Eleventh in a series
Essay #1 Essay #2 Essay #3 Essay #4 Essay #5
Essay #6 Essay #7 Essay #8 Essay #9 Essay #10
Okay, time to dive off the deep end.
Which culture do I think is the best? Why, mine, of course!
If you expected any other answer, then you really haven’t been listening, hearing and attending, as Pappy used to say.
Of course, I think my cultural beliefs, values and mores are the best … because as individuals: WE ALL THINK THAT! That is because we are all humans and we all have this innate need to feel that we are right … even when we may be wrong … or even are wrong.
Still, to defend myself, I have to explain what “my culture” is. I am not sure where it fits in in the Parthenon of cultures that call themselves “American” but it does somewhere.
So: I am a White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, College-Educated, Middle-Class, American, Male, Professional, Veteran who is Overweight, Retired and a Senior (a WASPCEMCAMPVORS) citizen of the town of Falmouth in the state of Maine in the nation of the United States of America on the continent of North America on a planet we call Earth.
I have lived in 13 of these here 50 states over my nearly six and a half decades of life, visited Mexico, Canada, as well as 16 other countries on four continents and two U.S. territories.
My racial roots are Northern European, primarily Briton (English-Irish-Welsh-Scots-Norman-Anglo-Saxon) with a branch that goes back to Sweden (supposedly of noble blood, but I am not taking that to the bank). Having said that … it really doesn’t matter what a person’s ethnic roots are. People are people and we all basically are mutts when it comes to the genetic gene pool.
My religious roots are Christian Protestant, with a heavy dose of Congregational and Anglican flavors. Of course that colors my world view and yes, I agree a lot with what Martin Luther and John Calvin preached about Jesus the Christ and what the Christian faith means and should mean.
Politically, I am a federalist of the James Madison brand, not the current generation.
I have a college education (associate of arts and bachelor of sciences degrees) but with a decidedly public school education flavor. (That means I did not attend elite private colleges, but tax-supported public colleges and universities.) My primary and secondary educations also were in public schools in Illinois (kindergarten), Iowa and Missouri (first grade), and six different schools in southern California (for grades 2 through 12).
I list that to illustrate that I have been exposed to a variety of different educational environments in the United States, which – considering what could have been the case – turned out to have provided me with a pretty fair education. I believe in public education, although not necessarily with the model currently being applied or in the idea that national standards are the best fit for all.
I led an exceedingly middle-class existence in the U.S., married, with two children, living in a succession of mortgaged homes and driving compact to mid-sized cars. I got divorced and remarried (to a Canadian no less) and that added two adopted adult children to my immediate blended family.
I worked for a variety of family-owned and corporate-owned businesses, never making more than the median wage until I went to work for the federal government in my 50s and I was content doing that.
I served my community and my country as a member of its armed forces during the Vietnam era and again during the first Persian Gulf War. During the interim between those periods, I served as an enlisted member of the Naval Reserve and the Army National Guard in three states.
I consider myself a professional journalist (since I had a degree in journalism and worked for almost 30 years for newspapers in five states), but I have been forced into retirement due to a heart condition (not of the bleeding heart kind) and am considerably overweight (came after the heart troubles, not before). Think of me as an old walrus.
Since I have been on the planet for nearly six and half decades that qualifies me, I guess, to consider myself a senior citizen.
Hence, I am a WASPCEMCAMPVORS and proud of it.
Actually, I am an American who buys into the vision of America that was articulated by my predecessors, who – if one is to believe these things you find on Ancestry.Com – can be traced back to people who came over from England between 1620 and 1650.
I believe in silly things like freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom to own property, freedom to live your life like you want to as long as it doesn’t infringe on others to do the same and a freedom from the government mandating I do too many things.
I believe the law should be applied equally and equitably to all who claim citizenship in the United States, period. No conditions, no quibbles, no exceptions. No one is above the law, even if they write it or are charged with the responsibility of enforcing it.
In my culture, we believe in self-discipline that comes before social discipline.
In my culture, we believe in self-reliance that comes before reliance on social assistance.
In my culture, we believe that EVERYONE deserves to be treated with respect and dignity (unless and until such time that an individual demonstrates unequivocally that they deserve neither). Again, there are no other qualifiers, no quibbles and no exceptions.
In my culture, we believe that there are such things as “good” and “bad” and that evil can exist with good. We accept the fact that bad things happen to good people.
In my culture, we believe that we can know what is good and point it out, even if we have problems defining it with words; and can do the same with what is bad or evil.
In my culture, we believe that doing is more important than anything else. Do something; even if it turns out wrong or doesn’t work, at least you tried. Not to even try is worse than anything.
In my culture, we believe the Golden Rule is the highest standard to which we can aspire. And by that I mean “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”; not the one that says “He who has the gold makes the rules.” Unfortunately, humans being what we are, the latter rule usually takes precedence over the former, but in the end, we have to remember that it is the individual’s choice which one to follow.
In my culture, we believe in the maxim that “Government governs best, when it governs least.” We also believe that the level of government closest to the people is the level that is most responsive to the people and often, the people – not the government as their agent – are more effective at solving problems than the government enforcing solutions.
In my culture, we accept that the world is an imperfect place but believe that a federal republic with democratically elected representatives and office holders has proven the best form of government for large, diverse collections of individuals.
In my culture, we believe that we should accept that others hold values different than ours, respect that difference, but are willing to defend our values as being the values that should be reflected in our society and government.
In my culture, we are willing to either kill or be killed in defense of these values as well as those who live in our society. We accept that others may disagree with that position, but we will defend that right to disagree with our very lives.
In my culture, we celebrate all those things as positive values.
Now, you may not agree with these statements. Such is your right as a human being.
Nuff said. I hope this has given you food for thought.
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