DYSFUNCTIONAL CULTURES CREATE DYSFUNCTIONAL CITIZENRY
Mihhaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the Third Millennium suggests “…the fate of humanity in the next millennium depends so closely on …whether we preserve a life worth living, depends on the kind of selves we are able to create, and on the social forms that we succeed in building.”
To look at the cultural landscape before us is unthinkable and unrecognizable; it’s like a classic portrait with something splashed all over it. No matter the kind of lens you are using to view these signs, it is impossible to give it a thumbs up. Tribes within our culture are at war with one another and the sentiment has grown to recognize and affirm that we are indeed in a culture war throughout our country.
“War” language is an apt use of the word because the traditional language around war demonstrates a cultural influence on the language people use and promotes social changes of every imaginable kind. War by its nature forces people to contribute to the effort and often this occurs in non-traditional ways. Anxiety and depression are most often the emotional effects felt. In my readings on war, I’ve realized some interesting facts. War is yet another disruptive element we are experiencing now.
My concern in these readings was how war creates long-term psychological and physical harm to children and adults and well as a depletion of capital. Short-term, the destruction of physical infrastructure (Historic states being torn down), the economic and political institutions (inflation’s impact on families, increasing poverty, and the corruption of our political systems), and the obvious loss of human life (statistics prove people resorting to drugs, alcohol, and the undeniable effect of Fentanyl on our young (as the drug is colored to entice the very young to candy).
Is this the kind of culture you are drawn to? Is it possible for a group of citizens to unite and change the toxic reality we are living in?
“Change before you have to.”
Jack Welch
