Culture and Society
“Never judge a book by its cover.
Or who you’re gonna love by your lover.
Sayin’ love put me wise to her love in disguise.
She had the body of a Venus,
Lord imagine my surprise.
That, that, dude looks like a lady.
That, that, dude looks like a lady.
That, that, dude looks like a lady.
That, that, dude looks like a lady.”
The last two of our five areas of chaos are culture and society. What is the difference between the two? Society is how we interact with each other. Culture is the atmosphere in which we interact. I once heard culture described as similar for we humans, as the water in which fish swim. Put fish in bad water and you will have bad fish. But them in fresh, sparkling water and the fish will prosper. Let’s take the culture first:
Culture: I grew up in the city of Los Angeles. At the time, it was the 3rd largest city in America. I went to a public LA Unified School district school from 3rd grade through 6th. We said the pledge of allegiance every day. We learned about the brilliance of our founding fathers and the importance of the constitution. America was the best place there has ever been and we honored it, the soldiers who fought to preserve it and the freedoms we inherited. God, Christianity and prayer were a central part of life and the ultimate solace in times of need.
That childhood is no longer the standard in America. The left has been winning the culture war for 60 years. They have slowly, but inexorably infiltrated and taken over education, media, entertainment, deep state government and now much of corporate America. Through these mechanisms they have installed a new culture where America is a bad place of white supremacy and colonialism. Where God and Christianity are myths promoting evil. Where police officers are oppressors and members of the military are baby killers, unless they are transgender in which case they are OK. Where getting married and having kids is to submit to the tenets of white colonialism. Those who have adopted this new culture are, by and large, unhappy and soulless people with a much greater risk of suicide.
But the tide may now be turning. The left never knows where to stop and the havoc caused by their rejection of all American and Judeo/Christian norms are being seen for what they are. The Bud Light boycott sent a huge shot across the bow of corporate America that at least half the country is not interested in S2LGBTQii+++ products. They want products without Neo-Marxist politics embedded in them.
The fight is far from over. But the side of right is finally fighting back and sees what is at stake. Since culture is upstream from almost everything else in life, what is at stake is our freedoms and very way of life.
Society: As the culture may be turning back the other way, the divisions in society are not. These divisions are not just between left and right or Republican and Democrat. There are many dimensions of division. The divisions between urban and rural, college “educated” and non-college attenders, blue collar and white collar, owners of assets vs. those who do not own a house or any other substantial assets. And there are still more. The division between atheists and believers, S2LGBTQii+++ and straight, the childless and people with children, vegan and meat-eater and those who have animals and those that don’t. Are carbon based fuels the greatest threat to mankind or are they what has made our lives better and healthier through energy abundance? And of course, is the use of the word “mankind” bigoted? Many of these overlap. Some do not.
Some of these divisions may seem trivial. But we are in an age where one side or another of these attributes wants to enshrine their position in law or culture as the favored path. That makes what might have been a trivial position now a more important one if it forces me to either eat meat or not eat meat. It used to be we were more unified as Americans and together facing the evils of communism. Now, our external enemies seem less of a threat (they are not) and so our internal divisions seem greater.
These divisions are not shrinking. Hence, the increasing talk of “civil war” or “secession.”
Obviously, the cultural divide adds to the societal divisions, but it is not the sole cause of them. People will eventually congregate with others who think, act and live like them. Will that be because we divide into new countries, or will we unify against an external threat or otherwise come together?
No one knows. But what I do know is that society divided as it is today cannot be stable over the long run.
Debate and 4th of July: As you read this, the Trump/Biden debate will either be hours away or will have already occurred. Many are building this up as a pivotal point in this election cycle. I actually don’t think it will likely be one. We have never had two candidates who are so well known to the public because we have never had two people run against each other who have both been president in our lifetimes. I doubt that either one scores a knock out punch.
Next week is the 4th of July. American independence is one of human history’s greatest achievements in the view of this writer. That didn’t used to be controversial. Nor should it be. Celebrate what our brilliant founders did for us and pray that it lasts at least a few more generations.
And have a steak or a hamburger…
This missive will be back after 4th of July week. Until then,
I remain respectfully,
Congressman John Campbell
Drive fast & Live Free