"We all come from somewhere. We are all damaged. And most of us know why they are where they are. And why we live, how we live, and why we are the way we are; and why we want to live the way we live, why we love exactly this way and not another. [...] We are what we are in spite of our fate, we are what we make of us."

("Better", Doris Knecht)

What is important to me in my civilizaation? What do other civilizations mean to me?

Maria Fellner - 04.01.2020 @ 08:50

Civilization today

by Dalma Kovács and Kíra Sztaskó, DNG Budapest/Hungary

The first question is: What is civilization? We know that people have lived in communities from the beginning. Humans are sociable in nature; even in prehistoric times it was known that we have much more chances of survival in a community than alone. That has not changed until today. We make decisions and so shape our future; everyone participates in our civilized world. We are different, but we still live and work together to achieve our goals and make life easier.

For most people, civilization means culture, science and development, basically, the exit from “barbarism”. No one has to be alone; we help each other in everyday life and can rely on each other. Life in civilization also offers understanding: we accept the opinions of others, are open and resolve our conflicts peacefully instead of immediately taking up arms.

But even this highly developed, global society, which we now call civilization, has a dark side. Let us now think of the increasingly common environmental problems that we cause ourselves. Many scientists say that modern civilization endangers our world because we simply consume the earth's energy sources. Our way of life has become unsustainable, civilization is becoming increasingly complex, and social inequalities are deepening over time.

In addition to the global ramifications, we can also feel the impact of civilization on our lives, like the main character of Doris Knecht's novel “Better”. Tori is a woman who gets a completely new life by marrying a wealthy real estate agent, fleeing her dark past. Still, she can't forget the past years of homelessness and drug addiction, and is always afraid that her new, chic friends will reveal her secrets. Tori's life is determined by social pressures, and on top of that she wants to match her husband. He has offered her the saving opportunity to leave her life behind her, and although she doesn't really love him, she doesn't want to ruin his life.

It is a fact that the society in which we live our lives has growing obligations. To a certain extent, there is no problem with this, but nowadays many people forget to live properly because they want to meet these expectations too strongly. They sink into the grey everyday life, follow a pattern and besides this, they do not even notice what is happening to them.

We must also remember that there is not only one civilization in the world. Every society has its own set of rules, whether we're talking about culture, social norms, or religion. As a guest in a foreign company, one cannot expect the rules to be changed just for them. The key word is: adaptation. We should treat these other civilizations with respect, and perhaps learn from them.

In the end, it can be considered how long our civilization - as it is today - will continue to function. We are at a crossroad: whether we choose the big transformation or the big breakdown depends only on us. Who tells us how far we can go?

Dalma Kovács and Kíra Sztaskó  - 15.03.2020 @ 22:13