The smallest and most
intimate building block of human society has been the family. The
largest and most inclusive has been the civilization. The family as a
social group has existed for long periods, over wide areas, in immense
numbers. Civilizations have been few and often far between. They have
arisen out of particular historical situations, played distinctive
roles, written their own histories and made varying contributions to the
sum total of human culture. In the long time intervals and the wide
geographical distances that have separated civilizations human beings
have lived within more local and less complex social structures.
Civilized human society is distinctive in structure. While it varies in
detail from one civilization to another, its broad outline is
unmistakable. Each civilization has been built, defended and perpetuated
in and around cities.
Between civilizations, in time and space, most human communities have
been self-sufficient. Whether as food gatherers, pastoral people or
cultivators of the soil they have produced and consumed the food,
shelter, clothing, implements and weaponry required for their survival.
The city, whether a political capital or a center of trade and commerce,
was sharply separated from the self-sufficient countryside. The city, by
its very nature, could not be self-sufficient. Food, building supplies
and raw materials were not produced inside the city limits, but must be
produced in the hinterland from which they were transported to the
cities.
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