THE CULTURAL

Introduction

Culture for humans is like water for fish. It surrounds, supports, and permeates. It’s so ever-present it can almost be invisible, forgotten, ignored. Common knowledge, arts, beliefs, and practices are part of a nation’s environment. A nation’s culture shapes its people. A shared worldview, attitudes, values, morals, goals, and customs — its way of life — stabilizes a society. Understanding people requires understanding their culture.

Problems

The dominant American culture promotes materialistic, oppressive, top-down power. This culture, shaped by white men, promotes the self-centered pursuit of money, power, and status at the expense of others. Everyone is encouraged to climb social ladders and look down on and dominate those below. Multiple myths legitimate the established power structures that perpetuate these dynamics.

Solutions

At the same time, however, America has promoted democracy, collective empowerment, and self-determination. Alternative cultures have pushed for co-equal partnerships and democratic hierarchies rooted in the use of top-down power that promotes empowerment, both individual and collective. The tension between these alternative cultures and the dominant culture has been an ongoing struggle.

Cultural Resources

These resources present ideas, information, and proposals for action to clarify the nature of the cultural problems we face and potential solutions that point the way toward holistic and systemic transformation.

Art
Classism
Compassion
Equality
Journalism
Justice
Leadership
Materialism
Meritocracy
Self-centeredness
Sexism
Racism
Respect