Introduction

For the past few years there's been a phenomenon, one that I myself had taken apart in at one point, that truely bothers me like it had for my father and I'm sure his father before him, a phenomenon that can only be described as 'an obession of modernity'. It seems more and more people, young and old, could care less about the traditions or virtues of their family and culture and instead imbrace the ideals of modernity.

Modernity

What do I mean when I say modernity? I mean it in the way that one watches TV and emulates the behaviour of the characters and slowly begins to think that their traditions are their own. Many online sources may portray modernity as something trendy or may even pass it off as culture itself but it isn't. Culture doesn't come from a phone, a TV, a computer, or from a billboard. Technology is just a tool not a culture.

People are obessed with modern technology to the point that it becomes their entire world. Many friends I know have succumb to the 'gamer culture' and often are unable to talk about things outside of what new Nintendo Switch game they got or what new Pop figure they can't wait to get ahold of. I have yet to meet someone my age that enjoys not being on the computer and going outside, but then again I don't meet that many new people my age where I live, only my neighbors and church community, which they tend to be a tad bit older than myself.

Culture

Culture comes from traditions, the rites and beliefs passed down through the ages from your ancestors, or even simple things such as congregating with family on weekends to talk about our life. There is no such thing as "modern culture" that is mistaken for trends. You can't pass a tweet down to your kids, you can however passdown the tradition of a language and history of your people.

Consumerism

Hyper consumerism has destroyed our sense of tradition as we no longer pass objects down or even own them for very long. Fast fashion and planned obsolescence have made owning items long-term near impossible, when was the last time you owned something nice that lasted longer than 10 years? You can probably list those things on your hand. It's destroyed our ability to pass on objects other than perhaps junk (Pop or anime figures for example) or the one or two hand-made crafts you bought on Etsy because you just had to have that artesian wood wall decoration with your favorite Yellowstone or The Office quote on it.

Problems

The problem I'm seeing is people that often embrace modernity and reject history are people that have had troubled pasts or are unsure of what they want to do with their lives. You're not living in a cyberpunk RPG, your phone doesn't not make you a loser, at the end of the day you are your a mix of your history, tradition, and culture. Getting on your devices messes with your dopamine overall, I've talked about that length in another post I made.

Your discord or reddit communities will not be around in 50 years but you most likely will - given you take care of yourself, so think about what sort of legacy you want to pass and what sort of culture you'll bring with you into the future. Your 10,000 Hours of League of Legends is not something you'll be sharing with your kids on your death bed. Your epic tweet that got retweeted by some hecking rad eceleb wont be what your family thinks of you. People's priorities are in the ephemeral when they should rather be in the long lasting memories of family and (irl) communities.

Ideas

To combat the rejection of culture we should make it our goals to make decisions for the long-term and make lasting impressions on family and neighbors that will affect our future positively. Learn the language your great grandparents spoke, learn to cook a meal like your mother did, or grow a garden and tend to it. Read about where your family came from, see your ancestory, and see what they achieved or aimed to achieve. Learn where your name comes from, visit your home country, find distant relatives, or discover/uncover something new that your family may not know about their lineage.

Take the time to write down your experiences and get to know family better. Go reach out to a family member and see how they're doing, call them over for dinner or bring something to their house and play some board games, enjoy what little time you have with family.