At this time of day, civilization should be considered the most advanced stage of our human social and cultural life. Whereas in the other spectrum we have barbarism, where this is the absence of civilization, it gives us the total lack of advancement in social and cultural life. That said, it can also be extreme brutality and cruelty. These two topics were widely discussed in Sarmiento’s work.
It showed us how political parties were also created in accordance with today’s civilization and barbarism. Other topics that were addressed by Sarmiento were education, nature, the power of writing, war, the influence of Europe and religion. All this revolves around civilization and barbarism (González and López 38). This essay will draw attention to its main theme of how civilization and barbarism are a critical tool in society.
As mentioned above, civilization and barbarism are the main and central theme in Sarmiento’s work; Facundo: Or civilization and barbarism. With the information that Sarmiento declared, Argentina is rich in its own natural resources but, somehow, still remains, experiences the barbarity of groups such as the ‘gauchos’, which are a living definition of barbarism, are savage, wild and agitated.
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They would intentionally break the law and the form of orders of society that have been placed. These gauchos, as I said before, represented the embodiment of barbarism that not only refuses to contribute to the progress of a society that struggles, but also eliminates what society does (Sarmiento 67).
These men were basic with their lives and needs. They are primitive, love horses, fight and hate anything that has to do with modern civilization (laws and norms), such as education. They also welcome a fight with the forces of nature because it helped them shape their character and become a refined ‘gaucho’. A note to add is that these ‘gauchos’ did not practice barbarism alone, but had ‘partners’ with different skill sets to help them, such as the track finder and surveyor.
Sarmiento also states that during the revolution of 1810. The revolution brought the republic as it came with the revolutionary and conservative parties, not forgetting any new entities of the heaps, which were provincial war associations. While the heaps took root, the tyrants destroyed any gains made under civilization. This ignorance, poverty and involuntary suffering became the norm during this period of time, and Sarmiento deeply expressed his desire to restore stable civilization to the Argentine city by eradicating the evil forces of barbarism
At this point, Facundo Quiroga intervened. He himself was a typical gaucho who was born in San Juan. At a very young age, he was a rebel and an aggressive person, which led him to be an aggressive leader who would always despise any rule he did not like. He was a bloodthirsty, rebellious and undimmed beast, as he could not be restricted from doing something he liked or not. The man also escaped from prison and went up. Gaucho companions like him saw him as a leader, their leader, and admired him for what he did and stood up. They would tend to listen to their counsel even if he gave them advice that made no sense or if it was not natural.
The first real impact Facundo had on history was in the city of La Rioja. This was the first great conquest of the gaucho where he himself ruined everything that was there (physically and emotionally) during his rule. The first thing he ruined was the local currency, the devaluation of the currency. The second thing he did was the erosion of law and order and the greatest of all violence. While this happened, it also affected other nearby cities because Facundo had a great influence on the gauchos and the warlords; they saw this as their spark and dared to bring down civilization in places where they lived or near
In the book, Sarmiento praises the cities of Cordoba and Bueno Aires. He describes them as elegant and progressive, they had become only to be destroyed by Juan Manuel de Rosas, another brutal dictator. Since some of the cities had two political parties during this time, they were the Unitary and the Federal. Unitarian members were civilized while feds had a regressive point of view. The idea of civilization was introduced due to European influence, and cities acquired it from the Spanish. The cities themselves were a source of knowledge and people went there to learn and find the refinement of their art and history, however, the provinces were opposites who were backward and native compared to them.
We read about a good man, his name was Rivadavia and he was not approved in the provinces; that’s why he quit. During 1825, Argentina was preparing for war against Brazil and that is why the men came from the provinces to help in the battle. Facundo, as mentioned earlier, hated being told what to do and was often against those who instructed him. Rosas, on the other hand, was polishing his political résumé. The natives who were against civilization saw him as their hero.
Dorrego, who was a very unpopular governor of Buenos Aires, was killed when Facundo traveled to Cordoba for war. Facundo during the same time was defeated in that battle, the Battle of Tablada, by General Paz, who had military training. Facundo was angry and considered him a traitor, as he was against his native culture, he was civilized unlike him and they are men.
The civil war filled Argentina with fear and chaos. Facundo who returned and ruled brutally with his forces. He pursued women who were an avid player and no less murderer. He was of a relentless nature, even pursued Peace again, and lost. After losing again, he went to Buenos Aires to seek refuge to escape his enemies (Paolucci 180). After a while, Facundo thought of a plan to return to the mab that defeated him. While using his men, he eventually captured Paz and then returned to San Juan. He used his tyrant skills showed extreme anger to control the population. Sarmiento states that because of this it was a massive loss to civilization as the region could have been very productive (Ordiz 30).
Towards the end of the book, Sarmiento concludes his work, where he talks about a priest who became a soldier, Felix Aldao. Aldao in his life noticed that he loved war rather than comforting people and spreading the word of God. He left the priesthood and became a violent man completely (Smit 63). He became an alcoholic who was vengeful, a vengeful person who would also be united in civil wars in which his brother died. His brother’s death broke him and led him to madness and debauchery.
In conclusion, the issue of barbarism is not something to count on. The power of people wants to maintain their culture and beliefs, in fact, they should also look at the other side of the coin that only one side. One can retain good things in the culture of his species and still be able to evolve to what Sarmiento referred to and mentioned as ‘refinement’. Adding the education factor is good for everyone, as it opens someone’s mind and gives them a different point of view and makes them experience more ideas. This makes them accommodate other people and allows them to live in peace and harmony of such things.
We see in the text that civilization and barbarism are linked to education, nature, the influence of Europe and war. While education plays an important role in modern civilization (or not). Paz himself was an educated man who had a province and led it well and was Targeted several times and then murdered him. During that short period of time Paz was in power; He quickly developed his province. To add the European influence that cities in Argentina had become a place of learning. This factor led to the growth of other cities. When we talk about barbarism, Mother Nature plays a fundamental role.
Gauchos use nature to perfect themselves to be better. They grew up in difficult places and never had it easy. In doing so, they developed their barbarism from the environment and then gained living experience by making it a common practice for them; constantly looking for him. The issue of war is important on both sides. The civilized used war as a symbol to defend the government and the people, yet they do not use it for power or pleasure, unlike the opposite side that yearns and goes out of their way for it.
