It's a pity that certain words fall out of favour. I think that "civilise" should be rehabilitated. According to the dictionary, it means "teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgement". Synonyms include educate, train, refine and cultivate.
The problem has been with a second definition: "raise from a barbaric to a civilised state". This brings memories of Western colonialism where indigenous people were denigrated and "civilisation" was imposed, often with brute force.
We need to separate the benefits of literacy and technology from other elements of what is considered "civilised". Nazi Germany showed that the country of Beethoven, Goethe and Einstein could descend into utter barbarism.
It is only relatively recently that full human rights were granted in today's leading democracies. For instance, women only got the equal right to vote in America in 1920 and in Britain in 1928.
Cruel punishments were rife in medieval England. Under King Henry VIII, about 72 000 people were executed by various methods including boiling, burning at the stake, decapitation and hanging, sometimes including drawing and quartering while still alive.
Between 1400 and 1850, the "Bloody Code" included 220 crimes punishable by death, including "being in the company of gypsies for one month" and "strong evidence of malice in a child aged 7 - 14 years of age".
In pointing this out, I don't minimise or overlook often worse barbarities in other societies at the time. Ideas of the "noble savage" mostly don't hold up on closer scrutiny. Archaeologists used to extol the "peaceful" Mayans until their texts revealed an extreme warlike culture.
Spanish conquistadors were pretty awful, but sympathy for the Aztecs dims when one reads of their mass human sacrifices and cannibalism. Hernando Cortez's crucial allies in defeating them were tribes who smarted under ruthless Aztec imperialism.
We should appreciate the great moral battles fought in England for democracy, a fair judicial system and the abolition of slavery. We should also learn lessons from the Victorian-era self-improvement associations that achieved a profound transformation in British national character.
Benjamin Franklin observed on a visit to London in 1766 "There is no country in the world in which the poor are more idle, dissolute, drunken and insolent." This was changed through religious revivals, an astonishing array of mutual aid societies, and a focus on family and individual responsibility.
The British working class aspired to be "respectable" and crime came down dramatically. But civilisation is always perilous, as we see in the appalling decline in civility in Britain today, including yob behaviour and delinquency.
Much popular music is uncouth, sometimes deliberately setting out to shock. In the case of gangsta rap, the message is often anti-social and degrades women.
I don't believe that politicians have to be perfect in their private lives, but their behaviour has an influence that can uplift or coarsen a society. Compare, for instance, Nelson Mandela's exemplary dignity with the crass soap opera that is the ANC Youth League.
Judges too, should be careful. How many more times will we see the photo of Judge Nkola Motata's dazed face in his Jaguar car as his endless drunk driving trial drags on?
We must promote civility as a value, especially in homes and schools. Civilise is a good word, and we should use it.
Jack Bloom is a Democratic Alliance MPL in Gauteng. This article first appeared in The Citizen, July 7 2009
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
