Civil Obedience
I've often been forced to ponder the meaning of civilization, whether or not I live in one, and whether not such a thing has ever actually existed, except in theory, or at best within certain frameworks of a larger society that otherwise frankly could not give a damn. Many studies have been done to determine whether or not people would obey simple rules of civility if they did not feel, at least at some level, compelled to do so: whether by a stern parent standing by, that policeman on the corner, the minister at church, a teacher at school, or a larger government backed by an army. Or even simply that someone is watching. We do, in short, what we were taught, because we must, because it is the rule, or the law, or the right thing to do. But would we do them otherwise? Most of us would like to think we would. Yet in large parts of the world gleaming cities have been--are at this moment being--reduced to rubble by people who seem to have no problem performing the most uncivilize