Who Was Really Civilized?

Before Europeans arrived claiming to “civilize” us, we had no prisons — and therefore no concept of criminals in the way they defined them. You cannot create a criminal class without first creating cages to put people in. We had no locks or keys, and so theft was rare, because survival was shared, not hoarded.
If a man had no horse, no shelter, or no blanket, the community provided for him. We were considered “uncivilized” because we did not place great value on owning things. We valued possessions mainly for the purpose of giving them away. Wealth was measured in generosity, not accumulation.
We had no money, so a person’s worth could not be calculated in coins. We had no written legal codes, no lawyers, no professional politicians — and so we had fewer ways to deceive one another for personal gain.
Apparently, we were in a terrible state before the newcomers arrived. Yet somehow, we lived, shared, and sustained our societies without the institutions we are now told are essential for a “civilized” world.