Features September 2021
Civilization & tradition
On the fruits of Western culture.
We can never cut ourselves off from antiquity unless we intend to revert to barbarism. The barbarian and the creature of exclusively modern civilization both live without history.
—Jacob Burckhardt
A civilization is a complex system of customs, practices, and beliefs that binds a society or a family of societies together over long periods of time. To survive, a civilization needs to have the means to defend itself, usually military and diplomatic, from external threats. It needs systems of internal order, usually defined by customs, laws, and magistrates. Above all it needs moral and spiritual resources that generate loyalty to recognized authorities and allow individuals to actualize their full...
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