Culture Consciousness: The Antidote for Western Decadence
What is culture, how does it form, and why does it matter? A perspective of autonomy and civic responsibility amid a dying culture.
Cultural values are in constant flux, either growing or decaying. Through interactions politically, with family, acquaintances and friends, our values and actions directly impact culture. It's common to view culture as a monolith one has absolutely no control over, but that is the view of a passive will. While culture scales globally, it starts locally. Culture is shaped by the average of what we collectively believe, how we act, what we value, and how we treat the people in our lives. As such, culture lives and dies in OUR OWN hands, not the hands of politicians, governments, or opposing political parties.
Culture is the soil from which social groups spring. When cultural soil is rich, it creates a social bond between many individuals through shared values, beliefs, language, norms, traditions and other signals of resemblance. A distinct group identity emerges from this complex combination of qualities. Group identity at large scales allows individuals to easily signal solidarity between others, which inspires trust. Trust is a foundational tenant to a thriving social group, since it allows for easy cooperation and a rapid transmission of useful ideas. Brisk communication made possible by trust helps large social groups survive, adapt, reproduce, learn and solve problems more effectively. This collective behavior is like a social operating system, and it's a requirement for both large and small groups to thrive.
Social operating systems are always changing from one generation to the next, and they are heavily influenced by the environment. Traditions which are cherished are passed down to descendants, and if these traditions prove useful, the process is likely to repeat itself. The constant flux between generations leads to the rise and fall of collective belief systems. In this way, culture embodies a form of rapid evolution, continually morphing one shape into another in an attempt to adapt to environmental demands. Although culture can change a lot in a single generation, many cultures are remarkably stable over extremely long time periods. Chinese culture is one of the world's oldest cultures, spanning over 5,000 years. Although traditions can persist for an indefinite amount of time, they are tweaked by each successive generation.
The future of culture is forged daily by the environment and our interactions with it. Revolutionary times in society often have the huge impacts on culture, as they require the greatest adaptive shifts in cooperative human behavior. The American Revolution (1775-1783) resulted in the birth of the most innovative country in the world. Then, the Scientific Revolution (16-18th centuries) led to groundbreaking discoveries which fundamentally changed our perspective and methodology for pursuing truth. After that, the Industrial Revolution (18-19th centuries) completely reshaped the economy, leading to automation and large technological shifts. Large groups of individuals fostered these revolutions, while also being impacted by them.
Although technology and politics play a large part in shaping culture, immigration plays a key role as well. Demographic shifts in countries imply cultural fluctuations due to the "melting pot" effect, where different cultures combine and influence each other. The Colonial Period (1600s-1700s) symbolizes the European colonization of the Americas. After World War II, there were large scale migrations all over the word due to poor economic conditions. The migration trends have enormous impacts on culture, both to those immigrating, and to those inhabiting countries that many migrate to. Demographic shifts can both refine or destroy culture.
Considering how detrimental poor cultures can be, it's vital to understand how culture spreads. Cultural behaviors or practices transmit themselves like a virus that spreads from person to person through observation. This transmission often happens on an unconscious level, such as learning a language as a child, adopting speech patterns or the gestures of those one spends the most time around. The mind both passively and actively mimics social behavior observed in family, friends, acquaintances, literature and more recently, the internet. Therefore, a lot of human social behavior is unconsciously acquired. This is a problem in a decadent society.
Mimicking is key to acquiring new social behaviors, which drives cultural norms. Mirror neurons in the brain allow humans to repeat behaviors and are a crucial component to learning. Children naturally mimic adults and others in their social group, which is refered to as mimetic behavior. While children are much more suceptible to adopting new mimetic behaviors, humans carry this social learning and mimetic behavior into adulthood as well. Even some animals have this cognitive basis that facilitates mimetic learning, such as parrots, chimpanzees and songbirds. Without mimetic behavior, culture would not be transmitted seamlessly.
Conscious mimetic behavior on the other hand is often intentionally adopted, which stems from a desire to emulate culturally significant practices. Any type of behavior or belief can be mimetic, especially if it aligns with one's goals. Working out, meditation, and going to college are some modern examples of behavior which are held in high regard, and therefore consciously mimicked. Conscious mimesis is more individualistic, but it's still subject to the herd instinct's pull toward conformity. A practice, belief or behavior being popular in a culture does not necessarily mean it's a positive adaptation.
While culture does impart many positive, mimetic adaptations, it can just as easily lead to maladaptive behaviors. Gangs are a modern example in the US of maladaptive cultural behavior. Rather than being a creative force toward good, gang violence is a destructive force which is a stain on any communities which are impacted by it. Maladaptive cultures such as these can form based on mimetic behavior at local scales. Young men growing up in poverty, where many of their older peers are fatherless and in a gang, leads some to follow the same path simply by mirroring the behavior. If behavior is considered normal in a social circle, it's much more likely to influence behavior and spread further. Therefore, one should strive to become conscious of maladaptive behaviors which have been normalized, and seek to avoid them.
Cultures can both flourish or decay based on their normalized mimetic social behaviors. Rigid cultures, such as the Chinese, have the strength of tradition on their side, but they often resist change which could ultimately be their downfall. American culture is more adaptive, but at the cost of fragmentation. Where China has a more unified but oppressed society, the US has a scattered, free one.
China is a country built on strong traditional values, which is has helped provide a robust social framework. The emphasis on tradition his has contributed to China's distinct identity. As a result, China has globally renowned cuisine, highly influential philosophies such as Daoism, unique art forms, martial arts such as Kung Fu, and a vast heritage spanning thousands of years.
The downside of the rigidity of China's culture, however, is seen in their oppressive form of governance. China is home to the most sophisticated form of online censorship in the entire world, which reflects the rejection of change in Chinese culture. They also use a Social Credit System, which is a type of monitoring software that rates citizens based on their behavior both in the physical and digitial world. Citizens who criticize the government online receive penalties to their score, as well as others who engage in behavior the government finds undesirable, such as jaywalking. Individuals with poor Social Credit Scores have their freedoms severely stifled through restricted travel, limited access to loans and jobs, slower internet speeds, and they are even publicly shamed on billboards and the internet. While culture can lead to human flourishing, it can just as easily suppress individual autonomy through authoritarian control.
American culture occupies the opposite side of the spectrum of Chinese culture. Rather than placing the collective over the individual, Americans place the individual as the controller of their own destiny. Early American culture was formed by European colonists, Africans, Germans, Irish, Chinese, Dutch, and Mexicans. European colonists were the largest group coming in the early 17th century who were fleeing Europe due to a lack of religious freedom, poor economic opportunities, political turmoil and overcrowding. Most of the immigrants coming to the United States shared one purpose, which was in search for a better future. The cultural diversity at the bedrock of the American culture helped foster an adaptive, open-minded, innovative population.
The open-minded, creative American culture has lead to many world-altering technologies and innovations such as the internet, the personal computer and space exploration. Rather than being fearful of change, Americans confront change courageously. It seems when individuals are provided a cultural environment that focuses on individual achievement, rather than a vague collective greatness, citizens are free to pursue their own curiosities without the threat of social ostracization.
The cultural focus on the individual found in the US is a rather new historical trend considering the brutal, authoritarian empires of the past. While individualism has lead to many great innovations, the US suffers from a fragmented identity which is weakening. The problem with placing individualism on the highest pedestal is that it does not foster a robust unity between vastly different social groups. A society lacking unity produces a diverse range of world views, which has often lead to war, historically speaking. When a six looks like a nine depending on what side of the political spectrum one is on, this leads to heightened tensions between sub-cultures, and an inability to adapt to a changing environment. Although individualism leads to personal freedom, it's greatest downfall is the sub-cultures within, which tend to polarize.
While open-mindedness in American culture is it's biggest strength, is also the biggest downfall. Creative, intellectual spirits in the US postulate new, and often very controversial theories for governance and social dynamics, such as Queer Theory, Critical Race Theory and doomsday alarmism based on Global Warming (now Climate Change) theories. Theories and ideas are not bad things in and of themselves, but when they are treated as empirical facts without sufficient evidence, and become highly influential in politics, it can lead society down a horrific path. While Americans face change head on, their rejection of tradition unlocks a backdoor where well-intentioned curiosity can lead to maladaptive beliefs.
Science is coming through the backdoor of American culture, masking as the new God over humanity, and its influence on culture is massive. Empirical science is a net-positive for American culture, but political and social science is a steaming pile of hot garbage that's plaguing society. Queery Theory posits that male and female genders are not "standard", which has lead to puberty blockers and child mutilation. Critical Race Theory views racism as a systemic issue created and perpetuated by white people alone, which rationalizes modern racism. Global Warming is a climate change theory that implies an apocalyptic scenario "VERY SOON" if we do not take the proper actions globally, but this same scenario has been preached for over 35 years. The climate is changing, but the science surrounding climate change is used as a fear-mongering tactic by the left, rather than an objective scientific conclusion. More and more, American culture is pursuing power, rather than truth.
The Roman Empire is becoming a cultural obsession in the United States due to many parallels between their once great culture and ours today. In many ways, the United States is the spirit-child of the Roman Empire. The US is facing many issues Rome did, such as heated political polarization, soaring economic inequality and immigration issues. As such, we Americans feel a threat looming. We are observing events play out on our soil which played out in Rome before its fall. While our culture has lead to some of the greatest achievements in mankind, it could also fail spectacularly, just like Rome.
The Roman Empire showed signs of cultural decadence and moral decay well before its fall. Drawing near the end, the Roman elite indulged in increasingly extravagent lifestyles. They would often host lavish banquets and wear opulent clothing, which lead to further resentments from the struggling masses. Traditional Roman values such as discipline, self-sacrifice and civic duty sharply declined. Roman nobility, emperors and governers began pursuing their own self-interest, often embezzling public funds, rather than serving the state and upholding moral values. Nero was a Roman Emperor who used public funds to build a massive palace (even to an Emeperor's standards), the Domus Aurea, which spanned 100-300 acres, had gold-covered ceilings, and a man-made lake.
“Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I'll show you a crook.”
― Harry Truman
The American political system is increasingly self-serving and corrupt. Some of the richest people in the United States are lobbyists, who make exorbitant amounts of money by representing big business interests. Hunter Biden, the president's son, is a lobbyist who is worth around 285 million dollars. Considering lobbying is protected under freedom of speech, it is not inherently bad to pay someone to represent your legislation interests. The problem is that big business interests have disproportional legislative influence due to their wealth alone. Crony-capitalism is great for politicians and big business, but not citizens. In a democracy, crony-capitalism acts as a distorting force which weakens each citizen's influence, strengthening the corrupt influence of self-serving politicians and business leaders. A political system which favors wealth over justice reflects the same declining values seen in Rome before its collapse.
The Biden Administration is welcoming illegal immigrants with open arms. There are over 8,000 illegal migrants entering the United States through the Mexico border on a daily basis at the time of writing this article. While immigration is not a bad thing, there's a critical distinction between illegal and legal immigration. A country that fails to protect its border will suffer the same fate as an immune system which fails to identify pathogens as the potentially life threatening organisms they are. A country which is declining loses this distinction, and instead claims that border walls are racist and primitive.
It's clear that we could become the next Rome, but what should be done about it? Do we just watch the world burn, and mind our own business? Do we just focus on our families and local communities? Should we be doing or considering things that we aren't? These are questions to be answered by each individual, but a real tragedy is found when a society is unconscious of their role in a culture's fate.
A dying culture is like a sick animal that avoids conflict and tries to conceal its weakness. The only difference between a sick animal and a sick culture, is that members of a culture are often not even aware of the disease gnawing at their own mind and body. Like pathogens and viruses floating around undetected, the effects of destructive social dynamics sneak up on unsuspecting cultures.
Everything is either growing or decaying, and cultures are not exempt from this. Cultures flourishing or facing brutal attacks is eternal, just as the immune system is perpetually at war with foreign organisms. Therefore, cultures which are not proactive in their own growth and future are implicitly WALKING CORPSES.
The US may suffer the same fate as Rome if we do not begin taking ownership and pride in our own culture once again. Culture does not exist in a vacuum, rather, each individual plays a role in the growth and decay of a culture. Decadence is not necessarily strictly a political problem, but rather just a shadow cast by WEAK VALUES. It's a symptom of large-scale cultural issues that our society is sweeping under the rug, which manifest as junk science, extreme political tensions, a surging interest in socialistic ideologies, the hatred of the United States by traitors on our own soil, and the pursuit of power over the pursuit of truth.
A tired, defeated will may succumb to these forces attacking American culture, but not a resilient one. The strong among us must double down on our values. Although we individually do not have a large impact on a global scale, we can absolutely have a big impact on a local one. Due to the mimetic nature of culture, we are transmitting signals to our peers, our family and our communities with every interaction. It's up to us to understand that culture, like man, is always in a state of becoming. Like vessels we should aspire to be, channeling our highest values through our actions and words toward individual and collective greatness.
Rather than passively accepting culture that is decadent, we should seek to embody the moral values our society is lacking. Striving for personal excellence is not only beneficial for individuals, but it serves as an inspiring example for all who come into contact with them. Being conscious of this is the cornerstone of a thriving culture, because it causes one to reflect on his own behavior, and how his behavior affects his people. While personal excellence is in our control, it also entails holding others to higher standards. High culture is created through high standards which must be strived for personally and throughout the culture. Normalizing poor moral standards and being overly "tolerant", like we see in society today, is not a path toward high culture, but decadence.
Courageous and virtuous people in our families and friend groups, especially in times of chaos and uncertainty, are beacons of cultural hope. The world will always have an overabundance of mediocrity, for what is common must not be great. Greatness is not something many will achieve, rather it is an ideal to strive toward BECOMING. Through focusing on the long view of our cultures and their survival, and recognizing our important role in their life or death, we create better circumstances for not only OUR OWN lives, but for the untold MILLIONS, or BILLIONS of future lives which have yet to live.