Tag Archives: culture
Guns, Culture, and the American Way
Culture involves at least three components: what people think, what they do, and the material products they produce. Thus, mental processes, beliefs, knowledge, and values are parts of culture. Culture also has several properties: it is shared, learned, symbolic, transmitted cross generationally, adaptive, and integrated. — John H. Bodley, Cultural Anthropology: Tribes, States, and the Global System, 3rd ed. 1999 I would add that culture is also about what we value and what we find acceptable. Somehow, our national culture has decided that violence is an acceptable way to settle a dispute. About ten years ago, my son Michael and I were watching a movie together. […]
My Son, the Endangered Species
Last month, my son Michael and I went to dinner together at a very nice restaurant in Hobe Sound, Florida. We were sitting at a high-top table, waiting for our food to arrive, when a man came over and said to Michael, “May I ask you a question?” Michael is 25, wears a beard, and […]