Are we civilised?

Domestic violence has been prevalent ever since the evolution of apes into man. Thus, to call our society civilised is an outrageous lie. In his book  ‘If This is a Man’, Primo Levi writes that in the absence of the very laws that man himself has made, man himself would have created ruckus and committed every imaginable crime — murder, thieving, etc. (“Russian women stuck in lockdown hell as abuse surges,” May 25, Gulf Today).

The coronavirus situation has brought about a similar scenario — a situation without much of imposition of the law. And thus, domestic violence abounds. With people locked down together, hatred and differences are magnified.

However, the question then arises: are we the civilised people that we call ourselves? If that were so, we might not have needed laws to keep us in check and thus the relaxing of those laws wouldn’t prompt our savage behaviour to rear its head.

Therefore the conclusion: we are a bunch of savage animals who claim to be intelligent and we don’t deserve this planet.

Caroll Ross — By email