How Values Can Shape a Culture

 It is winter, when everything outdoors slows down. The trees have lost their leaves, the grass turns brown, the cold encourages us to cuddle up in our homes. Winter can be a quieter time for us, with more chances to reflect. And like many of us, I've been trying to understand how a man was elected to the presidency who seems to stand against everything that we thought were common values: care for the earth, concern about the climate, the philosophy that all people are equal under the law, the worth and rights of women, aid to the disadvantaged, respect for the boundaries of other countries....  The list goes on and on. And more people voted for this man than for his opponent. How have we gotten to this place? What is causing what appears to be a crazy detour into chaos?

So let's look at our values, I thought. What values drive the majority of Americans? And how might that help to explain how we got where we are now? When Europeans first started to migrate to the Americas, they wanted freedom. They were getting out from under rulers who did not have their well-being in mind, and they fled to a new land where they could have independence. From the beginning, independence has been a guiding principle for these folks fleeing from Europe. "Every man for himself." That's understandable. These people were seeking a new life where they could find happiness out from under oppressive rule.

This value of independence sets the stage for another value: competition. In a culture where the individual person is the primary unit, avoiding being under the thumb of anyone else, there's a tendency to encourage a me-against-them attitude. In our culture, we strive for success. And often that means we try to do better than the people around us. We want to be the best, to win. From an early age, our progress in anything is measured by how it compares with our peer group. Getting high grades is what we strive for in school, and getting the most commendations in our professional life comes later. 

Maybe the most obvious value that has evolved in our country is the quest for and focus on material wealth. Our new president enormously values material wealth and would like the country to be ruled by billionaires. That doesn't sound too healthy. I've noticed this especially during the Christmas season, everyone charging out to the stores to buy things for their friends and relatives. Malls full of people carrying big loads of bags, checking off their lists, measuring the holiday by the presents they give and receive. Of course, the impulse to give to others is admirable. And some people might feel joy as they shop. But if you step back a moment and look with perspective, this holiday was originally about Jesus' birth. It wasn't about giving presents and putting up decorations. It was about a more internal thing: a celebration of someone who gave inspiration and a loving, understanding, peaceful example to the world. 

So here we are in 2024 (right at the cusp of year-change), with a culture that encourages independence, competition and wealth accumulation. If these things are contributing to dysfunction in our communities, how can we nudge each other into more healthy mindsets? We've grown up in this culture. It's not that easy to change. I wondered if there were inspiring and helpful stories from other cultures about how they've arrived at a different worldview. And the one that's caught my eye and my heart is the general life view of indigenous peoples. Of course, in today's world it is hard for any group to be separated from the rest of the planet. With soaring technology everywhere, there are probably not many (if any) indigenous groups who have been able to preserve their lifestyles and values. But just reading about the worldview of indigenous peoples in general is a big nudge in the right direction.

Indigenous people tend to believe that everything is connected, the web of life. And people are not the central players. Each animal, bird, and insect has a place in the whole. Taking this further, indigenous people recognize the other life forms on the planet as their relatives. For example, they live on Mother Earth and they hunt Brother Deer. There is usually a strong sense of nature-centered spirituality coupled with a sense of responsibility to care for each other and the natural world. Indigenous cultures include a belief in the supernatural (earth spirits, guiding messages, etc) and their lives are centered around strict moral codes. These attributes of indigenous cultures are starkly different than those of our present American culture.  

It seems like one of the biggest differences is the focus on the individual in American culture, and the priority of the group in indigenous cultures. And indigenous groups are not just all the members of their tribe. Their group includes the members of the natural world where they live. They feel part of a large astonishing whole, and they honor their family members (rabbits, rocks, eagles) as part of that whole. Since their values reflect their belief that we are all connected, their actions tend to support their group as a whole, unlike the dominant culture where independence still holds sway.

I guess I haven't come up with any solutions to our problems. But it has been enlightening to realize the history of the European settlers to this country, the reasons why they were so determined to be independent, and how that tended to lead to competition and wealth accumulation (do I dare call it greed?). There are no bad guys here, just people trying to protect themselves and find a path to happiness. And it would seem that we've gotten a bit off that path at present. Let's support all our friends and neighbors who do their best to support the earth, care about their human and animal relatives, and remember that we are all connected. Literally.