Curious George
Veteran Member
I think there seems to be a reactionary element in response to an argument that I do not think anyone is putting forward. The argument is that it is video games fault or some musicians fault.
Culture does impact our beliefs and actions. All video games and songs are a part of that culture. This is also true for news, books, public official and celebrities, religions, history, memes etc. If you deleted all traces of any one medium, while it would surely impact our culture, you would likely see the same problems because culture is multi-faceted.
I cannot imagine how anyone can refute the number of cultural issues we have. The problem with noting cultural problems is that culture is so broad. It also allows for blame and responsibility diffusion.
People can point at categories of "thems"and believe they are the problem. Beyond broad changes there really isn't much one can do with "culture." Think of the racism that was rampant in a more segregated America. There was certainly a cultural problem. One that we never fully addressed, i would argue. But what was the solution? One can only legislate so much. When you have huge numbers of people with no exposure to anyone with different ethnicities and religions and those ethnicities and religions are represented only in comical or stereotypical fashion throughout mass media (from target audiences of children to retirees) then how can you not see that culture begins to reflect and affect culture.
In many instances there was nothing the legislature could or should have done. We required a cultural shift. This does not mean that there is nothing for the legislatures to do. We integrated schools. passed the civilrights acts, attempted other strategies such as affirmative action, etc.
Many cultural problems exist. The way through these is not necessarily, or even likely, solely through legislation and judicial proceedings.
