"A visitor from Mars could easily pick out the civilized nations. They have the best implements of war"

Herbert V. Prochnow uses a Martian’s gaze to expose a paradox at the heart of modern society: the nations that call themselves civilized often display their status not through compassion, learning, or justice, but through the sophistication of their weaponry. The outsider perspective strips away self-serving narratives and reduces the test of civilization to what stands out most visibly, arsenals, armies, and the machinery of destruction.

The irony cuts two ways. First, it suggests that technological brilliance can outpace moral development; engineering flourishes while ethics lag. Second, it indicts the criteria by which power is recognized. If the quickest way to identify the “advanced” is by the sleekness of missiles and the reach of fleets, then progress has been conflated with capacity to harm. Even the term implements implies careful craftsmanship, tools fashioned by intelligence, and thus underlines the tragedy that human ingenuity is so meticulously devoted to violence.

Historical context deepens the critique. The twentieth century’s world wars, nuclear age, and Cold War arms race made military attainment a shorthand for prestige and security. Yet the security dilemma shows how this pursuit breeds its opposite: each step toward deterrence invites escalation, making peaceful civilization harder to sustain. Meanwhile, the language of civilization has long been used to justify domination, as if superior force could certify cultural superiority.

There is also a moral mirror held up to citizens. Budgets, parades, and political rhetoric reveal collective choices; what societies admire, fund, and display signals what they value. If the most conspicuous achievements are weapons systems, outsiders can be forgiven for concluding that civilization is another name for organized lethality.

The aphorism nudges a redefinition of status: to be truly civilized would mean directing the finest tools of reason toward reducing suffering, strengthening institutions of care and justice, and making the implements of war less necessary, and less impressive.