Culture OVER Politics....Politics are NOT the Problem, It's Culture!

So, i have been coming to the realization that we have issues not politically but culturally. I am under the impression that by changing our cultural memes and ideas then it will reflect in our politics and policies.

To do this people have to change their values and change themselves. We need to culturally value things other then monetary success, change things like our music, our entertainment and so on. We should start by redefining what success means, change it from meaning economic prosperity to prospering within the community. Make it COOL to help people rather then making it cool to be better then people.

Do these things by listening to better music. Listen to music that is more harmonious and less violent and abrasive. Lets choose more "enlightened" and educational forms of entertainment. On TV lets watch TV shows that promote ideas and question things, that teach alternative history and investigating ideas for yourselves.

Lets make the education system not only a system to learn already known facts but lets make institutions that teach people about themselves.

reply to post by onequestion

All wonderful ideas Question. Unfortunately there are too many people who find these ideas offensive and forcing these values on people are deemed authoritarian.

reply to post by onequestion


I am immensely bothered by this sort of narrative. Unless you are simply announcing to the world that you intend to uplift your personal culture and expose yourself to deeper and more intellectually challenging entertainment, you must be suggesting that coercion be employed against everyone else to achieve this new enlightened society.

I do not disagree with your disappointment in the baseness of today's popular culture. I realize that you have no deleterious intentions toward society.

That said, I implore you to thoroughly consider what methods would be necessary to make the corrections you suggest. The most prolific violators of human freedom and dignity throughout history have also meant well.

reply to post by TerryMcGuire


Right but you can do this yourself in your life and work to promote these ideas by living them.

reply to post by onequestion


I completely agree with you there. However then the greed-factor for business would be starved out and that is not allowed to happen. It appears that nothing that we do is left to chance without someone sitting in the woods trying to make a $ out of our choices.

reply to post by greencmp


Oh give me a break with the forcing people to do so nonsense.

reply to post by greencmp


Let's means Let us. It is a suggestion. I doubt the OP sees any way of forcing this on anybody.
It is true what they said too. Bad thing is that it's almost impossible to achieve. I actually don't think the point of being here is harmony.

reply to post by onequestion


It used to be that you could be both economically successful and help others, and there are still people who do that. In fact, if you work hard to be the best person you can be, prosperity tends to find you. Why should you be ashamed of that, and why should society shame you if it happens?

Money and prosperity are only bad things when you put them on a pedestal and make them the most important things in your life.

And no, it is not school's place to teach you values. That responsibility lies with your parents. When school starts trying to do it, it smacks of indoctrination. What if the values of the school clash with the values of the home?

There was, in fact, a society in Germany who felt that the schools needed to enforce/teach consistent values to teach the children who they were in order to change the culture, too.

reply to post by ketsuko


I didnt say teach them values my premise to help people explore themselves that has nothing to do with values unless finding yourself includes realizing what you value.

reply to post by onequestion


School is also not about finding yourself. That, too, can be deemed coercive and lead one in a manner that would be ... of questionable motive. Religion, too, is often called a journey of personal discovery and plenty of people call it brainwashing.

reply to post by onequestion


There simply is no money for people in the entertainment business to make dare they go back to values and keeping violence to the hours of 9:00 pm and after...seeing that entertainment and government is interconnected it's hard to separate the two...

reply to post by onequestion


So, what you're saying is ... we need to be Chinese peasants and Chinese Middle Class?

Sure, there's some benefits to Asian influenced culture, but, every society has its problems.
Culture, politics, religion, education, population pressures on resources ...

there's no one fix for any of these

onequestion
Do these things by listening to better music. Listen to music that is more harmonious and less violent and abrasive.

As a fan of violent and abrasive music, I've got to disagree with you there. I know plenty of people who listen to harmonious music and behave like freaking jackals. "Civilized my syphilised yarbles", as Alex DeLarge would say. Pop music tends to be quite soft and emotional, yet society isn't getting any gentler. This is simply a question of personal taste and I doubt it would have much impact on our system.

onequestion
Lets choose more "enlightened" and educational forms of entertainment. On TV lets watch TV shows that promote ideas and question things, that teach alternative history and investigating ideas for yourselves.

Sorry to nitpick, but when you "promote ideas" and "question things" and "teach", you aren't making people investigate for themselves. You're doing the questioning in their place, leading them by the hand, and you provide the answer by the end of the show, just in time for the next commercial break. No individual thinking here. MSM features plenty of shows like that.

onequestion


Lets make the education system not only a system to learn already known facts but lets make institutions that teach people about themselves.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Public education kind of has to be generic. There is just too many different people, cultures, personal bias, religions, ect to teach that kind of thing in school. Everyone is different and has a right to be. I believe school should ONLY be there to learn facts, PARENTS should teach children about themselves period. If not you end up like this:

The problem at the very core is simply human nature. For all of our technology and "advancements" in science we still lack the wisdom to wield the knowledge with simple humility.

For all we have seemingly achieved, the human nature condition has not improved since the dark ages and until we develop as a species, our advancements are only speeding us to our untimely end.

That is a fact.