As more and more of humanity are, whether voluntarily or not, entering a mindset of post-civilisation it becomes increasingly important to figure out what we want to take with us into the future we will partake in building. Covering every single aspect of our current (crumbling) civilisation worth keeping would take more thinking than I have the mental energy for so I will stick to one category, the category I believe our current civilisation values above all others: warfare. I am, however, not necessarily talking about warfare in the traditional sense of actually fighting wars against eachother over imaginary borders. I am talking about our power to fight when a fighting might be the only option. People who embrace the "less scientific" alternative medicines, countercultures, or simply "hippies" sometimes get the question of what their sacred brews and herbal teas will accomplish if you're dying of a cancer. Looking beyond our ("western") culture's fear of death, a point could be made that most alternative and ancient medicinal practices might accomplish much more than the current healthcare system but that is a discussion for another time. The point I am clumsily trying to make here is that when faced with a sickness that will only be overcome through fighting then we will fight it with all the means science has given us. When a cancer is growing in a young child, quickly deteriorating the child's health and drawing the child closer and closer towards death then we must fight that cancer in any way we can. Why? Because we believe the value and potential of that child's life is worth more than the potential of the damage we inflict through the treatment. The same goes with proper use of antibiotics, antiviral medicine, vaccines, acute injury treatments such as amputations, genetic diseases, and more. What we humans can do better than any other animal is manifesting our ideas in the real world and as we do this, no matter how benevolent we are towards the Earth and all living beings, there will be times when the only option to manifest what we believe is good and beautiful is to fight.
A vital reminder is that the post-civilised mindset has no intention of "going backward", it is simply trying to learn from our mistakes and cherish our collective treasures in the process of figuring out the next steps to take. Charting a path for the future in a landscape covered in a never-ending fog is not a possibility, all we can do is to be aware of where we've been, where we are, and where we should be headed. Continuing to run blindly through the mist gets us nowhere until we reach the chasm that awaits us.
Now, the danger in our skill of fighting is that our current situation is filled with wars that shouldn't be. Actual wars fought with guns aside, we're obsessed with the war on everything. Drugs, gang violence, racism, masculinity, bacteria, boredom, etc. Like most of what we will bring from this civilisation into the post-civilised world it is of the highest importance to remember that everything is a tool and that the tool you choose to use inevitably dictates what you end up building. If all you have is a fist, every conflict is a fight. Fighting is a last resort and many of the problems that end up being fights can probably be approached and solved with open arms before fists are needed. How many cancers and wars are just symptoms of a deeper foundational sickness in our world where fists do nothing but perpetuate this state and hugs are what is truly required?
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