On Being Civilized.

Today was one of those boring days when I just work and think, and think about how nice it would be to not work.
I am still a bit ill from a cold I contracted while on holidays.
I’ve been thinking a bit about the Ayn Rand quote I placed on the Splash du Jour this morning. I’ll reprint it here:
Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.

I do not know all that much about Ayn Rand.
To be honest, there is no author that I have neglected reading, moreso than Ayn Rand. By that I mean I have her books, I have wanted to read them for ages and have failed to do so for one reason or another. But I do know just a wee bit about the topics of “objectivism” and “selfishness” [hedonism?] as espoused by Rand.
She interests me. Makes me curious. Really fascinates me.
In thinking about the above mentioned quote, I can envision many people [people that I happen to know] objecting to it.
After all, doesn’t the idea (or ideal) of “civilization” involve working together to accomplish greater things than could be accomplished by oneself?
Isn’t Rand decrying (or at least belittling) the benefits of cooperation in society?
The answer that I came up with today is “No, she is not.”
See, I think that there are many people that may read Rand’s somewhat bald statement as it is here presented by me [to be honest, I do not even know the surrounding context of it] as saying something like Civilization is the progress toward a society of being alone.
And I don’t think she is saying that. Not at all.
There is nothing “civilized” about the mere fact of aloneness for aloneness’s sake!
And there's a big difference between privacy and being alone.
Civilization marching toward greater measures of aloneness would not be progression, but regression.
But I think she is saying that civilization is the progress toward a society wherein the individual is afforded greater and greater access to being alone, if they should so choose to be alone.
In other words, hers is the kind of succinct definition that is accurate, yet not dictionary safe!
It requires elaboration. Explanation.
Here is how I would explain it.... along with my apologies in advance to anyone who knows Ayn Rand's work, and knows I am misrepresenting her ideas.

OK.... what I was thinking today is that it is real neat that I can go to the store, any day of the week, and buy a dozen eggs, without ever once actually seeing a chicken, or even knowing that eggs come from chickens!
That is civilization.
Someone is harvesting those eggs, and then I am buying them. Both of us (supposedly) are benefiting from the transaction.
For eight hours today, I worked in a very specific field of work, which is unique (and boring as all hell) and my work benefited other people whom I will never meet. I will never see them.
That is civilization.
[Please stay with me, I am coming to a conclusion in the near future... have faith!]....
I can consult a realtor and buy myself a gorgeous house, without having the slightest idea of how to build one.
That is civilization.
All of the three things I have mentioned [buying a dozen eggs, my own daily work benefiting others, purchasing the house] are not possible outside of a symbiotic relationship known collectively as civilization.
But WHY does the farmer harvest eggs? WHY does he or she raise chickens?
WHY do I go to work today? Even when I am somewhat ill, I still went to work.
Why does the realtor do what he or she does? Why do the builders build the house?
WHY DO I WANT TO BUY IT?
All of it (in my opinion, and I suggest to you that it is Ayn Rand’s opinion also)... ALL OF IT has to do with matters of privacy.

No matter how much we love our jobs and careers, we do all of these things for the privilege of the time that will be ours when we are not doing them! We do them so that we can reward ourselves with some aspect of, or manifestation of privacy. We do what we do so that we can be free from the constraints of others. We do what we do so that we do not have to be overly dependent on the tribe.
Yes, we do them in the base interest of self-sufficiency also, which is another way of saying that to live an uncivilized life is to be hungry. But in a greater measure... what moves us, what compels us?
I say it is the desire for privacy.
My conclusion is that I agree with Ayn Rand’s statement, given that this is how I am interpreting it.

When I was on holidays, my brother-in-law told me about Tiger Woods’s house. Apparently, it can be seen online. If you do a search, you will come to a site that is actually a false depiction. It is NOT the house of Tiger Woods.
But if you do some further research you will see the real one, and here it is: Now... given my current Randian argument I posit the following musings.
Tiger Woods does not golf because of this house. But, he has this particular house, because he is such a good golfer. [Reportedly, he earned over $80 million in 2004 on endorsements alone... that sounds pretty danged civilized to me!]
His successful career and his talent are not a result of the rewards he has achieved. Rather, the rewards he has achieved are a result of his successful career and his talent.
I suggest that Tiger Woods [and I am using him for an example, while the same can be said of you and I] does what he does so that he can provide himself with a place that is his, and his alone.
What good would this house do for him if it was perfectly acceptable for me to walk right up to the front door, barge in, and ask him what’s for supper?
I can’t do that.
But the main reason I cannot do that is because of the profound respect that our civilized society has bestowed upon the issue of personal privacy.
We mere mortals look at that picture... and what do we think?
We think..... “Ahhh... how nice it would be to live in such an opulent place. How nice to laze around in the pool. To sip a cool drink.....” or any other hundred things we could envison doing in such a lovely castle.
But the one common denominator (and perhaps the most valuable aspect) of all of these things is that they are private, and privately done.
You can only get in the front door if you are invited to do so!
And furthermore, I can tell you one thing that Tiger Woods is NOT doing in that house of his.
GOLFING!
On the golf course, Tiger Woods may have four or five hundred cameras clicking every time he scratches his eyebrow. But here in his home, it is literally illegal to invade his privacy.
That is civilization.
It is why Tiger Woods, and any of us along with him, do what we do. We do it for the privilege of the time that will be ours when we are not doing it.
"Civilization is the process of setting man free from men."

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