Is Civilization a Mistake? A Critical Evaluation of its Impacts

This essay critically examines the multifaceted impacts of civilization, questioning whether its consequences outweigh its benefits. The analysis delves into the drawbacks of civilization, including environmental destruction through deforestation, pollution, and resource depletion. It further explores alienated work resulting from capitalist systems, and the social issues of poverty and overpopulation. The essay argues that the relentless pursuit of civilization has led to an unsustainable trajectory, threatening the environment and exacerbating social inequalities. The author concludes by suggesting civilization may ultimately lead to societal collapse, emphasizing the need for a reevaluation of current practices and a shift toward sustainable development. The essay highlights the unsustainability of the current civilization model and the need for a radical shift in approach to avert an impending global crisis.

Running head: MASTERS OF SOCIAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT
Masters of Social Changes and Development
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1MASTERS OF SOCIAL CHANGES AND DEVELOPMENT
The term civilization is the combination of the French term, “civilise “ which means
civilized and the Latin tem, “civis“ , which means citizen (Malinowski, 2015) . The civilization
can be described as the society of human beings, which are very complex, who dwells in the
groups. These grouped settlements resulted in the formation of cities. The civilization led to the
formation of urban agglomeration, which comprises of the human settlements that are marked by
the high density of population and infrastructure (Zhang et al., 2013). The civilization is also
characterized by the social segregation, which resulted in the division of the group of the society
based on the factors like the wealth or income of the individuals in the society and also the social
status or power in the society (Amini et al.,2014). The complex societies that were formed
changed to form agricultural villages, cities and states. People no longer relied on the hunting or
collection of food, on the contrary they started to develop systems that would help them to
produce their food. There were also distinct changes in the agriculture and it was followed by the
agriculture revolution. The villages also began to be productive not only agriculturally but also
creatively. The people of the society in the villages started producing textile, their also started
crafting pottery, buildings and sculptures. The process of intensification was started in the
farming. The agriculture revolution, which is one of the characteristics of the civilization lead to
the development of already complex societies. The civilization also led to the formation of social
classes. The political, economic and the religious institutions resulted in the formation of social
hierarchies (Kacewicz et al., 2014). The individuals associated with these hierarchies were
associated with specific roles that included traders, merchants, administrator, farmers, rulers and
others. Civilization also resulted in the development of the villages into cities and some of them
also developed into city –states.

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However, with the changes and advancements associated with the civilization ,there also
persists several drawbacks or demerits which are associated with the civilization , these
drawbacks compels us to rethink or reevaluate whether the civilization is a major mistake , which
the humanity may regret in the long run . The civilization has triggered an insatiable hunger,
which has led to the extinction of several species that ranges from the mammoth to the
Tasmanian tiger (Pimm et al., 2014). The human beings of the civilized society cleared the
forests and grasslands for their settlements and building of factories. Pollution has also been one
of the major components that led to the destruction of environment (Newman, 2014). The
factories, which had been created from the early stages of civilization that followed the industrial
revolution, led to the creation of several factories, which resulted in pollution from the waste
generated and also the smoke from the factories (Mantoux, 2013). The vehicular or automobile
pollution also contributed to the ever-increasing pollution that poisoned the ecosystem with
harmful gases and chemicals. Other human conflicts, that were the part of the civilization ,
which altered the environment are the wars and the use of nuclear weapons . This resulted in the
spreading of toxic residues that affected the entire food chain causing disruption to the
environment. The other drawback that was associated with the civilization is alienated work.
The concept of alienated work or alienation states that the workers were treated as the
commodity (Schacht, 2015). The workers were disappointed with the work as their work were
continuously supervised and monitored by the mangers and the supervisors. Karl Marx, who was
a socialist revolutionary from Germany, stated that the alienation or alienated work was the
result of capitalism, which was one of the characteristics of capitalism (Korsch, 2013). The
workers are manipulated and exploited in order to enhance the productivity and the output. As a
result of this, the workers lacks the determination for work and are frustrated. The capitalist tries

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to ensure that the workers are exploited in order to maximize their surplus (Marable, 2015). The
workers feels that they are being deprived of their destinies as they are continuously monitored
and supervised while they perform their work activities. The workers are unable to consume the
products. As a result of these , there has been a growing resentment among the workers . There
are several disputes and conflicts due to the competitive nature of the capitalism, which is one of
the characteristics of civilization (Witt & Redding, 2014). As a result of these several disputes
and conflicts, there is high level of alienation or alienated work and also dissatisfaction among
the workers. The workers are forced to compete for the resources, which are scarce, for their
survival. Thus, it can be stated as alienated work or alienation is one of the drawbacks or
demerits of the civilization. Poverty is also one of the major drawbacks associated with the
civilization. The civilization resulted in the segregation of the society and led to the creation of
social classes depending upon their wealth. As a result of this, it led to the economic inequality,
which is the disparity of wealth between different sections of the society (Piketty, 2014).
Because of the economic inequality, the rich became richer and the poor became poorer. The
poor sections of the society were forced to dwell in poverty due to these differences. The
inequality meant unequal or almost no access to the resources, which are needed in order to lift
the family from the shackles of poverty. Overpopulation was also one of the attributes of the
civilization, the population in both the cities and the villages began to increase drastically.
Because of the massive population boom, it leads to overconsumption and overutilization of the
resources. The overconsumption and overutilization of the resources results in poverty. A large
number of populations of the society are suffering from poverty, which are indirectly caused due
to the civilization. The over utilization of the resources resulted in the increased pressure on the
traditional livelihood of large section of people. The people dwelling in the rural community

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relied on the land for their livelihood but due to massive urbanization and industrialization,
which are the characteristics of the civilization, they were forced to leave their land. This
disrupted and plundered their livelihood and because of the loss of livelihood and inconsistent
work, they were compelled to live in poverty. Thus, it can be said that there are several
drawbacks or demerits, which are associated with the Civilization, which includes environment
destruction, alienated work, poverty and others. It is also understandable that the disadvantages
and demerits associated with the Civilization would only increase in the years to come.
Therefore, if we analyze thoroughly, it can be said that the Civilization can be deemed as a
mistake in the long run, which the humanity may regret.
The harshest outcome of the civilization is the ultimate ‘collapse’ that world will
experience. Along with it, unfortunately few of the global people actually recognized it and
understood it. The bitter truth that the world is leaning towards collapse is perceived by a handful
of concerned people of the society. The word ‘civilization is denoted by the growth and
expansion of the cities and towns, which has been considered to be the root cause of
environmental disturbance. The early civilization was just the accumulation of few families or
villages but today the word ‘civilization’ has reached the level of cities and subsequently states.
A city is where human tends to settle permanently. However, the rates of human settlement in
lands have exceeded the capacity of the environment. The deluge of people requires sufficient
food supply and other necessary resources from the area where they stay.
The word ‘require’ connotes that the rural people are force to export their products to
meet the requirements of the city people. The city takes away their life, their nature and food.
The so-called civilization cannot be sustainable because there is always a logical limit to every
expansion. The scientists and scholar have explored the idea of colonizing other planets to fulfill

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the ever-expanding need of the current civilization and bridge the current crisis gap. However, it
has to be taken into consideration that the idea of colonizing other planets is possible only in
science fictions. The world has to sustain within its own resources, which is becoming
complicated day by day. The ultimate limit of the physical, technological and biological
advancement is almost reached to build a better civilization but it must be of greater concern
whether this advancement is affecting the world in one way or the other.
When examined properly, it has been revealed that the major constituents and effects of
civilization, which can lead the world towards destruction and collapse, are overpopulation,
inequality, famine, warfare, political and social unrest, disease, depletion of the major resources
such as arable soil, water, timber and many others.
The environmental destruction- One of the most significant aspects of the environmental
destruction is the deforestation in the name of economic growth and development. The rise in the
climate breakdown and CO2 emission rates are the living instances of the consequences of
civilization, which is heading towards the ultimate collapse. The rare species of plants and
creatures are being almost extinct due to the deadly effects of modern civilization. The rivers,
which are the sources of lives, are being polluted and blocked year after year. Reports say that
the world has lost half of the world‘s wildlife in the last 40 years due to the ruthless manner in
which forests are being executed (Davidson, 2014). It has been referred to as the mass extinction
event. The decline in the number of insect species specifically bees is associated with the
decline in pollination in plants.
The resources- The level of essential minerals and resources such as antimony, oil,
phosphorous, copper, silver, indium and many others is declining (Antonio & Alicia, 2014). The

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advancement of civilization has increased the rates of more renewable energy consumption
(Bhattacharya et al., 2016) . The resources have long reached their peak and it is high time when
potential actions must be taken to meet the ends. The demands of superior technology and
gadgets have raised the dependency on fossil fuels and it is well known that they require more
energy to establish and sustain. The dangerous rate with which the oil reservoirs are being
exploited can well evidence that the world will soon arrive at a point when there will be zero
barrels of oil left.
Famine - After seeing the condition of the past years, the growth of population, scholars
have suggested that capitalism will truly stare the humanity unless it changes. In this respect, it
must be kept in mind that the world is nearing the total collapse of the food supply around the
globe. The oceans are being overfished, the fields are being over ploughed and over reaped to
feed the multitudinous humanity (Yoon-Henderson, 2016). The vastly overpopulated world will
soon run out of food and living spaces for people. The carrying capacity of the earth has
exceeded and there is no such way to build a harmonious relationship between the environment
and the multiplying population (Clayton & Radcliffe, 2015). The day is not that distant when
people will live at the ‘coffin homes’ in the form of apartments. The focus on another aspect
must be thrown that ‘civilization’ has increased the number of belongings or luggage that come
along with each person. It occupies extra space and thus heightens the demand of large living
spaces.
Social and Political unrest - Another negative outcome of civilization is the social and
political unrest in the society and community since the society has fallen apart (Miller & Rose,
2017). It is not new that the world experiences everyday instances of political clash and protests
mostly among the people who are not ready to compromise. The rush to establish the

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righteousness of individuals intensifies the need to fight against the existing rules and practices.
Mass shooting is an example that occurred in the United States with more than 50, 000 records of
such incidents. Apart from social and political unrest, psychological unrest can also be counted
as a consequence. The modern civilization is structured on the basis of technological
advancement. It is the contributory factor in the progress of modern world as well as the most
negative effect. The world has become skeptic, forgotten all the connection with nature having
addicted to the smart phones and caught in the net of ‘internet’. It is nothing but the decay of
humanity caused by the cancer of modern civilization.
Therefore, it can be seen from all the aspects of civilization that it is leading the world
towards nowhere but destruction and decay, collapse and scarcity. The process has already
started and nothing can ideally stop it but the awareness can support the civilization to sustain in
the world. The workers felt that they were deprived of their destinies, as they were not able to
consume the products that were developed by them. There are several conflicts and disputes
associated with the capitalism because of its competitive nature. Because of these conflicts and
disputes, it results in the alienation of work or alienation of masses, as they have to compete for
their survival due to the scarcity of resources.

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