Editing Civilization (section)

== Future ==
{{See also|Global catastrophic risk}}
[[File:Clash of Civilizations mapn2.png|thumb|A world map of major civilizations according to the political hypothesis ''[[Clash of Civilizations]]'' by [[Samuel P. Huntington]].]]

According to political scientist [[Samuel P. Huntington]], the 21st century will be characterized by a [[clash of civilizations]],<ref name="clash"/> which he believes will replace the conflicts between [[nation-state]]s and ideologies that were prominent in the 19th and 20th centuries. However, this viewpoint has been strongly challenged by others such as [[Edward Said]], Muhammed Asadi and [[Amartya Sen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.selvesandothers.org/article15618.html |title=A Critique of Huntington's ''Clash of Civilizations'' |last=Asadi |first=Muhammed |date=22 January 2007 |website=Selves and Others |access-date=23 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426042806/http://www.selvesandothers.org/article15618.html |archive-date=26 April 2009 }}</ref> [[Ronald Inglehart]] and [[Pippa Norris]] have argued that the "true clash of civilizations" between the [[Muslim world]] and the West is caused by the Muslim rejection of the West's more liberal sexual values, rather than a difference in political ideology, although they note that this lack of tolerance is likely to lead to an eventual rejection of (true) democracy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/cultural/2003/0304clash.htm|title=The True Clash of Civilizations|last=Inglehart|first=Ronald|author2=Pippa Norris|date=March–April 2003|website=Global Policy Forum|access-date=23 January 2009|archive-date=20 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190120003015/http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/cultural/2003/0304clash.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In ''Identity and Violence'' Sen questions if people should be divided along the lines of a supposed "civilization", defined by religion and culture only. He argues that this ignores the many others identities that make up people and leads to a focus on differences.

Cultural Historian [[Morris Berman]] argues in ''Dark Ages America: the End of Empire'' that in the corporate consumerist United States, the very factors that once propelled it to greatness―extreme individualism, territorial and economic expansion, and the pursuit of material wealth―have pushed the United States across a critical threshold where collapse is inevitable. Politically associated with over-reach, and as a result of the environmental exhaustion and polarization of wealth between rich and poor, he concludes the current system is fast arriving at a situation where continuation of the existing system saddled with huge deficits and a hollowed-out economy is physically, socially, economically and politically impossible.<ref>Berman, Morris (2007), ''Dark Ages America: the End of Empire'' (W.W. Norton)</ref> Although developed in much more depth, Berman's thesis is similar in some ways to that of Urban Planner, [[Jane Jacobs]] who argues that the five pillars of United States culture are in serious decay: community and family; higher education; the effective practice of science; taxation and government; and the self-regulation of the learned professions. The corrosion of these pillars, Jacobs argues, is linked to societal ills such as environmental crisis, racism and the growing gulf between rich and poor.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jacobs |first1=Jane |author1-link=Jane Jacobs |title=Dark Age Ahead |date=2005 |publisher=Vintage; Random House |isbn=978-1-4000-7670-3 |edition=Illustrated}}</ref>

[[Cultural critic]] and author [[Derrick Jensen (activist)|Derrick Jensen]] argues that modern civilization is directed towards the domination of the environment and humanity itself in an intrinsically harmful, unsustainable, and self-destructive fashion.<ref>Jensen, Derrick (2006), ''Endgame: The Problem of Civilization'', Vol 1 & Vol 2 (Seven Stories Press)</ref> Defending his definition both linguistically and historically, he defines civilization as "a culture... that both leads to and emerges from the growth of cities", with "cities" defined as "people living more or less permanently in one place in densities high enough to require the routine importation of food and other necessities of life".<ref>Jensen, Derrick (2006), ''Endgame: The Problem of Civilization'', Vol 1 (Seven Stories Press), p. 17</ref> This need for civilizations to import ever more resources, he argues, stems from their over-exploitation and diminution of their own local resources. Therefore, civilizations inherently adopt imperialist and expansionist policies and, to maintain these, highly militarized, hierarchically structured, and coercion-based cultures and lifestyles.

The [[Kardashev scale]] classifies civilizations based on their level of technological advancement, specifically measured by the amount of energy a civilization is able to harness. The scale is only hypothetical, but it puts energy consumption in a cosmic perspective. The Kardashev scale makes provisions for civilizations far more technologically advanced than any currently known to exist.