The Witness Chronicles, 12/9/24
Our shallow culture is on display
I Have No Culture. What Does That Mean?
This might be the issue that plagues us
Culture is history and tradition. But what if we no longer have that? Our society is based on shared cultural norms, but do we have them? What do I mean? We just had a holiday we all celebrate. Family, friends, etc,. But the tradition behind that is questionable and it comes as close as possible to an American tradition, but a weak link.
I’m not feeling it.
This month has been indigenous American month on PBS, and because I’m sorta sick of pop culture, I’ve watched a lot of it. And what I have been seeing is a cohesive culture over thousands of years, a respectful culture.
And somehow that culture crosses tribes, regions, and religious differences. In the case of Native Americans it is about our shared relationship with nature.
And I’ll argue we have lost that in mainstream American life, if we ever truly had it. Right now we do not know who we are. That’s a pretty terrible thing to say so I’ll say it again, we do not know who we are. A native can say I am this tribe, this nation, and it is clear to them what it means.
Is your nation MAGA? Is it some nebulous liberal thing? Is it a ‘normal’ person who is not really paying attention? A lot of us struggle with this without knowing what we are struggling with. Identity.
I’m old. Years ago we would have automatically said ‘American’. Not so much anymore. That was our tribe and the right realized a lot of people felt threatened by any incursion into that weak identity. So they set out to weaken those ties.
They convinced various Americans that there were others among us. Others who were not ‘true’ Americans’. It was a brilliant strategy in the short run.
But the ‘culture’ we celebrated as the American Way has never existed. If you listen to the right, for example, there was once a mythological time resembling the 1950s of old television programs, that represents some lost ideal. That’s a thin veneer of fabricated shared history, at least if you were white, as I am.
There is culture in Europe, Asia, and Africa but Americans prided themselves as those who left those cultures for a new world. The more you look at history, especially the history of US immgrants, you see this stripping off of the past.
The problem with this is that most of us never developed a uniquely American culture, except the culture of unfettered capitalism, the worship of success at any cost.
I’m no socialist and know too much of the history of facism, socialism, and communism. These ideals alway devolve into autocracy. They offer too much opportunity for charismatic leaders to emerge and all too often those ‘leaders’ are no more than power hungry grifters. And because we are desperate for identity we are vulnerable to their promises.
It is a pattern repeated throughout US history and we are witnessing another one right now. Think about the MAGA movement invented by Donald Trump. And now tell me in detail what ideals it aspires to. Not empty words about making America great again.
If you press the right for what that means it will be obvious that it is a fantasy of a land of white, Christian men who know better how to run things, with no track record, excepting a history of enriching themselves on the backs of their followers.
But it truly is a mythology with no basis in reality and that is its weakness, the utter lack of depth. My contention, post 2024 election, is that the lack of depth in their fake culture will show itself. Activism will consist of constantly revealing their shallowness and corruption.
A reader recently commented that we need to go on strike right now. My immediate response is against what? The right has not actually done anything yet to strike against. Are we striking against them winning the election? Isn’t that exactly what Trump’s supporters did with the Stop the Steal movement? That worked out well.
It’s guaranteed that these people will screw things up, at least for everyone but the very rich. They simply don’t really care about the things they have promised only recently. Its a major weakness that will reveal itself but we have to give them the rope needed to hang themselves. And not believe a word of it in the meantime.
A small majority of voters voted for things they desperately want to believe, need to believe. But their votes have only empowered those who take advantage of people desperate for meaning in their lives and the empowerment that drew people to Trump’s rallies. But that is done and they are rapidly being left behind.
The speed with which Trump is consolidating power or trying to, is because his people know how thin his grift is. He got elected by promising the moon but every day, post-election, it is obvious those were empty promises.
The problem with having no strong cultural base is we are susceptible to those who promise us a savior. Watching those at the Trump rallies we see people desperate for identity but who have no idea how to build one. Many of them have seen the things their parents described as normal, go away.
But it went away because times changed, drastically, but a people that can’t adapt are shaken by change. Those in power see change as opportunity. That was a mantra of the Silicon Valley tech growth spurt that drove that change. But that tech growth spurt not only left people behind and bewildered, it put up smokescreens like social media to quiet any protest.
And it worked. Instead of learning how to adapt to change, many simply gave in to the constant stream of shallow entertainment and conspiracy theories. It’s no different than an strategy of addiction, the bread and circuses of the American world.
I don’t write for those who cannot set their phones down, ever. I ride buses and it is common for every single person on the bus to be looking at their phones, and they are not reading the news. Trump was savvy enough to recognize this, especially as he is famously uninterested in going in depth on anything. He does not read.
But he saw his opportunity. But it’s a weak link and we have to wait for it to break. It will come but will only help us if we get the word out about what they are doing. Talk to those around you about what you believe and are passionate about. Those things are the basis of a strong cultural identity, not fear and hatred of the other.
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All true, though I retain a bit of faith (or at least confidence) in the basic civic culture that truly did make America great (or at least distinct). A culture of engagement and activism, mostly locally but also nationally. We erred badly by failing to teach civics in schools in recent decades (I'm almost 70, so most relevant decades are recent to me). The problem has been exacerbated by the splintering of the media, but that would be tolerable if the polity were civically educated.
When immigrants came to America, in order to be accepted they gave up their culture and many changed their names. The majority of my ancestors came here before the 1800s from the UK. The only 'culture roots' I have ever known is embedded in America with a midwest flavor of Wisconsin. My husband is 1st generation Dutch and still has family in the Netherlands, but was raised as an American, not dutch. I agree we do not have the rich culture so many other countries do and it allows for those who want to divide us to do so. Is there an answer, I only know what I was taught by my father; integrity, civic responsibility, honesty, respectful for others and need to protect our natural world. That is the only culture I try to adhere to.