Most Important Of The Five Civilization Themes example essay topic

Religion, geography, government, economics, and culture; these are the five individual themes that combine to create every major civilization since the dawn of man. Each carry distinctive meaning, and when any one of these five variables are changed, a new and unique civilization is created. In many ancient and modern civilizations, one of the five themes that define its meaning has a more profound impact then the others. In the contents of this paper, I'll do my best to emphasize government's vital role in the confines of any great civilization, past or present, and counter the fleeting impact of religion and culture. Choosing government as the most important concept in a civilization is relatively easy, but backing up your opinion with facts proves a bit more complicated. Look at all the major modern civilizations; what do they all have in common?

A strong government that varies from Democracy to Communism. One reason why government is vital to any great society is the establishment of and the enforcement of law. "As people worked together, they needed rules to govern their behavior and to plan, direct, and regulate their work". (Blue Book) In all civilizations, law is the primary structure of how to live your life, and the enforcement of penalties for violating those mandates keeps the population "in line". Without an elected body of individuals to establish up-to-date laws and to enforce those entailed laws, chaos would surely ensue. A second reason to why government proves to be of utmost importance involves the mandating of an economic value to goods and work.

Without an established value to goods and labor, it would be impossible to trade, buy, sell, or establish gross income from work. One government most develop an overall economic worth of goods for them to be of any good; is smaller facets of power each established different values for the same product, it would be impossible to fairly trade, buy, or sell. When one supreme government negotiates a set value for all goods and services, it becomes much easier to manage trade and value. The final reason to why government's importance reins supreme is broad, overall organization.

Governments establish currency, value, laws, language, a system of writing, jobs, ownership, etc, and if there wasn't one body to facilitate the organization of these countless systems, civilizations wouldn't last nearly as long. All life really is an organized system of institutions such as school, work, government, and marriage. Without accepted organization, there wouldn't be civilization. Religion could be construed as the most important aspect of the five themes; majority of the worlds population consider themselves are the very least "religious", and the existence of a "high power" has been embraced since the beginning of man. In the past, many governments consulted priests and holy men to make decisions, and have constructed entire civilizations based entirely on religious beliefs and customs. So, why doesn't religion and government walk hand-in-hand?

Because religion can be completely eradicated from all government institutions and decisions, and the government functions fine, if not better. Religion-based biases are what lead to the fall of great empires, and in my opinion, will lead to the downfall of the United States. Religion is so broad and varied, one specific belief cannot be made supreme to another, in a civilization, without defiance and backlash by the population. Culture could also be held in higher regard than the other four themes; it's the glue that holds communities together. Traditional cultural beliefs are what established ethnic and religious identities throughout the course of history, and continue to do so today.

Some of the oldest civilizations on earth still embrace traditional culture, such as Britain, France, and Italy. But what about cultural pit-falls? Modern-day cultures in some parts of Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East still embrace ancient customs, including the genital mutilation of women, also known as female circumcision. This is just an example of the countless number of customs that still occur today. What benefits do these ancient customs hold?

None. In my opinion, custom is just a way to reenact the "unproblematic" past in present times. But many customs don't belong here, they belong in the past, and embracing something solely because it is your heritage, your "culture", is not only unethical, but pure and simple unwillingness to accept the present. In summation, I have described to you why government is the most important of the five civilization themes, how religion and culture could be recognized as more important than the other themes, and have countered why religion and culture ultimately fail as long-standing members of civilization.