Culture through my eyes

My view on Culture, An Australian Teenage Boy

Toneshifterz – Human Experience - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P40epXd1XCU

Towards the beginning of my studies on culture, identity and education I had the vague impression that culture was, a force which was shaped from our external environment by beliefs and values which influence our perceptions and identity. I didn’t appreciate it for what it really was. After, some reflection I became aware of the strong kinship it could create, as described by Anne Philips, “Persons identify and empathize more easily with those with whom they have more in common that with those with whom they have less”. At the same time, I learnt of the discrimination and hate it could produce within people, “culture comes to be seen as something primarily associated with non-Western or minority cultural groups” (Anne Phillips, “What is Culture pg. 5) 

Raymond Williams wrote, “Culture ‘is ordinary’, part of the process through which any social organisation develops and reproduces itself. Culture is ‘shared meanings.” This famous quote prompted me into realising that culture can be viewed as something that separates people from one another, a concept that arises from having different labels and ‘shared meanings’. The fear of the unknown, innate in our nature, may lead us to’ forget the similarities we share’ and focus on the differences – often trivial, which accompany other ways of life. I find myself often asking, why humanity, as a collection of people, values conformity to such a high degree. 

The issue with culture is that, like an individual’s identity, labelling ourselves and others is unavoidable. At its roots, this isn’t bad or good, however when culture creates an ‘us verse them’ mentality, where our allegiance to kin overwhelms sympathy for others – an individual becomes selfish, discriminative and exclusionary. Culture, in this respect, is capable of good or evil in relation to humanity as a global community. Group on group discrimination instils fears into individuals. This desensitises us from the tragedy of others and thus allows us to be ruled. Is culture a weapon used by the rich and powerful to spur emotion within their followers? I believe so;  for people alone aren’t born with hate or prejudice, instead these values are internalised over time and perpetuated, thus we are removed from ‘ourselves’ and never question the morality behind this segregation and demonization. This same separation enables governments to rally support against ‘others’ who have been deemed as insignificant because of their non-conformity to Western culture. 

Why do ‘ordinary’ middle class white Australians believe in a ‘fair go’ yet protest asylum seekers plight to flee hardship? Why are we sceptical of Homosexual and Lesbian marriages? In addition, in terms of education, why do we adopt policies from America’s education system when PISA results have consistently proven we perform at a higher standard? 

These issues stem from our labels and the seemingly ‘innate dissimilarities’ between ‘different people’. At the end of the day how different are we from one another... I for one will not trade humanity for patriotism.

Immortal Technique – 4^th branch – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QLi4O-Pu4Y