In the final analysis, isn't the mastery of the art of civilization to no small extent the ability to conceal one's barbarism from casual examination...at least, initially.
I'm not sure civilization is more 'humane' ultimately.
I've heard one definition of civilization being any society where the food is in some way locked up in some fashion, be it the store shelves of your supermarket or the grain stores of Pharaoh (or whatever ruler) so those in charge can extort labor.
Yeah, we've cured smallpox, but instead we die of diabetes from too much sugar or quietly commit suicide because our lives lack meaning. Of course smallpox is a creation of having too many people close together in the first place.
And the Middle East is a desert wasteland. 7000 years ago it was fertile and forested and lush. How many other parts of the world are in various stages of degridation?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my internet and my netflix and I probably don't know how to fend for myself without civilization (probably better than most city dwellers, less so than rural folk) and if you really want to change things or live differently there are many artifical obsticals. But seriously, is it wrong to wonder if we are 'better' than 'Barbarians'?
Speaking of favorite Barbarians, I would go with the Haudenosaunee who would qualify for invading their neighors in beaver wars, followed by the Norse, particularly the Iceland Norse.