The laws of nature are strict. Human beings attempt to overturn these laws, constantly. For example, medicine is all about the battle with nature, because nature has this cycle of birth, life, death. Everything born will die. Everything germinated will die. But then, it comes back.
Sixty million year ago, when that comet hit the Earth, the dinosaurs died off. So too did millions of other life forms. But like most existence on earth, life bounces back. No, not the dinosaurs. But other lifeforms did, and new lifeforms spring up. That's because life itself is resilient. It evolves.
The reason we know about evolution is because human beings have developed the sciences of paleontology and archeology. These are the hard science of history. In our modern age, other sciences now work with archeology, to discover even more fascinating angles of our Earth’s past unrecorded history.
Unrecorded history means no one wrote stuff down in books. For the very reason that there was no one to write stuff down in books. There were no human beings, not for millions of years after that big comet hit the Earth. Truly, human beings are young when it comes to the big scheme of things. The Earth is about 4.50 billion years old, humans about 2 million years old. The study of history is really a baby.
It is the archaeologists who give us the hints about pre-recorded history. Recorded history is a little bit easier to decipher because people wrote down what they saw or experienced. It's like having corroboration in an investigation. Some of the documents don’t agree with the tangible evidence. That is so because the writers themselves, even though eye witnesses, can interpret what they see. Or they are prejudiced against others. So when I read primary literature from the past, I like to get a second opinion. Those second opinions can be hard to come by, because before the Greeks and Romans came along, the written word was sparse. That's when I turn to the archeologist, to understand how people lived.
From the get-go, life has not been easy on humanity. Well, life isn’t easy on all life forms. Life is a struggle. Unless you are a house cat. Many individuals pray that there is reincarnation, and that they will come back as some woman’s cat!
But I digress.
In the struggle to make life easier, human beings developed social networks. It begins with family. Families, back in the hunter-gatherer stage, developed among the members of tribes. The tribes are small. The pickings among the women can be difficult to come by. For this reason, women are highly prized. So when one tribe comes across another, they would exchange people. In this way, the DNA got spread around and mixed. There were also raids for people. We have all heard about the cave-men stealing women. They might steal children as well. Since survival could be iffy, especially during the Ice Ages, I suggest murder was rare. People understood, they needed people.
With social networks came customs and taboos. Or tribal morals, if you will. Much of this info on morals was passed down through storytelling. Once writing developed, the stories turn into religious narratives. From Memphis (Egypt) to Jerusalem to Babylon to Athens to Rome, humans also developed social customs, and developed the art of being connected. As primal tribes started farming and then became town people, they needed to solidify their social system, their customs and taboos. Therefore, rule books, like the code of Hammurabi, and the Torah, are written. The Egyptians as well, the most ancient of civilizations, had its own stories, codes of morality and complex religious services.
Monotheism began in Mesopotamia , with Israel, and Persia. Europe remained polytheistic. It would come to be that, the Romans, and then the Greeks, would adopt the monotheistic religion of Christianity, officially. In late antiquity, Muhammad developed another form of monotheism, Islam. He did so because he wanted to unite the Arab tribes.
The major cities of those times, were no where near as large as ours are. Babylon, during its heyday, had about 200,000 people. Those first cities would not have lasted long without that glue of what behavior was proper, and what was not. Religion, as an institution, is a part of the social fabric of any civilization.This is so in our current world. Events at a temple, church or mosque, gives people a connecting point. People of the same religion marry among themselves, and by extension, help one another in establishing organizations, which can include religious schools and businesses.
In our modern world, we refer to such connections as social capital. Social capital is worth more than money in the bank. It is how millionaires become billionaires, or how a humble bishop becomes a cardinal who can one day be pope. Every politician needs it if they want to get onto a ballot. Indeed, a Ph.D student needs that capital as well. Being brilliant is never enough. Being social will get you to where you want to go.
If you give me the job of empress, one of my first actions would be to mandate certain classes be taught in schools that promote good social relations.. First on the list would be the Principles of the Torah as Etiquette. Why? Because the Torah is, in my humble opinion, the best book on etiquette due to its guiding principles on how people should treat one another. Secondly, students would wear uniforms, with the girls wearing a more feminized version. Thirdly, language classes that teach both the written and spoken word. The old elocution classes would be returned to the curriculum. The great equalizer is language. Everyone needs to speak well, and write plainly. Cursive will be taught, yes. Fourthly, no child will be held back. Nor do they have to wait for the others to catch up to them. Each child proceeds at a pace they can handle. The smarter kids will help the challenged kids, thus giving those smart kids a real taste of responsibility. And number five, all students will keep their schools neat and clean. This includes the grounds. This give the children a feeling of ownership. Thus they will learn to keep their community clean. No waiting for the government to do it for them.
The point is to educate in usefulness as well as thinking and general knowledge. We are all in this thing, called life, together. Individuals will do their part because everyone else is doing his or her part. As they grow up they will take on bigger responsibilities, but not all responsibilities will be the same in weight. Some folks are just smarter and they have different talents that leads them to learn different skills. When the individual participates fully in the community, no one is lonely, a helping hand is close by, and there is no poverty as we know it. Everyone has a job that will fit their abilities.
I’ve just described the feudal society. That society is built on social capital being the main currency. In the feudal society, you won’t go hungry when you are too sick, or injured to work. It could very well be a local monk or nun will come around to give you medicine. Or help you get up and walk to the bathroom. During harvest time, you might sit in a chair to do some needed task because everyone else is busy with the harvesting. You probably volunteered to do that job. Because those are your family and friends out in the fields.
This is what social capital means to the working classes. Social capital is also important to the leadership.They need to know as many people as they can. And they will know about those people.
In today’s world there isn’t a billionaire on this planet that didn’t spend a part of their youth cultivating relationships. It has been said that in the world of the performing artists, it is who you know that matters. I have news for you. That is so in every business, in every endeavor. From the billionaire to the garbage collector, getting a job means having to interact with others. Building a business is intensive in knowing and understanding your community and your customer.
In our world of massive everything, building social capital is more difficult. Thus we encourage our children to make friends. My son found his first three jobs through friends. By the fourth job he had become so skilled his reputation preceded him. Well, he’s a social chap.
Helping those in poverty build their social capital is the best thing we can do for them. Our social welfare system does not do anything for people, except to keep them stagnant. There is job training, but the know how of getting along with people is just as important as the know how of using tools.
Social capital is what built civilizations. Knowing folks, cooperating with them and taking an interest in their lives, is magic. Always go for magic.
Share this post