>>One of the conclusions that I have reached about the “commonality of mankind throughout civilization” is that life has changed but little.
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>That seems like a fairly safe bet. Do you have a thesis for this? I'm interested in how you support this conclusion.

Mike;

Yes I did have a thesis, which basically defines the position of the individual in relation to society throughout recorded history. One small example is this: A father is appalled at the actions of his teenage sons and the younger members of society in general. He cites several examples one of which is that they spend their evenings drinking beer, raising hell and do not obey their parents. This is from an Egyptian writing about 2500 BC.

There are many examples, which I originally gave that led me to believe we have much in common with all eras of civilization. We may think of ourselves as unique but specific systems, requirements of daily life and the needs of the individual have been little changed throughout history.

Another concept is the subjugation of the individual in the quest to live. In the majority of cases you submit to the system to exist. There are exceptions and we give titles and labels to these – anti social being but one. We call ourselves free but that is a relative term and one that demands self-indulgence. We are free to a point with society, economy and political demands dictating our actions.

Political policies have changed throughout history and some leaders have been better than others as far as treatment of the individual is concerned. Being a kind or abusive leader is nothing new. The lot of society is dependent upon the whims of individuals and does not necessarily improve with time. As soon as one despot is gone someone will replace him. That may or may not be an improvement but promises to be different.

Realize that all this is a generalization and not meant to imply that something good has happened within recent years and never before occured. It is the continuity of daily life of the individual and the relationship to society throughout recorded history that I am in reference to. Just how different are we in reality to people of several thousand years ago when it comes to our existence within society? My contention is that we share many common threads and are not as unique as we may have been led to believe.

Tom