John Locke describes in his treatises on government the nature of civilization: humans forge an implicit agreement, called the social contract, in which some liberties are surrendered for the sake of acquiring more liberty in the long run

While philosophically logical, Locke's description of government or authority does not have any examples in reality. Even tribal social hierarchy is organized according to religious/shamanistic rituals that have little in common with the mercantilism of Locke's political philosophy.

From the Marxist mercantilistic philosophy, human society may seem to be a complex series of trades and exchanges. A materialist perceives every human interaction as a merchant would: equal trade vs exploitation. Fortunately, human societies are not run by merchants, but by the religious and the political. Men live in a social matrix not because of mutually beneficial arrangements, but because they happen to be subject to a political and/or religious authority. The modern conception of "rights" is but privileges the rulers granted to the plebs due to forceful or subtle coercion; yet, no sane pleb would imagine themselves free from subjection by a monarch or government.

Civilization's purpose may not be to "set men free" but to maintain the social hierarchy, under which all men are subject.