Let's Reclaim Our Culture - Create Again!
Let's Reclaim Our Culture - Create Again!
In the "West" we live in a time of consumption. Apart from our specific work (which might not feel particularly creative to many people) pretty much all of the goods and services we use and consume are invented, produced, performed and delivered by others. This has allowed our societies over the last 150+ years to attain an incredibly high "standard of living":
We have a choice in fresh, canned, ready-made foods that is many times greater than even the most powerful king's or emperor's of the past
We can choose from billions of items of clothes, medicines, vehicles, luxury items, gadgets, etc. at (relative to historic comparisons) affordable cost. Basically we have more choice than we could ever hope to make use of.
Electricity comes out of the socket, water comes from the faucet, gas comes from a pipe in the ground, the television signal comes from a socket, the internet comes from a cable. Everything is conveniently delivered right into our homes
Many of the movies we watch cost over 100 million dollars
100,000s of books are published each year
Several million book titles can can be ordered within a day
We have instant access to several million songs
Etc.
We can eat, drink, travel and be entertained without lifting as much as a finger, or using our very capable brains; and many (if not most) people in the affluent West do just that.
But it is not only that we consume so clearly in excess of what we produce, we are also living at an unimaginable distance from those that DO produce. Few of us have ever had serious contact with domesticated animals like pigs or cows, almost none of us ever witnesses an animal being slaughtered or even prepared for cooking as a whole. Many of us have never seen a television camera or a studio, even though we spend hours per days watching their output. Quite a few of us have only limited experiences of acquaintances playing live music in a performance setting.
So, has it been always like this? No, not at all! The whole idea of being distant from a performance is no older than 150 years, when in the second half of the 19th century telephones, phonographs, photographs and motion pictures became known, followed in the 20th century by radio and television. Before this time, lacking any alternatives there could simply be no distance in space or time between a live performer and his audience. Sure, composers published sheet music, but it always had to be performed locally. And in the absence of amplifiers, audience sizes were limited to a few hundred, in local performances likely to a few dozen.
Mass production and automation have enabled us to lead a life of far less physical hardship and necessary interaction with the physical world. When we want something, all that is needed is putting it into our shopping cart in the megamarket or clicking on it on the computer.
Therefore, 150 years ago people were closer to those who produced and some people were even "producers" of goods and content themselves in the form of reading or telling stories, playing an instrument, etc. In the meantime, our average consumption has sky-rocketed while our average personal production of goods and content outside of the "work place" has plummeted.
In a quote that I attribute to Richard Stallman, but can't find the source for right now, he (supposedly) said:
A lively, cooperative, active, long-term community (of producers) is more important than short-term (consumption of) functionality or content!
In our quest for higher and higher "standards of living" we have by now almost completely lost contact with producing content or goods ourselves.
Could it be that we are becoming slaves to our own salvation, docile cattle of our own luxury, obedient victims of our own indulgence?
Is it time to reclaim the act of creation, to tell each other stories again around the fireplace, to make our own music, to produce content collaboratively on the internet, to get more intimate with our foods again?
Culture Definitions and Types Key elements that define a culture Leading Cross-Culture Virtual Teams Precisely How Towel Radiators Cross Cultures Experience The Intricate Culture of Rajasthan A Close Look at Cosplay Subculture Arts & Culture In Scottsdale An Early Contribution to Olmec Culture? Biodynamics and Permaculture Looking for Art, Nature, Culture and Adventure in Bali? Look no Further than Ubud How to Change Company Culture With Rewards The Culture at Arbys Organically Improving Your Soil with Vermiculture