C.E.M. Joad’s “The Story of Civilization” Helps Navigate Our Increasingly Boorish World
“Being civilized means making and liking beautiful things”
Philosopher Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad’s The Story of Civilization, written in 1931, is one of the best examples of the cliched line that great things come in small packages. All of 94 pages in big font, it packs in some profound philosophy in eloquent, relatable language. I first read it as a child almost 20 years ago when my English teacher lent it to me (he used to say I bought this book only for two rupees from a roadside book vendor). The book and its take on what it means to be “civilized” have stayed with me ever since.
While a lot of what Joad wrote is out-dated information (especially the history part), the beauty and relevance of his ideas are eternal. He begins with a chapter titled “A Talk,” in which he describes a wonderful conversation with Lucy (probably his daughter). Joad asks Lucy what it means to be civilized. She talks about machines, trains, telephones, and movies, to which Joad responds that while these seem to be markers of civilization in the present day (i.e., 1930s England in this context), he didn’t think that just having them made one civilized: “after all, being civilized ought to be some credit to you, something you can be proud of.” Joad then goes on to talk about several qualities that mark people and societies as being “civilized,” in the process gifting us a great guidebook for what it means to be good, decent human beings.
Being Tolerant
What are some characteristics of a “civilized” individual? Joad reckons that being civilized has a lot to do with being tolerant: “a tolerant person is one who does not interfere with other people even if [the person] thinks they are wrong, [and] is prepared to let [people] think what they like and say what they think.” Joad alerts us to the fact that in practice tolerance does not simply mean letting people think what they like (which anyway isn’t something that can be controlled), but letting people write and say what they think. Importantly, he urges people to value and fiercely preserve this quality of tolerance which, he says, has not been a particularly common feature in human history.
Joad’s concerns about tolerance potentially coming under attack from various quarters strikes a chord even today. What he primarily was referring to in the book was tolerance in terms of religious beliefs, and especially the freedom of those who did not believe in any god or organized religion. Only less than 50 years ago, he said, had English politician Charles Bradlaugh obtained the right to sit in the House of Commons without first swearing an oath in the name of God, “in whom he did not believe.” Alas, we cannot know what he would think of the strangely egregious state of affairs today, when in so many countries (including my home country India) the ostensible defenders of God and nation are not only decimating our recent collective civilizational gains in tolerance, but also demanding that incendiary, intolerant speech and writing be freely allowed in the name of tolerance and free speech!
Wielding Technology Wisely
I had an English grammar book in high school (the “Wren and Martin” book) which contained a section on precis-writing, and one of the exercises in that section carried a passage written by Joad on machines and humanity. I still remember enjoying it a lot and reading it over and over again. It made a deep impression on my mind then, and not long after I realized that the passage was excerpted from The Story of Civilization.
“What do we do with all the time which the machines have saved for us?” asks Joad rhetorically. Because, well, “we use our time and energy to make more and better machines; but more and better machines will only give us still more time and still more energy, and what are we to do with them?” In his own way Joad anticipated the harmful over-dependence on technology and technological solutions that many countries would develop in the later part of the twentieth century. Instead of channeling the time and energy saved for us by technology to make society better and more humane for all (for instance, deliberating on how to reduce inequalities and systemic oppression), we have frequently used technology in inimical ways, including for mass surveillance and the manufacturing of consent for destructive and unjust activities.
Besides, it is clear that people in the early 1900s who witnessed firsthand the massive transitions in day-to-day life brought about by science (from washing machines to airplanes), expected that we would use the extra time and energy to be with friends and family and to be out there in nature. That today many of us are choosing instead to go down the rabbit holes of social media, among other things, reminds me of these lines from the lovely poem “Leisure” by W.H. Davies, in which the “staring” at nature which he pined for, sits uneasily today with the staring at screens we constantly engage in:
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare…
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass…
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
Making and Liking Beautiful Things
How should we better spend our time and energy then? Joad’s simple answer is that “we should try to become mere civilized. For the machines [technology] themselves, and the power which the machines have given us, are not civilization but aids to civilization.” For him, to be civilized meant some very specific things. His working definition of being civilized is in fact the biggest takeaway of the book for me: “… being civilized mean[s] making and liking beautiful things, thinking freely, and living rightly and maintaining justice equally between [hu]man and [hu]man.”
I often think of these lines when I go on picturesque hikes, or listen to deeply melodious music, or read a moving essay, or watch a well-made movie, or enjoy an exquisite meal, or visit an awesome museum. Isn’t doing such fun things, and having the freedom to do that, the bare minimum that each human must be able to enjoy? And isn’t making sure that others are able to do such things the bare minimum that can be asked of people? What I love about Joad’s definition is that he focuses not only on the right to have fun but also on the responsibility to make it easier for everyone to have fun: “living rightly and maintaining justice.”
A huge lot of things are wrong with the world today (as they often have been), and many of us are conflicted as to what we can do about the mess around us. For those still on the fence regarding whether to support progressive objectives such as human rights and social justice, Joad’s ideas about being civilized might help provide the final push. If many millions of humans around us are struggling simply to live from hand to mouth, are suffering violence, and see no prospect of “making and liking beautiful things” or “thinking freely,” then clearly there’s much we need to do to make these a reality for people.
After all, to paraphrase Joad, there is no point in being a little oasis of civilization in a desert of barbarism.
