Shifts in Culture

I believe that many people no longer feel the need to be an active member in their community because people do not see the purpose of a community or realize its benefits. In our contemporary society filled with technology, the individual and her or his welfare is more highly valued than the community's welfare. A person can control many aspects of their life with technology's assistance and be connected to the world through the Internet's vast reach. With technology, people should theoretically have more time to socialize with others in their immediate community and develop relationships with their neighbors. However, I think that our culture has become more aware of issues far away from our homes, affecting people we do not know. We are more concerned and interested in their problems without noticing problems that can be taken care of within our immediate communities. The media has also frightened many people from trusting their neighbors when we constantly see, read, or hear about murders and various forms of crime happening in local communities. This mindset and perspective starts at a very early age today for young children. Their parents will not let them play out in the streets or socialize with other children and their parents because they do not want their child abducted. The child learns to fear his or her surroundings and finds comfort through the computer, video games, and junk food. I think there would be more community involvement if people turned off the TV and the computer because their fears would dissipate. They would depend on their community and place a greater importance on maintaining it.
As a culture, we rely on others for our comfort and security, and slowly become isolated from the community. Most people have become very good observers but rarely feel the need to become active participants. Maybe people do not know how to become involved with their community. They do not realize that they can take small steps to achieving a better community and that the community depends on others for its existence. Our culture does not see the benefits of a community because many of them have never participated in a true community. Maybe people do not want to devote the time and energy necessary for maintaining a community. They might feel that it would be a burden. Our culture believes that everyone is unique, not realizing the many similarities we share. People do not see the benefits of regularly meeting with each other and socializing. They think that they can do this through email and Facebook, but I believe that communicating with others in this manner is a travesty. Most communication is not through words but through actions. Community survival relies more on action than by words. People need to think about what they can do to help rebuild a community.
I believe that apathy is currently more visibly seen in the world than love. People are indifferent, allowing someone else to take care of the problem, and vainly hoping that everything will eventually be fine without their participation. These people live in their own worlds, oblivious to any problems with our culture. It is much easier to ignore the problems than to work towards solutions which will resolve them.
Our culture has tranquilized themselves with contentment or paralyzed themselves with fear. Community has become a nebulous term because many people have nothing to compare it to or have not been a member of a community. Our culture places a higher significance on money than developing relationships with other people. We are not aware of the social problems in our neighborhoods and have failed to become familiar with them through common activities or conversation. Our culture has devoted its time to money and selfish complacency. We only see our good and do not realize that we are inactive observers of a community. We should let go of our fear and sacrifice our time to using our talents to help others in our immediate surroundings. We have become more selfish and isolated, not understanding how we hold the power to solving our dilemmas. We would rather not take the risk of taking the first step and instead vainly pursue our own interests for happiness and fulfillment. We have rely too much on ourselves too solve our own issues, self-medicating our bodies to escape the real problems we face. Our culture believes that life is good when the individual pursues their selfish desires and ignores others. I believe that life is good when the individual shares their talents and time with others and finds new ways to achieving their desires. Our culture has to adjust their perspectives and realize the importance of a vibrant community. Only then will we develop a better, more thorough understanding of ourselves and our power when we work together for the common good.