Misconceptions about American culture

I think there is a massive misconception about the culture that the American public makes when thinking about the culture of America. This misconception is that culture is independent of its progenitors. There is a rather hasty belief that culture can come from non-culture, in the same way, that life doesn't come from the entropy of the universe, or perhaps that the culture of a people can exist in a vacuum. Indeed it is truer to say that culture comes from culture than to say that culture is born of the people. Well, people are the givers of the origin of culture, the primary function of people is to be the force that changes, adapts, and evolves culture.

On these points, we can see that the culture of a country is derivative of the culture of its people. So for a country like Ethiopia or any other country that has existed sovereignty for many generations it would be more than fair to say they have become the progenitors of their own culture, but what of us, have we become the progenitors of our own culture or is our culture a complex fusion brought on by a mix of massive immigration, emigration, globalization, and perhaps most importantly, the birth of worldwide massive media and new technology. In this new world where communication is instant and worldwide can a country have a culture that is distinct there’s? What borders are left to divide us from one another? Have we succeeded in rebuilding the tower of babel? Or are there some walls where we still have to push our camels through the eye of the needle?*

I think we have yet to be part of the true universal monoculture, still, some of the most difficult barriers to cultural osmosis still hold and impact our thoughts and actions. Barriers such as language, racism, sexism, lack of access internet, wealth disparity, cultural bias against communication, geographic influences, and political boundaries, still keep us divided. But regardless of these boundaries, people are more connected than ever. In the past, almost all people died in the country they were born in. the few brave soles that left for a new land where almost always met with hardship.

America was founded by these people, people fleeing poverty, oppression, religious freedom and a better life. But these aren't the only people who came to this country, many came after the getting has already got good and manny there dragged hear against their own will.

In truth whether there is an American culture or not is completely depended on your definition of culture. Can a culture exist if it has undergone such rapid change and flux? Can a population truly hold the same values and ideas if the population shifts massively from year to year? Can a culture be unique if there is a constant flow of ideas going to and coming from all corners of the world?

The truth is I don't know and I don't think anyone has a good answer because in the end it’s a question of pure definition and the old definition no longer applies. Maybe there are some things that are uniquely American. And maybe there some form of a gradient of culture from place to place, but even after all of that, can we really call that a culture. I don’t know and if you think you know, you should give it another thought.     

*The eye of the needle was a small city gate in Jerusalem, to push a camel through is a biblical reference to a difficult task