Cultures do change themselves over time, but it may be painfully slow, and sometimes they don't change.
I'm not condescending or judging. We're all human biologically, and culture is not a simple matter of individual responsibility, it's a collective and historical phenomenon. Individuals may be able to rise above their culture, but in some cases the path can be longer and steeper. Would I be the same person if I were born in a different place? If I were born in a different time? Of course not. We've all been shaped by our culture.
In any case, it's difficult to help when relevant help is rejected, e.g., ACA subsidies. Moreover, there's an underlying conflict of values and even religion that pervades the politics, seeping into seemingly unrelated issues such as health and economics, and undermining the possibility of agreement or compromise. It's difficult to be kind, sympathetic, understanding, patient with someone when that someone goes out of their way to try to take away civil rights that you care deeply about. At a certain point, you need to fall back to self-preservation.
Comments
True. What is effective, though?
Cultures do change themselves over time, but it may be painfully slow, and sometimes they don't change.
I'm not condescending or judging. We're all human biologically, and culture is not a simple matter of individual responsibility, it's a collective and historical phenomenon. Individuals may be able to rise above their culture, but in some cases the path can be longer and steeper. Would I be the same person if I were born in a different place? If I were born in a different time? Of course not. We've all been shaped by our culture.
In any case, it's difficult to help when relevant help is rejected, e.g., ACA subsidies. Moreover, there's an underlying conflict of values and even religion that pervades the politics, seeping into seemingly unrelated issues such as health and economics, and undermining the possibility of agreement or compromise. It's difficult to be kind, sympathetic, understanding, patient with someone when that someone goes out of their way to try to take away civil rights that you care deeply about. At a certain point, you need to fall back to self-preservation.