Cultural Molds
Cultural Molds.
How your culture shapes your perspective on everything you do and see. I am a American man who was raised and currently live in Northern California. When you hear that your own cultural impression shapes what you hear there. From my own experience people think I am all about guns and I must live next to celebrities. That there's a cultural shade that colors that identity and perspective. For me, it makes me think of foothills, grasslands, BBQ's, the summer heat and honest hardworking people. Northern California where I live is a lot closer culturally to Texas than San Francisco or Los Angeles. Where I live the people are much more conservative, religious and down to earth. That is not a blanket truth, people here are very diverse because this is the United States and this is California. But that is the tend overall and I love it. I am a mix I can be very conservative and very Liberal in my cultural attitudes. I am very religious, and I was raised that way. This mix does have a cultural blinder that shapes the way I see the world from the big to the small.
When I think of cities I think of them as being too busy, noisy and the people being rude and impatient. However, I have lived in a large city and did find a mix of people from many walks of life. Some good some bad, but I always felt like the country mouse in the big city, so I left. When I see all that concrete and steel I am sad at the lack of nature. When I talked to people in the city about it, they thought of the country often as being dirty and boring. I would say we are both right because of our cultural perspectives and values we see reality in our ways. When you talk about something as large as the United States you really are dealing with thousands of different cultural perspectives across the many regions and peoples. Those combined are what make us great. People talk like we should all think alike however, not only is that impossible it's a enormous waste of that accumulated knowledge that we all share. I don't have a love for money or the market. However, we do need those people who have a passion and interest in those fields. They also need people who can farm and see the value in a handful of dark earth. These diversities are what enable us to go out and do the great things that life requires. They are not the only factor by any means in our abilities and needs, but these cultural perspectives are often overlooked and undervalued.
Another example I spent some time in the south when I was in the military as a rural kid from California often I was struck by how different they really were to me and also how similar we all were in different ways. I talked and thought too fast to them and they were agonizingly slow paced and relaxed for me. They went on and on about how at least is isn't a dry heat which always seemed insane to me given how brutal humidity in the heat was to me. These were not universal statements but these were experiences I had. The reality is when you travel even in the United States you really are kinda going to different country with different values. We are all Americans and we believe in this country and what makes it great. Those differences really do add to that greatness.
So I really would recommend to my fellow Americans to get out and see the other parts of this beautiful country and walk in their shoes and gain their perspectives. If you go with a open heart and mind it will never cease to amaze you the different lifestyles people have.
With gratitude and love,
Fox
Murica.
