Slow-Cooked Cultural Change

There are very few occasions when people are willing to admit that they are wrong. It is human nature to defend the principles and values that we deeply believe in, and when certain ideologies are deeply ingrained into our thoughts so much so that we associate them with our hearts, we are likely to set aside logic and reason in favor of feelings and subjectivities to justify our behaviors.

America is a country where freedom and equality drive the rules and regulations of our country, but the very nature of a government requires some degree of relinquishing personal freedoms. Absolute freedom is anarchy or the independence that stems from complete isolation from society. Anytime humans interact with one another, a power or authority structure that develops, which innately means that someone is infringing on the absolute freedoms of another. Therefore, instead of arguments for absolute freedom, we attempt to take into consideration these different power levels to create rules and regulations that are just, even if that defies the majority opinion. Brown v. Board of Education may not have been what was popular, but it was right. Affirmative action does create a system where protected classes are given an advantage in situations of equal merit, but that is only to balance out the social limitations caused by discrimination that restrict their opportunity and freedom to pursue the American dream in the first place.

One would be hard-pressed to find an issue where every American unanimously agreed. Even with the influence of manipulative social pressures which influence some to give the politically correct answer whether they believe it or not, there will always be someone who see things differently, and assuming these beliefs don’t infringe upon others, then isn’t everyone entitled to have their own thoughts? This is why it is so hard to change the culture (the values and beliefs that influences behaviors) of an individual, an organization, and especially an entire nation. Principles take time, the influences of trusted individuals, and sometimes even a drastic, life–changing event to create lasting change, so it’s no surprise people are reluctant to embrace things like sustainable living even though they think going green is a good thing. But what might be surprising is that racist tendencies still exist in America almost 50 years after the civil rights movement, and even though the election of the first black president shows incredible progress, it would be foolish to say our country is free from discrimination

If culture could be easily influenced, I am sure that Obama would have revolutionized our nation because, by all accounts, he is exactly the type of leader – a charismatic, altruistic ideologue - who should be able to bring about change. If Thursday’s health summit was any indication, Obama’s efforts to change the Washington culture by emphasizing legislation for the people and not for the politician have failed. After seven hours of discussion and deliberation, the only positive outcome was that Obama finally put his stamp on health care reform after taking a passive stance on the issue for almost a full year. Unfortunately, the participating Republicans further showed their disinterest in working to get a bill done, insisting that comprehensive health care reform is simply unmanageable since they are unwilling to compromise. For a bill that would already be considered by an objective analysis to be pretty conservative, the reluctance of the republicans is entirely a political ploy to both make the dems look incompetent and to receive some extra funding from corporate America for the 2010 elections. Obama can do a lot of things but mandating a cooperative culture in Washington DC is wishful thinking, and even the seeds of hope he’s planted will be choked to death by the infertile sullied soil of politics.


Our President has also encouraged individuals to consider pursuing a more sustainable America. In his State of the Union address, Obama suggested that regardless of whether one believes in global climate, the future of business is green, and he’s not even talking about money. Our resources will run out, our health will suffer from pollution and pesticides and inorganic chemicals, and the corrosion will corrupt the natural beauty of our great nation. We are going to need to structure our cities more efficiently to better use our limited space through high density development, invent and implement practical, cleaner energy, and accept stewardship as practical and necessary for anyone who wants the next generations to enjoy the same pleasures that we do today. Unfortunately, even though green has become fashionable (tons of businesses are greenwashing their products to market out to this trend), it is often times skin deep. Most people either really don’t understand the conservationist philosophies, are too inconvenience to practice it in their own life, or assume that someone else will deal with it later. Sure, it’s trendy to buy environmental bags, but it defeats the purpose if you buy them once and never reuse them. Quite simply, live simply, buy locally, and embrace a sustainable, waste-minimizing lifestyle. I know its going to escape our consumer culture, and progress is being made, but I just hope we don’t get our reality check to late to change.

If we think change is taking forever in these areas, how long has racism been in our country? Even though the 1860s marked a time of freedom from slavery and the 1960s contributed a push towards true equality, we have hardly escaped from racial prejudices. The “Compton Cook Out,” a party thrown by college students less than a mile from the campus of the University of California in San Diego, received nationally attention for its racially-charged facebook invitation. UCSD continued to be bombarded with racial tension after the controversial student group The Koala defended the Cookout while using the n-word on UCSD’s student-run television. The rope that really broke the camel’s back was the noose found hanging in one of the University’s libraries on Thursday. Black students, who make up less than 2% of the UCSD’s student population, have been joined by many of their peers on campus and around the nation to protest these acts of racism and call to the school, who seems more concerned with how these events are going to effect recruiting more than race relations, to action. The acts, which have been condemned up in Sacramento by the Governator, are currently under investigation by the school.

Growing up in Los Angeles, I’ve been exposed to people of a wide spectrum of colors from diverse backgrounds, and naively I hoped Generation Y would overcome past prejudices and judge people as individuals with unique personalities and experiences. I guess I was wrong. Not that I approved of the racial slurs used by my grandfather, but I realized that correcting him did nothing since those thoughts had been engraved into his vocabulary since the ‘20s and that my reprimands were falling on deaf ears. As people age and experience life, they tend to become more firmly rooted in their virtues and beliefs, making them much less flexible. Those who aren’t steadfast in standing behind their principles are seen as weak, and its hard to get people to change these. Alas, though, hope remains even though Obama hasn’t inspired an immediate transforming. Since culture can change from the bottom up, but it is going to take every enlightened individual to hold his neighbor accountable to inspire a revolution of thought, and while it may be difficult, no efforts are futile. As the seeds fall from a single tree to sprout more seed-baring plants, every American has the ability to change our nation.

Hallelujah, freedom of speech!