Man believes that because he has seemingly conquered the world through his mastery of so many remarkable things, such as food, water, shelter, rule of law, and so forth, that he, by definition is now civilized. But one only has to look around and step outside their domain to see that without question, that man's inhumanity and that man's injustice still reigns supreme in many, many ways. In point of fact, how is that the richest country in the history of the world, these United States, also has the highest present-day per capita rate of incarceration in the world? So too, the highest per capita gun ownership rate is also held by these same United States. In addition, to the fact, that theguardian.com reports that the top 0.1% of the United States holds as much wealth as the bottom 90% in America, seems, almost unfathomable on the surface, but is also unquestionably true.
All of the above, would point out inexorably that in these "civilized" United States, there lies deep divisions of the haves and those that have not, in which, quite frankly, the haves have cloaked themselves into the guise of appearing civilized, while treating those that do not bend or conform with their desires, as something less than civilized, or why else, the need for such an abundance of weapons, of prisons, and of economic might to keep the people in line, and in check.
In point of fact, a people are not truly civilized, if in order to get along, one party or one clique or one segment of that population, pretty much dictates to the masses, what they can or cannot do, while making sure that the legal apparatus as well as the enforcing arm of the state, supports them in their actions against those that need to be tamed. As long as a government of the people does not truly treat all of the people with the same equanimity and fairness of the law in actuality, you do not truly have a civilized society or even rule of law.
As long as mankind insists and acts as if not all human beings are made from the same Creator, which is in opposition to our seminal Declaration of Independence, than mankind will continue to exploit and dehumanize man. In actuality, the proposition before man is the very same proposition which has not changed from the beginning, either we are all created equally or we are not. Man acts far too often in a manner in which "some apes, it seems, are more equal than others," which is very beneficial for those select few which are given that higher status along with the tools to oppress those that are less equal, but that is not in keeping with the spirit of the one true law, a law that man must answer to or else continue to live in a world in which in our most honest of moments we are horrified at the systemic brutal manner that man so often treats his fellow man.
In reality, we are all in this world, together, and together, united, we must live up to and adhere to the better angels of our nature, as to do otherwise, is to turn our backs upon true justice and nature's God.