The meaning of ‘’empathy’’ – the   ability  to understand  another person’s  feelings, experiences, etc. the capacity to experience or relate to  another person’s  situation  from their point of view. (google.com)

During the period 2009-2010, I dedicated  6 articles on  my website with the title ‘’Why the disappearance of the Primitive Man Neanderthal  30,000 years ago, is of great significance today’’.

I  wanted to  describe  the circumstances  under which the Primitive Man Cro-Magnon, who evolved into The Homo Sapient of today  and for a time period  had  co-existed with the Primitive Man  Neanderthal , disappeared  from the earth’s  surface. As a consequence, the Cro-Magnon dominated and expanded all over the world.

I described the critical societal and  anthropological  circumstances which permitted  the Cro-Magnon to survive under the very harsh  climatic conditions of the last Ice Age.

The most critical  societal characteristics  of the Cro-Magnon in contrast to the  Neanderthal  was first of all, that  their societies  or communities  were highly organized , even though their numbers were limited .

There was great cooperation between the members of the tribes which provided the social incentives not only to organize socially but also to construct  solid  habitations  of large dimension,  allowing for the protection and the security of  all   members of the community.

Second, from this inter tribal  co -operation , they were able to accumulate a surplus of food supplies , which they shared equally. By insuring a steady surplus of food products and long term  habitation  compounds , the Cro-Magnon disposed of free time not only to perfect tools for a variety of uses  and functions , either for construction or as weapons for hunting , while at the same time they organized highly sophisticated burial sites, embalming their dead and decorating their dead  by placing their own costumes, their own jewelry and pottery within the tombs or crypts.

The Cro-Magnon not only respected their dead members as the living  ones , but also recognized the metaphysical dimension of their mortal existence but also what encompasses the whole Universe.

The Neanderthals were hunters  of wild animals  and most of the time they lived in caves in order to protect themselves  from the harsh climatic conditions  of an Ice Age, as well as protecting the tribe  from the incursions  of wild animals and predators.

The men lived in separate  quarters , while the women and children stayed  together.

It was  the men who consumed most of the animals they killed, leaving what was left  to the women and children.

The women and children were responsible for collecting wild plants and wild fruit, as well as gathering wood for their fire places. When there wasn’t enough food  for everyone in the tribe, the men sacrificed the children   to be cooked and consumed by the other members of the tribe,   this meant  that there was cannibalism and infanticide within the tribe.

Archeologists and anthropologists have located the sites where the  sacrifices  of the young ones took place, discovering their  charred skeletons.

The social structure of the Cro-Magnon was what sociologists identify as ‘’primitive communism’’. In this societal arrangement,   all members of the tribe  or the community , had ‘’equal social status’’ , with no special social hierarchy , with no chiefs or privileged members.

Co operation  and camaraderie  dominated every aspect of their lives , while the  elderly, the women and the children  were protected and nurtured   by all the members of the tribe.

Anthropologists  have isolated  a specific  human social quality  which permitted the Cro-Magnon    to survive  the hazardous  living conditions of this Last Ice Age. This human social component was  the active societal dynamic of  ‘’human empathy’’, which prevailed in their human inter relations  and societal roles. They all represented a ‘’unified active living   organism’’  similar to that of ‘’the human body’’.

Empathy  as a  social construct is no longer very active in the Western developed  nations, and I believe that  this  is one of the main reasons  that these particular societies  are fractured and decimated  economically, politically and culturally. On the contrary, societies which belong to ancient states with old civilizations like Iran, China, India   and Egypt, where in their everyday  life ‘’empathy’’  plays a vital role in their social roles, even when survival is ‘’a risky business’’ due to the expansionist hegemonic policies of Western  developed states throughout the world, they seem to cope and survive as permanent  historic political  entities.

*** The key words in describing today’s critical time for all of humanity is ‘’self-destruction ‘’ and ‘’ metamorphosis’’.

The song’s title is ‘’ I’ll stand by you’’  The Pretenders 1994