Cultural/Political Impact

Awoke early thinking how each of us has impact on our nation, life style, and governance. The concepts of culture and politics insisted their way into my thinking. Over and over again threads of concepts and ‘discussion’ came to mind.

From Wikipedia comes this: Culture can be defined in many different ways. In the words of anthropologist E.B. Tylor, it is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals…” and so much more. Politics, on the other hand relates to a context of action. Wikipedia offers this definition: “Politics is the process of making decisions applying to all members of each group. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance.”

Culture and Politics. Popping up in my mind over and over. So much so that I got out of bed at 1:20 am and turned on the computer.

Culture and politics share context in every society; some share more closely than others; it depends on the nation and the strength of their culture. Governance follows culture, I think. We all have to coexist within the framework of time and culture. They occur together. We may see our culture differently, and bring different things to it. But the political is our way of navigating through the chaos of ordered minds into the orderliness of society’s functioning. Politics is the driving engine of getting things done in a large and complex society.

When culture and politics intersect the transactions often are messy. The order of governance follows bureaucratic protocols. Often these are set in a complex array of constitutional language, systems and agency functions. It is a way in which to create and maintain order.

It is the order from this process that allows culture to grow, change and morph into entirely new knowledge bases, values and morals as well. How we express ourselves within culture is the enriching emergence of and meaning of belief systems, art, religion and so many other compartments of our intellectual life. Their merging with one another creates entirely new vistas of even more culture.

But running through all of this is order. Order brings stasis to our thinking so we can code and archive – save – what has been and what is emerging. The lifeblood of culture is intellect, order and process. Governance is part of that order and process. Engaging the intellect in all of this is natural and unnatural at the same time.

Many people are uncomfortable dealing with intellect. They are much more at home with process and functions, or action. The meaning behind all of this, however, is intellect, and it requires its own protocols to function well. It is all about values, beliefs and networking of concepts to create new thoughts and workable ideas.

Perhaps the angst of modern day is the ill-fit between culture and politics. Each of the components – culture and politics – homes in on a different set of elements to survive. Politics tends to focus on day to day function and action. Culture is much more free-based within our social functioning. The creative side of society is rooted in culture. Any governance mechanism that thwarts culture is a clear and present danger to the wellness of our society and its ability to survive pressure and change continually.

Governance should have its role to protect culture. The two are not enemies naturally. But practitioners of governance and politics do tend to drift toward enemy status.

I had not thought of this in this way before. That alone is a good subject for discussion, but another day! The thing that propelled me from bed in the middle of the night is simply this:

            Current political discourse in America and in many places on the globe tends to

            short circuit culture and its functioning in our society. That is a danger not well

            defined in American discussion.

The source of our society’s genius is in its culture. And that culture must be free-wheeling in its scope and expansion of thought all the time. It is where invention occurs. It is where we all connect with the ‘big picture’ elements of life. We are always struggling to make sense of it and keep it real and practical. The last thing we need is something that snuffs the life out of such intellectual pursuits.

Governance is ruled by politics. Usually politics ascribes to political parties, ideologies, and a host of power networks that obscure what governance ought to be about.

A quick glance at Illinois governance demonstrates how politics has paralyzed the culture and society of the state. This is important to note. The political parties involved are at gridlock status.

The same is true at the federal level of governance in America. The Congress is divided on party lines and some ideological lines. The situation is frozen in gridlock. The big things of government are locked in a battle in which little gets accomplished.

On some basis this may be good to protect and preserve the battling ideas and beliefs. But at some point society and its culture moves on. The amorphous gestalt of our nation continues to change into whatever it will, inventing new industries, new arts, new ideas, new knowledge bases. If government and its ruling politics doesn’t bend, what is the result?

And how long does that result hold sway?

America has need to find a workable agenda in which to fulfill the needs of the American people, all the while not smothering the creative genius that resides within. The current political gridlock is not helpful and must be set aside.

Important work needs to be done. Here are a few of those agenda items we are leaving in the dust:

·         Reform of the justice system so it serves our nation fairly and justly

·         Enlarge access of education to all people throughout their lives to support life-long learning

·         Improve educational systems to uncover and magnify the natural talents of each person in our society

·         Allow and nurture an unbounded creative energy within business and commerce so it addresses needs clearly and economically

·         Quality of life in thought, deed and health is constantly rooted in our being

We are seemingly on autopilot. The craft in which we travel is in motion and flying without sensate authority. Without knowledgeable and intentional guidance the craft will run out of fuel and crash.

And that will be the end of both culture and politics. Contemplating this state of affairs I conclude this simple fact: culture never gets in the way of politics; but politics does get in the way of culture. What then does society do to fix politics?

May 15, 2017