As a child, I remember being taught the importance of living and preserving one's cultural values and traditions which included 'Language' and 'Literature'. Personally I never found myself a sucker for the culture philosophy. Doing something in a certain manner just because my ancestors did so wasn't a good enough logic for me...
And as we have entered the era of global village, it seems like the concept of cultural heritage is diminishing away at a shockingly accelerating speed. The whole world has become one huge 'melting pot'... Its sad to see that most of the younger generation is embarrassed to get caught speaking their native language or involved in cultural specific activities. People who express disapproval at adopting other cultures specifically western are viewed as stuck up conservatives...
I feel that a lot of good comes out of this 'melting pot' . We all learn to appreciate each other's differences and grow as a person. We broaden our minds/perspectives and adopt the noble aspects of other cultures. But where does it leave the patriotic spirit of preserving and living ones life according to the national cultural heritage? Will many Non-English languages/cultures die away 20 years down the road?
However I don't appreciate a lot of the current trends the world seems to be gravitating towards . On the surface it seems like lifestyle has upgraded to being more open, liberal and glamorous! But I feel that stuff like: women and men abandoning modesty in dressing up and interacting with each other, meaningless high school drama of popularity amongst friends, the need to know and hang out with millions of people regardless to whether they bring a positive influence or not, excessive use of drugs, alcohol, foul language, music industry becoming mostly about sex songs, party attitude with 'party' meaning to jam with strangers while getting drunk leading to vulnerability , its all just glittery stuff mistaken to be gold! It feels like the death of civilization to me..
Those attitudes have more of a profound negative impact on relationships and society than positive in general! Almost every other person seems to be in a rush to achieve the 'american dream' without pausing to reflect upon the spiritual aspect of life... I never gave much of a thought to these things but I guess as you get older, you begin to see the superficiality in the so-called 'norms'...
And as we have entered the era of global village, it seems like the concept of cultural heritage is diminishing away at a shockingly accelerating speed. The whole world has become one huge 'melting pot'... Its sad to see that most of the younger generation is embarrassed to get caught speaking their native language or involved in cultural specific activities. People who express disapproval at adopting other cultures specifically western are viewed as stuck up conservatives...
I feel that a lot of good comes out of this 'melting pot' . We all learn to appreciate each other's differences and grow as a person. We broaden our minds/perspectives and adopt the noble aspects of other cultures. But where does it leave the patriotic spirit of preserving and living ones life according to the national cultural heritage? Will many Non-English languages/cultures die away 20 years down the road?
However I don't appreciate a lot of the current trends the world seems to be gravitating towards . On the surface it seems like lifestyle has upgraded to being more open, liberal and glamorous! But I feel that stuff like: women and men abandoning modesty in dressing up and interacting with each other, meaningless high school drama of popularity amongst friends, the need to know and hang out with millions of people regardless to whether they bring a positive influence or not, excessive use of drugs, alcohol, foul language, music industry becoming mostly about sex songs, party attitude with 'party' meaning to jam with strangers while getting drunk leading to vulnerability , its all just glittery stuff mistaken to be gold! It feels like the death of civilization to me..
Those attitudes have more of a profound negative impact on relationships and society than positive in general! Almost every other person seems to be in a rush to achieve the 'american dream' without pausing to reflect upon the spiritual aspect of life... I never gave much of a thought to these things but I guess as you get older, you begin to see the superficiality in the so-called 'norms'...
Wow dear thanks for sharing.... all that u've pointed out are so true......i myself is a victim to some that u've mentioned not saying this in a proud way but i guess everyone does it for a different reason not that any of them justifys the deeds at all.......for some reason i have always thought of the so called norms and definately u sure got me thinking more know after reading this.....Mashaalah u really is a good writer thanks again and keep writting hun...mwuah!!!
ReplyDeleteYou hit it home with this one. I totally feel that all the different cultures in our society who we should appreciate and learn from seem to be dying away. What once used to be the norm to speak in your native tongue has become a "what language are you talking in?" battle with fellow natives. It is sad to observe how cultures are accepting the western living without even realizing what they have fallen into.
ReplyDeleteits true we are accepting western cultures as our norms now a days, but it might be up to the individual to see how it helps them understadn their own religion and how they perceive themselves in terms of religion.
ReplyDeleteAs of cultural backgorunds, i agree I think most of us in the west are letting go of cultural norms and acquiring new ones. but some of the norms are needed to removed completely in order to survive and advance to become a better person.