Having a civilized world, one where there shall be no need for war is a dream that might never come true unless people change their perceptions of others from different cultures. The use of force against a section of people will always be a possibility as long as people who belong to different classes that have different capabilities do not respect others. There will always be use of violence irrespective of how welcoming or cooperative people may be as long as people have different needs that can be met by hurting or taking advantage of others (Hart 66). This paper will explore why the idea of a civilized world is likely to remain elusive.
First, analyzing the letter of Christopher Columbus suggest that the world may be civilized if people dealt with individuals who are always ready to hurt others. Such people use violence to meet their needs. A good example of such people, as described by Columbus in his letter to the king of Spain, were the cannibals. Columbus described the people from an island known as Quaris as fierce cannibals (Hart 68). These cannibals used to raid nearby communities from where they took anything of value by force. According to Columbus, these cannibals used ‘bows and arrows of the same cane stems’ to attack other communities (Hart 68). The cannibals attacked other people to obtain food and other essentials for their survival. At this particular time, ensuring the world did not have cannibals may have appeared as one of the ways of making the world civilized. In the new world, people would not have to fear others, thinking they may attack them and eat their bodies.
Even though the world may not have cannibalistic people anymore, it is far from being civilized. This is because people will always find a reason to use force against others as long as people have different abilities. Even during Columbus’ voyage, he used force against people who were harmless. In his letter, Columbus described how the inhabitants of the islands he visited were friendly and timid (Hart 65). Many of them ran away whenever they saw his men approaching. Others were so friendly that they were willing to share everything they had with Columbus and his men. These people appreciated whatever Columbus and his people gave them in return for their gold and other valuables (Hart 65). However, in spite of this, Columbus still found it necessary to use force against these people. Columbus wrote ‘as soon as I arrived in the Indies, in the first Island which I found, I took by force some of them, in order that they might learn and give me information’ (Hart 66). It may have been possible that Columbus might have got the information he needed without resorting to the use of force. However, since Columbus was more powerful than the inhabitants of these islands, he chose to use force to get things that he might have got by using peaceful means. The power differential between these people and Columbus made him think it was right to use force to get whatever he wanted. Moreover, although he first described them as natives, he later described them as slaves when he promised the king of Spain that he would supply him with as much gold and many slaves as he wanted (Hart 67). In this case, the desire to exploit the natives made Columbus resort to violence to force the natives to give him whatever he wanted. Such greed is one of the major factors that make it impossible to have a civilized world. As long as some people are more powerful than others, and can use violence to satisfy their needs and wants, there will always be a need for war.
In addition, Columbus’ letter describes people’s reaction to others, which gives one of the reasons why the world shall never be civilized. The reaction to others determines whether different people will co-exist in peace or they will live with suspicion and hostility. In some of the cases, the need for war exists because people do not know whether others will change their attitudes towards them. In his letter, Columbus explained that he had fortified a town known as La Navidad. This town was situated in a place inhabited by friendly natives who were timid. The king of that place was such a nice friend that he even invited Columbus and treated him as his brother (Hart 67). One would wonder why Columbus would need to fortify a town if people in that place were this friendly. Furthermore, Columbus explained that he left the town with sufficient men to protect it if the need for war arose. He also left an experienced shipbuilder in that town, who could build ships for escape from La Navidad if the need arose. Columbus had put La Navidad on a war footing. Moreover, he noted that he had left enough men who ‘would suffice to destroy all that land and the island without danger for their persons’ (Hart 67). All these preparations for a war, which was unlikely going by the description of how friendly the natives of that area were, was based on the suspicion that the king of that area could decide to change his attitude towards the Spaniards. Therefore, it is impossible to eliminate the need for war in a situation where one is suspicious of others, their attitudes, and the actions they might take in the future. Unfortunately, people’s suspicions about others continue to be a major cause of war. For example, several years ago, the United States invaded Iraq based on the suspicion that Iraq had weapons that could be deployed to hurt the United States. As it turned out, the weapons of mass destruction were never found, yet this was one of the disastrous wars (Zoja 272).
Lastly, the world will never be civilized as long as some people try to force their ways upon others. The inhabitants of Earth have different cultures, and these differences should be respected. Respecting the beliefs and traditions of others would make the world civilized because there would be no need to force one’s culture upon others. In his letter, Columbus noted that he was ready to supply the king and the queen of Spain with as many slaves as their people wanted. These slaves would be selected from a group of idolaters. Individuals who did not believe in Christ were to be subjected to slavery (Hart 69). It would be expected that the natives would have resisted slavery, thus leading to wars. Columbus was going to rely on religious differences between his people and the natives to enslave natives who were not Christians. Therefore, there will always be wars as long as some people consider their religion or culture superior to others to an extent of wanting to force it upon others.
In conclusion, there will never be a civilized world unless people respect others, have no suspicions about others, and do not use their power to hurt others. Columbus relied on his suspicions towards the natives and ended up building a fortified city and leaving behind men who were capable of defeating the natives in war. Moreover, religious differences made Columbus target a section of the natives for slavery. Lastly, the use of violence is inevitable as long as some people are ready to hurt others to satisfy their needs and wants. Based on all these points, the idea of a civilized world may remain just a dream unless powerful nations and communities respect the weaker ones.
Works Cited
Hart, Jonathan. Images of the Native in Renaissance Encounter Narratives. A Review of International English Literature, vol. 25, no. 4, 1994, pp. 55-76.
Zoja, Luigi. Paranoia: The Madness that Makes History. Routledge, 2017.
