Good Cultures and Bad Cultures

Tom Kando

Some societies are more successful than others. Today, there are successful societies such as Australia, Canada and Scandinavia, and unsuccessful ones such as Ethiopia, Pakistan and Venezuela. In the past, ancient Rome succeeded for over a thousand years, and the Third Reich failed after twelve years. 

By “successful,” I mean two things: (1) in such societies, a majority of the people live relatively free, prosperous and peaceful lives, unhampered by internal or external strife, and (2) such societies survive as coherent nations and remain viable for a long time. They do not fall apart. In other words: Quality and longevity. 

Whether a society succeeds or fails depends on many factors. One of these is Culture. Every society has its culture, its national character. By this I mean behavioral tendencies and core values and beliefs. For example, when I am overseas, I can recognize Americans fairly easily, from their appearance and their behavior. Of great importance to Americans are individual freedom and shopping. They are spontaneous and friendly. They sometimes believe untested ideas and are therefore viewed as naive. They are open-minded to new ideas, at least until recently... 

Some cultures are good and other ones not so good. An example of a bad culture was that of the Aztecs, who ruled parts of Central America for about a century (1428 to 1521) This was a theocratic and highly militaristic empire which practiced human sacrifice on a large scale. Its agriculture was based on the slash and burn system - the milpa - which has been held responsible for the destruction of the land’s fertility (See Hoebel, pp. 244 a.f.). 

Another bad culture was that of the Easter Islands: Faced with declining food and resources, the religious leadership urged the population to redouble the building of massive statues so as to propitiate the gods. To this end, all remaining trees were cut down and the island’s environment was destroyed. The society lapsed into cannibalism and devastation (See: Jared Diamond). 

 Current countries where counterproductive beliefs and habits seem to be widespread include Russia and some Middle Eastern and Latin American states. Dysfunctional cultural elements include extreme religiosity, machismo, violence, authoritarianism, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, even unhealthy physical habits and unhealthy eating and drinking. “Bad cultures,” are non-adaptive. 

Factors which contribute to dysfunction include rigid stratification, as in a caste system, and a strict class system. India, more than any other country, is associated with the caste system. Another caste society is Rwanda, where the conflict between the two major castes - Hutus and Tutsis - led to the 1994 genocide. The antebellum Southern US was also a caste society, and this country has yet to shed the burden of the aftermath of slavery. 

Rigid theocratic hierarchy makes for bad cultures. Rmember the etymology of the word:“hierarchy:” it is derived from the ancient Greek words hiereus (ίερεύϛ) meaning “priest” and arkhein (αρχει) which means “to rule” Thus the original meaning of “hierarchy” was “rule by priests.” 

I already mentioned the Aztecs’ use of human sacrifice as part of their religious rituals. Another society which practiced this gruesome custom were the Carthaginians. It took Rome three Punic wars to annihilate Carthage. In many popular accounts and in some history books, Rome is described as a bloodthirsty imperial power, while Hannibal is viewed as the heroic underdog (See Bourne). But no matter how violent and flawed Rome was, it was clearly superior to Carthage not just militarily, but also morally. Nor did Carthage produce anything resembling the rich art, poetry, philosophy and literature of the ancient Romans. 

Current examples of good cultures include Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands. 

The Scandinavian countries and Britain are all constitutional monarchies. They arrived at that state through gradual evolution and compromise, rather than through bloody revolutions and the guillotine. In the end, they became as fully democratic as those European countries which chose the path of violent upheaval (as did France and Germany). Belgium, Switzerland and Canada are multilingual countries where the different factions co-exist peacefully. They tolerate each other, even as they often badmouth each other. Dutch society has been a seafaring, mercantile, prosperous country for centuries, tolerant of religious and ethnic subgroups, approaching its challenges in a pragmatic and tolerant mode. 

A “good culture” treats its population in a humane way. It is able to evolve and adapt to changing conditions. It adopts rational solutions to the challenges it faces. 

There is also the role of luck - good and bad: Athens’ Golden Age under Pericles lasted only 18 years! Had it not been for the plague, it might have lasted much longer. 

China? 

Probably the oldest continuous unified society in the world, beginning over 2,000 years ago. However, China has alternated between unity and fragmentation, stability and chaos. Perhaps the Confucian bureaucratic tradition helped China achieve a greater stability and longevity than any other society. But I am too ignorant about the history of that vast country to make judgments about it. 

It is also possible for cultures to go from good to bad, and vice-versa. By 1900, Germany had one of Europe’s most promising cultures. It then became poisoned. Later, after a violent death, German culture once again morphed into one of the wisest and most benign cultures in Europe. The rest of us might learn from Germany, learn how drastic cultural change can be achieved within a couple of generations. 

And then there is the US. Is our culture deteriorating? We have been moving in a worrisome direction in recent decades. Also, there are several regional subcultures in the US. Southern culture is dysfunctional, and it exerts a disproportionate influence on the nation as a whole. 

Rush Limbaugh once said: “The four corners of deceit are the government, academia, science and the media.”

https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/rush-limbaughs-anti-scientism-there-he-goes-again)

Frighteningly, perhaps 40% of Americans agree with this. The rise of the Tea Party and Trumpism are causing millions to embrace nutty theories, a nihilistic individualism, luddism and anti-intellectualism, to turn their back on science, reason and the future, and to distrust democracy and government. 

The country is currently averaging two mass shootings per day, over 600 per year. The danger is that we could become inured to this situation, accepting it as the new normal. If that happens, we become an example of a dysfunctional culture, a non-adaptive culture, a society that is unable to fix its problems. 

You may say that what I am talking about is POLITICS, not culture. Of course, both of these are at play, and they are intertwined. But it is meaningful to talk about culture, in addition to politics. It is true that the good and bad things that happen to societies are ultimately the consequence of political decisions. But those decisions are the result of long-term cultural trends.     leave comment here