradigm. The idea that humans could use violence, fear and coercion to control other humans. Understanding fear became power. It has been the concealed power source at the heart of civilization ever since.

  But it wasn’t that simple. Fear was never enough on its own. As society grew managing the suppression of a large population became more difficult. People’s suffering inevitably becomes greater than their fear of death. Eventually, even domesticated humans, will rise up in revolt. The function of governance became managing the temperament of society and postponing the inevitable uprising.

At some point a game changing discovery was made. The power of belief. A power much greater than fear. A power that when used in combination with fear became the greatest power known.

This gave rulers the ability to manipulate humanity into believing in their inferiority. The ability to impress upon the population that the authority to rule is granted by invisible supernatural forces. This conditioning of beliefs into society became the purpose for the formation of a priest class. A group of people believed to have a spiritual connection to the gods. Thus they’re able to receive and communicate the will of the gods to the people. Using the theater of spectacle, massive temples, embroidered robes, relics and regalia. All designed to provoke a state of awe.

Convincing the people that the priest class was chosen by the gods. Therefore their endorsement of royalty meant they too were chosen by god. Creating the illusion of a divine authority.

This became known as the "divine right to rule". Now opposing royalty is the same as opposing the gods. The wrath of the ruling class became synonymous with the wrath of the gods.

The power of a divine royalty was then bestowed on to every aspect of the realm. Military force was no longer the act of vicious thugs, they became the hand of the gods. A soldier’s guilt from inhuman acts of brutality and violence could be displaced. They were now chosen by the gods, their acts of slaughter and torture was now ordained.

Scientific study of these tactics developed the knowledge of combining fear and belief into every application of authority. The creation of official uniforms, emblems, and symbols of status, elevated any that wore them by association to divine authority.

The next development was to use the fear of an enemy to offset the fear of the tyrant. If a strong enemy was created then the tyrant could be seen as a protector. People will rally around the awareness of a shared enemy. Again the symbolism of uniforms, flags, and banners. The chain of command dispersing the will of the gods down through rank and station. Everyone is given a token of the their membership and status in the realm.

After enough time the domesticated human stopped feeling like a captive and began to feel as if they belonged to something greater than themselves. Becoming a member of a kingdom, an army, or religion. Knowledge of these tactics of power grew into the sciences of sociology and politics. The development and use of this knowledge gave autocrats the power to build empires. This was the beginning of the scientific study of behaviorism. The perfection of these tactics, ensured the global domination of civilization.

 Archeologists like to give these developments nicer sounding names. Like, "a complex division of labor" or "the division of people into social and economic classes", “social structure or social hierarchy”. When you say it like that it doesn't sound as bad as servitude and slavery. Yes, we should all be proud of human progress and achievements. What's a few thousand years of torture, brutality, and death. Look at the glory of human progress, look at what we built together. I mean we all have equality and freedom now... Right?  

If you look closely, throughout history you will see these methods of manipulation everywhere. In propaganda, media fear mongering, and divisive rhetoric. This ancient knowledge is the standard modus operandi for politics and media. It is amalgamated into political science, statecraft, business management and advertising. This is at the heart of information warfare, the war on consciousness. It is the primary weapon used to preserve the status quo.

The age old tactic of divide and conquer is a classic example of using fear in combination with belief. What worked ages ago in the dawn of civilization still works perfectly today. In fact it's working even better now. Modern research in psychology, neurology, and behaviorism has turned this knowledge into an advanced science.

Learning to recognize the patterns and decipher the rhetoric is how we remove this pernicious influence from our minds.

These tactics work on subconscious levels. So the counter strategy is to raise our subconscious into consciousness. By becoming vigilant and aware of our thoughts, biases, and unconscious influences. Through conscious awareness we can expose the roots of the poison and remove it.  

  Ok so, how do we build Civilization 2.0 ?

Well, that’s a good question, one that definitely deserves its own article or better yet many articles. Although, it doesn't need to be as difficult as it sounds. I'm certainly not suggesting we start over from scratch.

  The foundation of everything we need is already built. All we really need is improvements and corrections. The real problems of civilization 1.0 are problems of philosophy, problems of consciousness and purpose. We don't need to break anything down. We can simply walk away from it. A control system has no power if people become, by their nature, uncontrollable. Civilization 1.0 was built by stealing the power and energy of the people to empower the authority of tyrants.

Any system of governance that is not voluntary, is by definition, tyranny. That ends when people refuse to empower it.

It’s time to start a breakaway civilization. Using the power and energy of free people to empower civilization 2.0. Building a social structure on the principle of voluntary participation, equal opportunity, and fair representation.

We only need to change our minds to cause a global paradigm shift. True rebellion is a rebellion of consciousness. The rebellion of self reliance and thinking for ourselves. Remove the chains that shackle your mind.

The mind is the key and the lock.