Joe Moncarz
Wait! Calm down. I know, nothing gives parents a panic attack more than someone suggesting that kids shouldn't go to school. Your heart skips a beat, and your first thought is, “At home all day?! What will they do?! They'll drive me nuts!!” Which shows how selfish you are. But it also points to one of school's important functions: babysitting. (Not to be confused with baby-spitting, which is just what babies do. Can't do anything about that.) Of course, if it were just babysitting, then that wouldn't be so bad. But schools have an agenda, and more than the agenda, given the state of the world, it's just plain negligent to send your kids to school (just like trashing the planet is negligent, but we keep doing that, too.)
So your next question is, “How is sending kids to school negligent?” And I can tell from the tone of your voice that you're getting irritated with me. I don't blame you. Just take a few deep breaths and try to stay rational for a few minutes. One of the most important elements in intelligent decision-making is this: to consider the alternatives. So that's what this is. Trying to be smart and consider the alternatives. For instance, if the police find a dead body, it's not a good idea for them to just yell out, “Bigfoot did it!” and stick with that. They have to explore the alternatives and possibilities. Even at McDonald's Corporation board meetings, every executive has to suggest alternate ways of poisoning people, besides Big Macs and fries. (That's where 1993's McHaggis came from. It was a traditional Scottish haggis, deep-fried, on a sesame seed bun. Was a hit in Scotland and South Korea.) If you just want to stick with the idea that school is wonderful and kids all have to go there, and not consider anything else, well, you're welcome to do that. Most parents have done exactly that – and look at the world now! The point is, if you don't consider alternatives, you'd never get a McHaggis. (And prisons would be full of Bigfoots.)
So let's start. First, global civilization is falling apart, the Earth is losing its ability to support life, and humans are about to destroy everything. That's the reality. And so how is sending your kids to school going to address that reality? Is school helping them to see civilization for what it is? Is school teaching them how to dismantle pipelines? Does school train them to survive by identifying edible plants, eating bugs and roadkill? Because those are the actual skills we need, as climate change, ecological collapse, deforestation, nuclear war, and Jeff Bezos' big shiney head converge, like a giant tsunami of mass destruction sweeping over the planet.
Just imagine if a meteor was discovered that was expected to smash into Earth one year from now, and would destroy all life on the planet. Would you still send your kids to school? Hell no! Well, nuclear bombs are like that meteor, only it could hit at any time. The existence of nuclear bombs and nuclear reactors is like playing Russian roulette each and every day – with the entire planet. And climate change and ecological collapse are just like a really slow-motion meteor crashing into the Earth. If a meteor was already crashing into the planet, but it was happening really, really, really slowly, would you still send your kids to school? Hell no! You'd tell them to go out and play. Which is what they should be doing. Not sitting in classrooms all day, getting bullied “to learn”.
You see, what school does is train kids to go to work and to act as if everything is okay, like the world is just fine. That's the message you give your kids when you send them to school. That's the message from teachers. (Along with other messages such as, “If you get good grades you're good. If not, you're bad.” And “Shut up and learn!”) But if a spaceship full of aliens passed Earth and the aliens were like, “Hey, what's up? How's it going?” would you respond back, “Yo, all good here”? No! You wouldn't! You'd say, “We're fucking everything up and going nuts here! Can you please help us out?!” That's what you'd say. And if the aliens seemed pretty groovy and were listening to some good tunes, you might even beg them to take you with them, to who-knows-where, to hell with gravity and oxygen. Anyplace but Earth! (Which is just a sci-fi version of the Messiah, our longing for someone else to come and save us.) The point is, shit is getting real stinky on Earth, and what does sending your kids to school do about it?
Of course, school doesn't do anything helpful about the state of the planet and it's not even sold to us that way. No one says, “Go to school so you can help make the world a better place.” The point of school is marketed and sold as “to get a job”. It's all about finding your slot inside the Great Industrial Machine and playing the part of the good citizen, who goes to work, pays taxes, occasionally cheats on their spouse, and sometimes snorts cocaine. Kids know this. Just ask any kid why they go to school, and they'll say, “To get an education” or “To learn.” Sound good, right? But it's not really about learning, because if you ask them WHY they need to learn, they'll say, “To get a job.” And the funny thing is, most learning for any job is done on the job! So that excuse for school is baloney (which is a carcinogen, by the way). Then ask kids WHY they need to get a job and they'll say, “So I'm not a loser like my Uncle Fred.” Which is just the kid repeating what their parents said, because Uncle Fred is a pretty intelligent guy. He just likes to live in his van, go rock climbing, and occasionally handcuff himself to oil pipelines.. It's just the parents being bitter over their own stressful life, of living in debt, with a big mortgage, grinding out a “career”, never having enough cocaine, while Fred is out in nature, enjoying life with his friends, and taking action to protect the Earth.
Even worse is that the focus is all on “jobs”, when jobs just help us to destroy more and more of the planet. Or, if you like math, Jobs = Destruction. (Also, Jobs = Annoying Boss. So by the transitive property, Annoying Boss = Destruction.) The world doesn't need more jobs. In fact, it doesn't need ANY jobs! Do we actually need politicians? No. Do we actually need corporate executives? No. Bureaucrats? No. Bankers? Stock brokers? Accountants? Analysts? Police? Lawyers? Advertisers? Marketers? Factory farmers? Lobbyists? Weapons developers? Military-anything? Oil-anything? Loggers? Auto-anything? Highway builders? Steel and cement makers? Plastic-makers? Scientists? Conventional doctors? Tech geeks? Teachers? Principals? School administrators? The list can go on and on. No, we don't need any of those jobs. Just about every single job exists to support the military-medical-agricultural-consumerist-industrial complex in further destroying the planet and making everyone miserable, while getting a handful of rich, white men stinkin' rich, while most everyone else slaves away, struggling to pay rent and buy decent food. (A McHaggis does not count as decent food.)
And let's not forget that most jobs SUCK! Not only do they suck, our boss is often a jerk, too. To make things worse, they usually don't pay well, either. And even if they do pay well, we have little time to do anything with that money because we work such long hours. Of course, every study demonstrates that, once we can meet our basic needs, more money doesn't make anyone happy. Yet, everyone seems to be chasing after accumulating piles of money. Most jobs stress the hell out of us. Life in general is stressing the hell out of everyone, which is why depression, mental illness, suicide, drug addiction, alcoholism, anger, violence, and yoga retreats are all increasing. So jobs don't make us happy. Modern life doesn't even make us happy. And schools sure don't make us happy!
So what the fuck is the point of sending our kids to school?
There's a common answer parents have to this question. They say, “Well maybe they'll grow up to discover a cure for cancer.” (They also use this rationalization to justify just having the kids on an already way-overpopulated planet.) The “cure for cancer” line is funny, because it's modern civilization which causes cancer, and the cancer epidemic is only getting worse, no matter how many scientists and doctors there are. In fact, there is a direct causal relationship: More Scientists = More Cancer. (Come on, man, just look at the shit those guys invent. Nuclear bombs? X-ray machines? Cell phones? Wi-fi? Genetic modification? DDT? Roundup? Xbox?) It's also funny because implicit in the statement that “they should go to school because they might one day discover a cure for cancer” is the assumption that no one can learn anything outside of school. Since school have only existed for about two hundred years, this means that for the previous two million years of human existence that no one learned anything! Given the effects that “learning” has had on the planet, then clearly we need less learning.
Or similarly, parents might say, “My child might invent something.” (Again, assuming that without school you'll never use your brain.) Well listen, unless that invention is a bow and arrow made out of the tree in your backyard, or a teepee made out of the skins of obese rich people, then we don't need it. Name one modern invention that has benefited the people and the planet. You're likely to yell out, “vaccines!” I like your enthusiasm, but no. First, infectious diseases are a direct result of living in civilization (in cities, with high population density, and in close proximity to domesticated animals, from which most infectious diseases originate. This also highlights the fact that most of modern medicine is merely an attempt to deal with illnesses and conditions caused by civilization itself.*) And also, rates of infectious diseases plummeted before the widespread use of vaccines, since improvements in hygiene, sanitation and nutrition are the real keys. So no, vaccines does not count.
You might also blurt out something along the lines of “solar panels!” or “a perpetual motion machine!” Because you're thinking about all that energy you need. And right there is another problem with civilizations, especially modern civilization. Civilizations are all energy-addicts. But you see, as soon as you think you need more energy than you can get from your own two hands, then you start enslaving and destroying. The history of slavery and the history of civilization are the same. First animals were enslaved. Then people. Now, it's everyone. The entire Earth is now enslaved to give energy to civilized humans so that they can send tweets, check their Facebook feed, and watch Netflix. We're destroying life on Earth for the most idiotic reasons.
So if most jobs suck, if jobs only help destroy the planet, and there's nothing to invent, then what's the point of schools? Exactly.
You might still be feisty and argue that we need schools so that kids can learn to read, write and do math. Well, you're wrong again. (Still assuming that we need schools in order to learn anything? Come on, man! Now who's the annoying one?) First, humans evolved to learn through observation and imitation, and they can learn reading, writing and math that way, just fine. Have a chat with your nearest unschooling family. Or your nearest hunter-gatherer tribe. (If you can find any, since civilized people killed them all.) There's no need for teachers, with their threats, detentions, pointless worksheets and general grumpiness that comes from bullying kids all day.
Second, reading, writing and math are just tools invented by the elite to enslave and destroy. That was their purpose! Now you know why everyone instinctively hates English and math classes! (Yeah, you were right to hate it. Go figure.) Writing and math were invented by the elite in the very first civilizations in order to keep lists of slaves and items conquered in wars, keep track of land conquered, to calculate all the taxes owed to them by everyone else (the slaves), and to write down all the laws that “everyone” had to follow (meaning only the masses of poor, enslaved people.) Yeah, I like a good book, too, but that's all just a distraction from the true meaning of reading, writing and math: destruction, exploitation, and enslavement. Where have all the books gotten us? We're dumber and less wise than ever. And we're getting dumber. (In fact, since civilization began, the size of the human brain has been shrinking.) The healthiest cultures that have ever existed have only ever been oral cultures. The second writing starts, bad things happen. If you're in an oral culture and you see someone pick up a pen, best thing is to tie them to the nearest tree and bonk them on the head with a stick. Writing and math is bad medicine.
Do I expect everyone to to give up reading, writing, and math? No. (Well, to be honest, yes.) It's just something to keep in mind when you obsess over whether your child is able to read The Noam Chomsky Collection when they're still in kindergarten, or whether they can solve differential equations in their head while you're cleaning their butt. There are more important things in life – namely, that they grow to be decent people who know how to live within the Earth's limits. But is the point of school to help kids grow to be decent people who know how to live within the Earth's limits? Hell no! The point of school is to make money, gain status, fame and fortune. That's what makes school teachers and principals proud, because it's only the rich and famous former students they ever talk about and celebrate. They never talk about the Freds.
And now I can see you glaring at me, no doubt wanting to shove me into a river full of angry hippos. “They might discover a way to make things better!” you yell out. “They might discover a way to reverse climate change!” Again, you don't need school to know how to make things better or to reverse climate change. You just need to open your eyes and stop whatever it is that is destroying life and making everyone miserable – in other words, you need to stop civilization.
So what's the point of sending your kids to school? Well, there is none. Unless you've totally given up on life – which is exactly what the most important aim of schools has always been. (Bingo! I got bingo!) The ultimate point of school has always been to break us, to make kids give up any desire for freedom, for a healthy life, or a healthy planet, and just surrender to the psychopathic elite and their civilizations full of destruction and misery. The point of schools has always been to produce (like a good factory product) a population of obedient, passive, and ignorant soldiers and consumers. So if you've given up your childhood hopes and dreams, that's largely because of school. (And also your parents, media, and the culture around you. We can spread the blame.)
In any civilization, the only legitimate and worthy work for any human is to end that civilization. Civilization is the ultimate scam, the ultimate confidence trick, the ultimate Ponzi scheme, and we need to wise up to it. If there's a school for that, then by all means, send your kids there. But you won't find it. (Sorry for getting your hopes up.) My best advice to you is to go to the local school and tie the principal to the nearest tree and bonk him (or her) on the head. (Which is an effective solution to most everyday problems.)
Remember, the way to make the best decision possible is to consider alternatives. Do we have to live in a way that destroys life on the planet? Do we have to have toasters, hair spray, and nuclear bombs? Do we have to have Jeff Bezos? Of course, the answer is no. Humans never evolved to live this way, which is why everyone is so miserable now. We know what the best alternative is – the way that worked for two million years. And schools had nothing to do with that.
It's time to tie civilization to a tree and bonk it on its head.
*At this point, if you're like most people, you're wondering what exactly is meant by “civilization.” Civilization is a way of living based on agriculture and living in cities. The earliest civilizations only began about 6,000 years ago. (Early agriculture started around 12,000 years ago.) Before agriculture and cities – ie, civilization – all humans lived as hunters and gatherers. Humans lived this way for a good 1-2 million years. In other words, we lived as hunter-gatherers for 99% of our existence on Earth, and biologically and genetically, humans are still hunter-gatherers. And since it lasted for so long, clearly it's a way of life that works.
So your next question is, “How is sending kids to school negligent?” And I can tell from the tone of your voice that you're getting irritated with me. I don't blame you. Just take a few deep breaths and try to stay rational for a few minutes. One of the most important elements in intelligent decision-making is this: to consider the alternatives. So that's what this is. Trying to be smart and consider the alternatives. For instance, if the police find a dead body, it's not a good idea for them to just yell out, “Bigfoot did it!” and stick with that. They have to explore the alternatives and possibilities. Even at McDonald's Corporation board meetings, every executive has to suggest alternate ways of poisoning people, besides Big Macs and fries. (That's where 1993's McHaggis came from. It was a traditional Scottish haggis, deep-fried, on a sesame seed bun. Was a hit in Scotland and South Korea.) If you just want to stick with the idea that school is wonderful and kids all have to go there, and not consider anything else, well, you're welcome to do that. Most parents have done exactly that – and look at the world now! The point is, if you don't consider alternatives, you'd never get a McHaggis. (And prisons would be full of Bigfoots.)
So let's start. First, global civilization is falling apart, the Earth is losing its ability to support life, and humans are about to destroy everything. That's the reality. And so how is sending your kids to school going to address that reality? Is school helping them to see civilization for what it is? Is school teaching them how to dismantle pipelines? Does school train them to survive by identifying edible plants, eating bugs and roadkill? Because those are the actual skills we need, as climate change, ecological collapse, deforestation, nuclear war, and Jeff Bezos' big shiney head converge, like a giant tsunami of mass destruction sweeping over the planet.
Just imagine if a meteor was discovered that was expected to smash into Earth one year from now, and would destroy all life on the planet. Would you still send your kids to school? Hell no! Well, nuclear bombs are like that meteor, only it could hit at any time. The existence of nuclear bombs and nuclear reactors is like playing Russian roulette each and every day – with the entire planet. And climate change and ecological collapse are just like a really slow-motion meteor crashing into the Earth. If a meteor was already crashing into the planet, but it was happening really, really, really slowly, would you still send your kids to school? Hell no! You'd tell them to go out and play. Which is what they should be doing. Not sitting in classrooms all day, getting bullied “to learn”.
You see, what school does is train kids to go to work and to act as if everything is okay, like the world is just fine. That's the message you give your kids when you send them to school. That's the message from teachers. (Along with other messages such as, “If you get good grades you're good. If not, you're bad.” And “Shut up and learn!”) But if a spaceship full of aliens passed Earth and the aliens were like, “Hey, what's up? How's it going?” would you respond back, “Yo, all good here”? No! You wouldn't! You'd say, “We're fucking everything up and going nuts here! Can you please help us out?!” That's what you'd say. And if the aliens seemed pretty groovy and were listening to some good tunes, you might even beg them to take you with them, to who-knows-where, to hell with gravity and oxygen. Anyplace but Earth! (Which is just a sci-fi version of the Messiah, our longing for someone else to come and save us.) The point is, shit is getting real stinky on Earth, and what does sending your kids to school do about it?
Of course, school doesn't do anything helpful about the state of the planet and it's not even sold to us that way. No one says, “Go to school so you can help make the world a better place.” The point of school is marketed and sold as “to get a job”. It's all about finding your slot inside the Great Industrial Machine and playing the part of the good citizen, who goes to work, pays taxes, occasionally cheats on their spouse, and sometimes snorts cocaine. Kids know this. Just ask any kid why they go to school, and they'll say, “To get an education” or “To learn.” Sound good, right? But it's not really about learning, because if you ask them WHY they need to learn, they'll say, “To get a job.” And the funny thing is, most learning for any job is done on the job! So that excuse for school is baloney (which is a carcinogen, by the way). Then ask kids WHY they need to get a job and they'll say, “So I'm not a loser like my Uncle Fred.” Which is just the kid repeating what their parents said, because Uncle Fred is a pretty intelligent guy. He just likes to live in his van, go rock climbing, and occasionally handcuff himself to oil pipelines.. It's just the parents being bitter over their own stressful life, of living in debt, with a big mortgage, grinding out a “career”, never having enough cocaine, while Fred is out in nature, enjoying life with his friends, and taking action to protect the Earth.
Even worse is that the focus is all on “jobs”, when jobs just help us to destroy more and more of the planet. Or, if you like math, Jobs = Destruction. (Also, Jobs = Annoying Boss. So by the transitive property, Annoying Boss = Destruction.) The world doesn't need more jobs. In fact, it doesn't need ANY jobs! Do we actually need politicians? No. Do we actually need corporate executives? No. Bureaucrats? No. Bankers? Stock brokers? Accountants? Analysts? Police? Lawyers? Advertisers? Marketers? Factory farmers? Lobbyists? Weapons developers? Military-anything? Oil-anything? Loggers? Auto-anything? Highway builders? Steel and cement makers? Plastic-makers? Scientists? Conventional doctors? Tech geeks? Teachers? Principals? School administrators? The list can go on and on. No, we don't need any of those jobs. Just about every single job exists to support the military-medical-agricultural-consumerist-industrial complex in further destroying the planet and making everyone miserable, while getting a handful of rich, white men stinkin' rich, while most everyone else slaves away, struggling to pay rent and buy decent food. (A McHaggis does not count as decent food.)
And let's not forget that most jobs SUCK! Not only do they suck, our boss is often a jerk, too. To make things worse, they usually don't pay well, either. And even if they do pay well, we have little time to do anything with that money because we work such long hours. Of course, every study demonstrates that, once we can meet our basic needs, more money doesn't make anyone happy. Yet, everyone seems to be chasing after accumulating piles of money. Most jobs stress the hell out of us. Life in general is stressing the hell out of everyone, which is why depression, mental illness, suicide, drug addiction, alcoholism, anger, violence, and yoga retreats are all increasing. So jobs don't make us happy. Modern life doesn't even make us happy. And schools sure don't make us happy!
So what the fuck is the point of sending our kids to school?
There's a common answer parents have to this question. They say, “Well maybe they'll grow up to discover a cure for cancer.” (They also use this rationalization to justify just having the kids on an already way-overpopulated planet.) The “cure for cancer” line is funny, because it's modern civilization which causes cancer, and the cancer epidemic is only getting worse, no matter how many scientists and doctors there are. In fact, there is a direct causal relationship: More Scientists = More Cancer. (Come on, man, just look at the shit those guys invent. Nuclear bombs? X-ray machines? Cell phones? Wi-fi? Genetic modification? DDT? Roundup? Xbox?) It's also funny because implicit in the statement that “they should go to school because they might one day discover a cure for cancer” is the assumption that no one can learn anything outside of school. Since school have only existed for about two hundred years, this means that for the previous two million years of human existence that no one learned anything! Given the effects that “learning” has had on the planet, then clearly we need less learning.
Or similarly, parents might say, “My child might invent something.” (Again, assuming that without school you'll never use your brain.) Well listen, unless that invention is a bow and arrow made out of the tree in your backyard, or a teepee made out of the skins of obese rich people, then we don't need it. Name one modern invention that has benefited the people and the planet. You're likely to yell out, “vaccines!” I like your enthusiasm, but no. First, infectious diseases are a direct result of living in civilization (in cities, with high population density, and in close proximity to domesticated animals, from which most infectious diseases originate. This also highlights the fact that most of modern medicine is merely an attempt to deal with illnesses and conditions caused by civilization itself.*) And also, rates of infectious diseases plummeted before the widespread use of vaccines, since improvements in hygiene, sanitation and nutrition are the real keys. So no, vaccines does not count.
You might also blurt out something along the lines of “solar panels!” or “a perpetual motion machine!” Because you're thinking about all that energy you need. And right there is another problem with civilizations, especially modern civilization. Civilizations are all energy-addicts. But you see, as soon as you think you need more energy than you can get from your own two hands, then you start enslaving and destroying. The history of slavery and the history of civilization are the same. First animals were enslaved. Then people. Now, it's everyone. The entire Earth is now enslaved to give energy to civilized humans so that they can send tweets, check their Facebook feed, and watch Netflix. We're destroying life on Earth for the most idiotic reasons.
So if most jobs suck, if jobs only help destroy the planet, and there's nothing to invent, then what's the point of schools? Exactly.
You might still be feisty and argue that we need schools so that kids can learn to read, write and do math. Well, you're wrong again. (Still assuming that we need schools in order to learn anything? Come on, man! Now who's the annoying one?) First, humans evolved to learn through observation and imitation, and they can learn reading, writing and math that way, just fine. Have a chat with your nearest unschooling family. Or your nearest hunter-gatherer tribe. (If you can find any, since civilized people killed them all.) There's no need for teachers, with their threats, detentions, pointless worksheets and general grumpiness that comes from bullying kids all day.
Second, reading, writing and math are just tools invented by the elite to enslave and destroy. That was their purpose! Now you know why everyone instinctively hates English and math classes! (Yeah, you were right to hate it. Go figure.) Writing and math were invented by the elite in the very first civilizations in order to keep lists of slaves and items conquered in wars, keep track of land conquered, to calculate all the taxes owed to them by everyone else (the slaves), and to write down all the laws that “everyone” had to follow (meaning only the masses of poor, enslaved people.) Yeah, I like a good book, too, but that's all just a distraction from the true meaning of reading, writing and math: destruction, exploitation, and enslavement. Where have all the books gotten us? We're dumber and less wise than ever. And we're getting dumber. (In fact, since civilization began, the size of the human brain has been shrinking.) The healthiest cultures that have ever existed have only ever been oral cultures. The second writing starts, bad things happen. If you're in an oral culture and you see someone pick up a pen, best thing is to tie them to the nearest tree and bonk them on the head with a stick. Writing and math is bad medicine.
Do I expect everyone to to give up reading, writing, and math? No. (Well, to be honest, yes.) It's just something to keep in mind when you obsess over whether your child is able to read The Noam Chomsky Collection when they're still in kindergarten, or whether they can solve differential equations in their head while you're cleaning their butt. There are more important things in life – namely, that they grow to be decent people who know how to live within the Earth's limits. But is the point of school to help kids grow to be decent people who know how to live within the Earth's limits? Hell no! The point of school is to make money, gain status, fame and fortune. That's what makes school teachers and principals proud, because it's only the rich and famous former students they ever talk about and celebrate. They never talk about the Freds.
And now I can see you glaring at me, no doubt wanting to shove me into a river full of angry hippos. “They might discover a way to make things better!” you yell out. “They might discover a way to reverse climate change!” Again, you don't need school to know how to make things better or to reverse climate change. You just need to open your eyes and stop whatever it is that is destroying life and making everyone miserable – in other words, you need to stop civilization.
So what's the point of sending your kids to school? Well, there is none. Unless you've totally given up on life – which is exactly what the most important aim of schools has always been. (Bingo! I got bingo!) The ultimate point of school has always been to break us, to make kids give up any desire for freedom, for a healthy life, or a healthy planet, and just surrender to the psychopathic elite and their civilizations full of destruction and misery. The point of schools has always been to produce (like a good factory product) a population of obedient, passive, and ignorant soldiers and consumers. So if you've given up your childhood hopes and dreams, that's largely because of school. (And also your parents, media, and the culture around you. We can spread the blame.)
In any civilization, the only legitimate and worthy work for any human is to end that civilization. Civilization is the ultimate scam, the ultimate confidence trick, the ultimate Ponzi scheme, and we need to wise up to it. If there's a school for that, then by all means, send your kids there. But you won't find it. (Sorry for getting your hopes up.) My best advice to you is to go to the local school and tie the principal to the nearest tree and bonk him (or her) on the head. (Which is an effective solution to most everyday problems.)
Remember, the way to make the best decision possible is to consider alternatives. Do we have to live in a way that destroys life on the planet? Do we have to have toasters, hair spray, and nuclear bombs? Do we have to have Jeff Bezos? Of course, the answer is no. Humans never evolved to live this way, which is why everyone is so miserable now. We know what the best alternative is – the way that worked for two million years. And schools had nothing to do with that.
It's time to tie civilization to a tree and bonk it on its head.
*At this point, if you're like most people, you're wondering what exactly is meant by “civilization.” Civilization is a way of living based on agriculture and living in cities. The earliest civilizations only began about 6,000 years ago. (Early agriculture started around 12,000 years ago.) Before agriculture and cities – ie, civilization – all humans lived as hunters and gatherers. Humans lived this way for a good 1-2 million years. In other words, we lived as hunter-gatherers for 99% of our existence on Earth, and biologically and genetically, humans are still hunter-gatherers. And since it lasted for so long, clearly it's a way of life that works.