When Your Culture is Failing You
The best explanation I’ve heard defining what “culture” is comes from Seth Godin. He explains it by simply stating “people like us do things like this.”
But what happens when the “this” people like you are doing is killing them. What happens when the “this” is creating a cycle of unhappiness, hate, stress, poverty, mis-education, or bad health? What happens when you realize your culture is failing you?
If people like you are doing things like this, then shouldn’t you change who defines the people like you? This may be possible if the culture we are talking about stems from the company you work for, the school you go to, or where you live. It’s possible for you to get a new job or move. However, what if the culture we are talking about stems from race, gender, or ethnicity.
What do you do when you become aware that you were born into a culture that is failing you? You basically have three options:
- Do nothing
- Disavow your culture and do your best to adopt someone else’s culture
- Create a counter-culture and spread it