For me, it’s a city where I can eat Thai noodles and Korean-style barbeque, drink Russian tea, have German pastries, listen to American jazz on a Japanese stereo, read yesterday’s London Times and Paris Match, while in the background two sports fans argue in Spanish about the Kansas City Royals’ chances at a World Series title – all of it happening at 2:00 AM.
In other words, San Francisco.
How about you?
Socrates, I think you put too heavy a load of characteristics on what it means to be "civilized." All I put there is- a culture based on cities, a certain amount of connection with areas outside YOUR city, and a certain amount of population. If you want to talk ADVANCED civilization, I would add, not only NO poverty, but the RICH are gone, and there’s a monument in the town square where we used to have the gallows we hung ‘em all on. Oh yeah — and after we did that, we abolished executions. Add to that complete socialism in the economy, equality for everyone regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, ability to completely renovate a biological entity (virtual "immortality") a society in which space travel is common, religion has passed into history, & kindergarten students have already mastered the basics of evolutionary biology. However, that would be an ADVANCED society, practically a perfect world. I’m not talking about that. I live in the Bible Belt, in a tiny town.
Compared to here, I remember my two decades in San Francisco as my "time in civilization."
Have you ever been to America? I mean, lived anywhere outside NY, LA or Ess Eff?
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Your question makes me homesick. I’m an original Californian living in northern Germany, and I always think how diverse things are back there. Anyway, I agree with you , I think anywhere that has so much to offer culturally is civilized. Museums, different cultural food, diverse groups of people, and people who think different from each other, that to me is civilization.
EDIT: Art is a huge part of it for me too. If a city or town lacks art, or even an artist outlet of some sort like galleries and museums, then it’s not the place for me!
where u could get naked on the beach, go to parties with friends, eat good food, and go home to a beautiful house above a cliff with a view of the luminescent ocean… a place called… "in my dreams"
The world as a whole has never been civilized!You are confusing the aforementioned seemingly harmonious activities,conditions,
circumstances and locations,with state of being civil.
In a truely civilized world,there would not be
wars,man’s inhumanity to man,greed,the desire for power to control others.The history of the United States,and other nations,is testimony to a lack of qualities that would justify
declaring any nation civilized.Are you aware of many violations of civil liberties,and the Constitution in the United
States of America?The torture of prisoners at Guantanamo
bay?On the pretense of fighting a war against an abstraction,
that is,terrorism! If there is any poverty,any violation of civil
liberties in San Francisco,then it could not be deemed to be
civilized.I could continued ad finitum,but it would probably be
ignored.