Are You Cool Enough?

    Without looking up the definition of culture, how would you define it? Would you describe it as tradition, and is that only in your family? I think I would define it as the values, traditions, and habits of a family and society. Google defines it as the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. 

    Now, how does culture influence our social class? That’s a loaded question, because there are way more factors that we begin to think of when we consider our “class”. Let’s think about how poverty influences us. The way an individual lives when they are in poverty is completely different from the way that someone in the upper class lives. Not only are there initial increased opportunities from birth, but greater opportunities throughout life too. There are many ways to define opportunity as well. 

    The most obvious to me is the financial opportunity. When an individual has money, they tend to live a lot more relaxed, and they’re not so stressed (in my mind). I was definitely raised differently from most of the people around me. My parents taught me at an early age the importance and value of money. They taught me to not buy something unless I needed it, or unless I had been saving up for it, and to make the decision over a long period of time. I noticed that the friends that were a higher class than me didn’t think much about their spending habits. If they wanted something, they bought it. It was really impulsive. I’m sure that most other people can relate to thinking differently about money when you don’t have as much. 

    This also makes me think about recreation. Obviously, money influences different cultures of recreation. I know a lot of people, however, who can find cheap-to-inexpensive things to do that are a ton of fun. I don’t know how they do it, but I admire it. My idea of having fun is to go hiking to a mountain lake, going swimming, going out to the movies, playing volleyball, playing video games, and playing board games. To someone of a higher class, their culture of fun might look different. My parents know some people that are super rich. These people have a helicopter, a private jet, lots of toys (dirt bikes, razors, boats), and a huge house. Their idea of fun is to take their helicopter or jet, and fly to and from Utah, or wherever they want to go really, all for a basketball game with court-side tickets. That, to me, is over the top. Sure, if I had money that I could spend all willy-nilly like that, I would probably do the same, or something similar. But as you can see, that’s what they do for fun in their house/in their culture. 

    When it comes to changing culture or class, what needs to happen? I’m convinced that it’s easier for us to be influenced, rather than to influence others. Which, the thought of only being influenced is honestly terrifying to me. We live in a society/culture where we care what people think about us. Who knows, maybe that’s a part of our nature to think like that. We think we need to have certain interests, dress a certain way, or try to fit in by acting a certain way. Why? To me, “social class” and “culture” are a way to define and divide us. We are 100% unique in our own beautiful way. It’s these differences that make society beautiful. What becomes even more beautiful are the unique opportunities each one of us has to try to become united. What would society today around the nation, or even around the world, look like if we had true unity? It’s my conviction that if we looked past these distractions of society, we would truly have more love and compassion in our hearts. I also strongly believe that these changes begin in the family. I would love to hear what your thoughts are on social class, culture, and unity. 

    Thanks again for reading!