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Civilization Doesn’t Have Problems, It IS the Problem
It is corrupt at its very core.
Ever since humanity stopped living in small hunting and gathering packs and began planting crops and staying in one place, our way of life has been out of balance. Worse, we started unbalancing nature itself to suit our short term needs. And we started having more and more conflict with other human beings.
Ancient peoples understood this. The people who first composed the stories that make up the Judeo-Christian bible for example, felt this and theorized that humanity’s violence and conflict were the result of disobeying God. The first hint of conflict comes with the development of agriculture. The first two humans are expelled from the garden of Eden for eating the forbidden fruit of knowledge. God tells them that they will no longer be able to just eat fruit growing on trees, but will have to struggle to grow their own food.
As soon as this happens, further conflicts begin. The first two children of Adam and Eve get involved in a struggle for God’s approval when Abel’s sacrifice is accepted and Cain’s is not. Why God approves of Abel’s sacrifice of a lamb and not of Cain’s offering of plants is not made clear, but commentators suggest that maybe Cain did not give in a spirit of generosity.
