Civilisation : Its Cause and Cure 



rage of any decent North American Indians if 

 they had been told they required -policemen to 

 keep them in order !] 



If we take this historical definition of Civilisation, 

 we shall see that our English Civilisation began 

 hardly more than a thousand years ago, and even 

 so the remains of the more primitive society lasted 

 long after that. In the case of Rome — if we 

 reckon from the later times of the early kings 

 down to the fall of Rome — we have again about a 

 thousand years. The Jewish civilisation from David 

 and Solomon downwards lasted — with breaks — 

 somewhat over a thousand years ; the Greek 

 civilisation less ; the series of Egyptian civilisa- 

 tions which we can now distinguish lasted alto- 

 gether very much longer ; but the important points 

 to see are, first, that the process has been quite 

 similar in character in these various (and numerous 

 other) cases,^ quite as similar in fact as the course 

 of the same disease in various persons ; and 

 secondly that in no case, as said before, has any 

 nation come through and passed beyond this stage ; 

 but that in most cases it has succumbed soon after 

 the main symptoms had been developed. 



But it will be said, It may be true that Civilisa- 

 tion regarded as a stage of human history presents 

 some features of disease ; but is there any reason 

 for supposing that disease in some form or other 

 was any less present in the previous stage — that of 

 Barbarism } To which I reply, I think there is 



I For proof I must refer the reader to Engels, or to his own 

 studies of history. 



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