Keep your house clean; throw the litter out of your home. Keep your car clean; toss the cigarette butt out of the car. Shut down the AC and lights as you leave your study; walk out of your office with all gadgets on. Keep your toilet clean and dry after using it; splash the water and don't look while using a toilet in an airline or a public place.
These are the "sensible" behaviours being practiced by the majority of this country and all the talk about having civic sense is nonsense. These very people when living, working or using public facilities in foreign countries transform and start acting civilized.
What does being civilized mean? One of the dictionary definition says "Civilized is an adjective that describes the very opposite of barbarity. A civilized person is polite and courteous; he knows how to say "please" and "thank you." A civilized group of people is characterized by being socially and technologically advanced. Both dinner parties and fancy computer gadgets are signs of a civilized people".
This may seem a very limited and an ordinary definition and there are many more definitions that are more comprehensive but it conveys the essence of the word where being "sensitive" to the requirements of "being human" is what makes us civilized.
The interesting part of the definition is the sentence that civilized is the opposite of barbarity. Barbarity is a tendency of behaving like an animal. Animals are unconscious of their uncouth and insensitive behavior. They act on their instinct without thinking and weighing the pros and cons of their actions. They eat, litter, love, kill randomly with little regard to the impact or long-term consequences.
By being uncivil we certify ourselves as being un-human. These are the basics of being a superior creation of God. However, it is amazing how concerned we are about getting degrees, diplomas and getting certified and not concerned about being civilized. It is amazing how focused we are about rituals and how unfocused we are about being courteous and polite.
Civic sense is considered nonsense. Take basic etiquettes. Standing in queues is considered utter madness. Everybody is pushing, nudging, bypassing lines of waiting people to get ahead. Road sense is the biggest example. As roads become busy and slow due to some blockage the race to get ahead with multiple lines starts.
The result of all this mad side and by passing, dare driving on pavements is a total jam scene that then turns into rowdy fights where people are ready to break each other's head. The end result is that there is so much chaos and commotion that the very purpose of getting ahead becomes a dead end. This nonsensical sight becomes more irrational and illogical to understand, yet it happen everyday on the roads.
Are we born civilized or do we become civilized over a period of time? A bit of both actually. The fact that we are blessed with five senses and a brain, a heart and a soul that can actually lead to a sixth sense is what makes us capable of living in a more organized fashion.
However, the usage of these senses or these organs is a choice that differentiates people from being civilized or uncivilized. The civilized societies comprise three important elements that help individuals abide by these norms despite their instinctive resistance.
i) Governance of government: Countries with governments that emphasize the civic consciousness through education as well as legislation are normally more successful in building up a good citizen culture. These governments have a very strict system of penalties that accompanies the non-adherence of rules. Litter throwing on streets is penalized in many countries. Singapore went one step ahead. When they saw that chewing gum litter was very sticky and difficult to clean and penalize, they banned the sale and consumption of chewing gum in the country.
In most developed countries rubbish disposal from the households is a costly business. You have to learn how to separate plastic bottles and recyclable rubbish. Bin and bags are placed outside your house for both and you have to carefully separate them and throw them in the right container for the companies to pick them up for a cost paid by you.
ii) Education: Education just doesn't mean degrees but training of minds to own the community, the society and the country you live in. This education starts at home and continues in schools and colleges and offices. Taking care of your natural resources is something that needs to be ingrained at a very early level.
Essays on environmental preservation, recycling of material and conserving water etc have to be part of daily teaching and living. Use of plastic bags, wastage of water is considered almost a social evil in developed countries and laws have been established to discourage such practices. Most countries are now encouraging either brown bags or washable cloth bags that are reused for carrying groceries etc.
iii) Family upbringing: There is this misplaced understanding that the poor and illiterate are the litter throwers and social norm defaulters. In fact, it is the rich who are aware yet assume that it is their social class privilege to break the queues, overtake cars wrongly and play football with litter.
The role of parents to instill the habits of treating roads, water and cleanliness is crucial. Little tips that while brushing teeth close the tap as 2.5 gallons water is wasted per minute and reprimanding drivers from washing cars instead of cleaning them to save 50 gallons of water are all examples of how little tips can make people feel responsible for their surroundings.
In Japan, the fact that even on escalators everybody will stand on the right side to let people who are in an emergency climb stairs is not automatic but encultured at home. The fact that all religions, and especially Islam, teaches that cleanliness is half of your faith, courtesy is mandatory, and following the laws is non-optional just emphasizes the fact that these are universal codes of conduct that any sensible person or nation will follow. However, when sense becomes a victim of nonsense this social and intellectual derailment becomes far more dangerous than financial and economic derailment. (The writer can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com)