In the early stages of western civilization, religious ideology took
precedence over secular ideology. With the rise of the bourgeoisie,
secular ideology moved into the foreground, making loud religious
professions, but also making sure that business-for-profit had the last
word in the determination of public policy.
A third collective ideological goal of civilization has been aesthetic;
the yen for symmetry and balance; the love of beauty; the desire for
harmony; the quest for excellence; the lure of magnificence; the search
for truth. Out of these urges have arisen the pictorial and plastic
arts, architecture, music, the dance, science, and philosophy, providing
outlets, occupations and professions that have colored and shaped many
aspects of civilized living.
A fourth collective goal of civilization has been the establishment and
maintenance of social structure, including classes and/or caste lines
based partly upon tradition, partly on function and partly upon
proximity to the honey-pot, the wellspring of wealth, income, prestige
and power.
Since the principle of private property has been implicit in every known
civilization, the ownership of land, capital and consumer goods and
services has been a prerogative of the ruling oligarchies, shared by
them with their associates and dependents and used as their chief means
of establishing and maintaining the "you work, I eat" principal of
economic relationships.
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