José Ortega y Gasset, quoted by Geoff Mann:
Civilization is not simply here, it is not self-sustaining. It is artificial, and demands an artist or artisan. If you want to enjoy the advantages of civilization, but are not concerned with sustaining civilization—well, you are done. In the blink of an eye you find yourself without civilization. Just a slip, and when you look around everything has vanished into thin air!
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So (two days later) I see that Keynes did hold much the same view. In Keynes's words: "We were not aware that civilisation was a thin and precarious crust erected by the personality and the will of a very few, and only maintained by rules and conventions skilfully put across and guilefully preserved."
See The Case For Concerted Action and link to source.
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