In democracy, we pick our leaders, which means that our leaders come from the ranks of the citizens. The leaders that are available to pick from can only be those leaders who have been grown and nurtured and built within our society, within the culture that we live.
Too often, we are focused on those elements of change that are superficial. We want to change how people are treated without realizing that some people like things the way that they are. The reason is often a misunderstanding because someone doesn’t quite get it. They don’t quite understand systemic thinking. They don’t understand that it is entirely possible to create a system that perpetuates racism, perpetuates sexism, perpetuates economic inequality, all through negligence, because of our common tendencies as humans toward hierarchal thinking and selfish inclinations. Thus are created the headwinds to all progress.
What if I told you that there is a way to minimize that damage? What if I told you that it is not prescriptive?
It’s not telling people what to do. It’s not making laws. Laws are a lagging indicator of what cultural norms are. I’ll give you an example of this: the Hobbes decision overturning Rowe vs. Wade. To do such a thing was unthinkable fifty years ago. Yet here we are, and the act of overturning women’s freedoms has a surprising amount of cultural support. We can only expect the law to enshrine what we already believe as a community, and in this case, enough of us were okay with this that we collectively allowed it to happen.
The longer we allow ourselves to perpetuate cultural norms that have negative impacts on community and negative impacts on the world in which we live, the less strength our laws actually have to prevent backsliding. It is only a matter of time before those laws can be overturned, such as Roe versus Wade, or for an additional example, the Voting Rights Act.
If we had the same culture today as we had at the time that the Voting Rights Act was established, then perhaps the Voting Rights Act would still be intact. Cultural changes, and a lot of our energy, time, and money in American society is built around culture. It’s built around politics and a lot of things that we experience.
In our marches to try to change laws: we focus on legal outcomes, and admittedly right now our legal outcomes are very important. We see that they’re very important, as it is the judiciary that has so far managed to hold firm against sliding completely into tyranny. But you’ll notice that it didn’t hold firm all the way up and down. There are gaps. I point to the Supreme Court for an example.
These things happen because we’re negligent in nurturing our culture. We are not moving or pushing our cultural narrative. We’re not controlling the boundaries, the confines of what is acceptable and unacceptable within our culture. A lot of these conversations that we end up having are because we have allowed others to co-opt our culture, to co-opt our concept of freedom, to co-opt our concept of religion. These things, which are supposed to enable and make our culture better, make our lives better, have been turned into weapons against the majority.
Everything in the political ecosystem sits atop the people, and atop the culture in which we live. The only way to have actual lasting change is not to have that change at a political level, and it is not to make another law. Making another law is necessary, yes, but that is not how lasting change is made. Lasting change is made by swaying culture, and that’s why billionaires have bought up our social media platforms: if they can control the culture, they can control the future. They recognize that, and it’s time that we recognize it too.
Therefore, I challenge you to come join us, and let’s make a difference. Let’s be the counterweight. I know that we’re small, but let’s create a counterweight to that billionaire class. I’m not talking about a counterweight like No Kings or Indivisible. I’m talking about a counterweight that focuses specifically on cultural change. We’re small and quiet, but we all have to start somewhere. I’m asking you to come, be a part of the start, and let’s make a world that truly is better for all of us.
Find out in December what you can do to help by following the QR code below and RSVP-ing. Remote and in-person tickets are available. In-Person tickets are for a Portland, OR based venue not yet decided.
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/make-change-last
No AI was used in the creation of this blog post.