The history of human civilization is a continuous chain of events that improved the way people chose to live together. The superiority of human mind over other mammals made a stark difference from the very beginning. Humans have assimilated beings and things, accumulating and eliminating on their own will and their own needs. As long as the cities have formed, various forms of government appeared and disappeared. Willing to make their polities more perfect, the first potentates decided what elements of society are fit for the model created, the elements that broke the rules or the normalities have to be removed, excluded for the whole structure to enhance the overall functioning of the system.
The first human aggregations brought more stability, food was stored more efficiently, the production of that food became more elaborate, the common defense provided general safety. For the defense to work, the foreigners were removed; they annihilated the enemies. Of course, human history is more complex, and multi-layered that the brief description above says it.
The subject of this is the general incline of people to exclude and include various elements from or to their society, to support the wellbeing of many or the willing for power of a few. The man has received the world as it was, the planet carefully prepared to sustain and maintain diverse forms of biologic life. It is a subject of great length and complexity to talk about if there was a God or more, that arranged all in perfect order to serve the man’s best interest or if physical and chemical laws of a mostly still unknown Universe have worked together to create the beautiful planet right here in this specific spot in the immensity. Therefore, we don’t dare to touch it.
After standing up on his hind legs and somehow developing a brain capable of unbelievable achievements, the human now seeing the world from a completely different perspective, and understanding the world contrastingly as they processed the informations at a novel level got scared of everything that couldn’t understand. Most likely, they created the gods out of fears they couldn’t control.
When the gods couldn’t do enough to help the man, which in between wanted more and more from the world, he acted as god and manipulated things and beings in the directions needed. They included everything that could be of help and excluded everything that could be a threat. Playing or acting as god gave the man a power with no limits. Seeing that power working well for their own purposes, they did the best to enhance it. Using the pronoun he in the above sentence is just another example of one of the most exclusive actions most societies have done. Blinded by the wild hunger for power and bloody fights between rivals, the men excluded the women, giving them an apparently insignificant role, that most domestic one, bearing and raising children and preparing food. Where should have the man gotten with his majestic civilizational project without the priceless aid of those strong women who actually have maintained the very foundation of human society, the homestead and cradle of men?
The historic series of exclusions and inclusions have started. Plants that proved to be nutritious were selected and cultivated to feed the population. Hard work and high energy displaced massive traces of forests to make room for the new plants the human liked and wanted. Including specific vegetable species led to excluding other vegetable species. This was probably the first act of the human violating the very intrinsic relationship they had with the environment. It was the beginning of a war between man and nature that continues to our days, victories and defeats, along the way.
Animals sharing the same land were hunted for food, or just observed in their habitats, respected or feared for their behaviours, have been domesticated to serve different purposes for the benefit of the new master of the world. They first included the dog, surprisingly, as it was no great deal to be brought for the human. They have captured the horse from their running wild and free for his great muscle power was needed for the human to travel faster and plow the land with more ease. Other representatives of the animal world, not fitted for the company of men, were excluded.
The exclusion did not always mean the excluded has just been sent away, but sometimes destruction was sought. The great astrophysical laws or the great creator of the universe have put all things and beings to coexist in the same place, but the human then disrespected the very saint manufacture of the nature and instead manufactured the world on their own will.
Humans truly mastered every undertaking. The role of this biped changed the course of history to a new direction. When they realized the easiness of maneuvering, they had to go for a general improvement of their kind and they excluded individuals and groups of individuals. Removal, relocation and annihilation were the means.
Who was and when was to be removed was a choice of complexity that changed with location and time. The powerful were usually the ones ostracizing the weak ones. It may look like this exclusionary practice was an invention of the advanced societies, but in fact these actions might have their origins in the wild world. This was the same common ground where the human has arisen to reach the top of the food pyramid. Over there in the depths of the woods or on the limitless stretches of wild pastures or savannahs, the natural law is pretty clear straightforward: the powerful one excludes the weak one, in an untamed competition for resources. Food is the key resource every being is fighting for in the biological kingdom. Food was also the resource the human was fighting and later working for. Over time, though, the powerful men have expanded their interest, their goals or their necessities beyond the nutritional need. Thus, they included various resources for their general wellbeing. Meanwhile, the animals did not evolve over their need to control their hunger. The humans, instead, added new “hungers” to their minds.
Having the choice between excluding and including elements in their circle of means gave humans an extraordinary power as a group, and added more threats to the neighbouring species and relatives of their kind. Things started to change at faster paces and humans accumulated experience and knowledge. Their godly power became conspicuous.
The exclusions of race made history more than anything else as soon as some people grew concerned about the inequities and injustices made to certain races. Later on, different races developed their own group consciences and acted at a social level to free themselves or improve their condition. This was possible because of those groups belonging to the same species, therefore having high mental skill. Until now, the history proved that societies that opened their doors to inclusions of races have made greater strides towards progress than those societies that, instead, have narrowed options of inclusions, and applied the extreme rule of purifying the race. More than that, they all failed in their actions and ceded for diversity. Biology favors diversity against homogeneity. Diversity improves species, and this certainly applies to human societies as well. Powerful opponents against diversity will always have a voice, and a possibility to gain enough power to stop ultra diversification. Conservative theories bring plenty of reasons on the table to back up their theories, and most of them will be generally appealing. The definition of progress can easily be manipulated and changed by including or excluding certain terms. The almighty master of the world can modify everything in their favor, from physical beings to conceptual ones.
It was probably the beginning of the great era of inclusion. The weak became stronger, the powerful accepted their limits. Biblical laws and morals excluded swaths of social classes from even claiming any rights. Adultery, homosexuality, free thinkers, free spirits were now welcomed as part of society. Public acceptance grew probably harder than legal acceptance, but the great wave of social inclusions continues to our days, resistance growing probably directly proportional. This is probably one major threat that archaic and patriarchal societies were afraid of.
But the great inclusion brought diversity and only added speed to the great march toward progress. Individuals once excluded from the levies of power now are gaining more access to the decision-making process. Humanity is on the verge of getting to an almost utopian level of global interconnection. The history may record these years as being the most peaceful ones. Women, ignored races, ignored sinners and other categories are contributing to a multifaceted development of the human civilization.
The significant achievement at social level is only shadowed by inherent divisions. Technology brought the means of greater inclusion. Individuals easily connect worldwide thanks to the mighty network that gave wide access to almost every human to information of any kind. More than that, everybody got a voice in the great ocean of opinions. The ultimate democratization of opinion is one other significant example of inclusion and the shock wave sweeping social networks is still hard to get through because there is a wide variety of now public voices that manipulate despite all efforts of good or bad censorship. The diversity of public opinion should contribute to the general progress, should the theory apply here as well.
The ultimate course of humans to the tomorrow’s civilization is still ignoring and hitherto excluding one major element from the grand scale, the planet and the environment. In the futility of higher scopes, humans seem to forget the very foundation of their splendid castle, the planet that naturally and uncontrollably created the place we call Earth, the place that gave birth, among other amazing things and beings, to our species. Our species that grew and nurtured from this simple cradle to mature enough and transform it into a magnificent structure, but blinded by their achievement, they are easily excluding the only known solid ground that can sustain their existence, the beautiful blue planet, shinning diamond in the darkness of a space which in vain we try to conquer.
words-of-mine 