By Michael Mandeville ’11
THE ROUNDUP
The world continues to change constantly.
This is something that is obviously going to happen as time moves on, so why should we live with “tradition” in mind?
The expansion of culture has created a different world, but not necessarily one that can be considered “anti-traditional.”
It is arguable that to be traditional is not to create a negative image and to keep conservative opinions and ideals strong.
So things like tattoos, piercing, wearing “bizarre” clothes and extravagant hair styles wouldn’t be anywhere near traditional. So, is appearance what dominates our society today?
I’d like to make the case that we are conforming to a more unified image as a culture.
If you think people want to rebel against the common image of society, why would popular brands dominate fashion trends that are followed by more and more people in countries that look to America for the “cool” image?
The more and more we conform to a certain image proves that we will eventually all just look the same.
If individuality isn’t expressed where will we get our culture from? We need to branch off from tradition because of what it promotes: old-fashioned ideals in a world that doesn’t necessarily benefit from them.
Sure, good manners and kind hearts are nice, but aren’t something that are necessarily “traditional” though. They are common sense.
Good morals should indeed be a part of our culture, but preserving traditional images, opinions and ideas could be harmful to the progression of modern society.
Keeping society traditional strictly for the sake of tradition will it traditional might end up getting us nowhere.
Open-Minded Conservative • May 20, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Not to be rude, but “MMMMMHMM INDIGNATION,” step off your high horse. It would be ignorant to ignore that you are blaming traditional more conservative people for the problems of our world. Speaking of ignorance, did the United States of America not remove a man from power who was killing millions, yes millions, of his own people from Iraq? Are scientists not working on an AIDS vaccine right now? Your pessimism and lack of faith in others, and our country itself, is alarming. I respect your opinion but your argument seems illogical. You assume that any person who favors tradition is completely against innovation or new ideas, which is extremely and utterly false. Tradition promotes ethics and etiquette, two important traits that this generation is losing. I am not perfect by any means, but I feel that this generation is definitely loosing sight of the importance of respect, which is what is at the core of traditional views of today. The rejection of tradition is degrading our society … is that what you want?
MMMMMHMM INDIGNATION • May 13, 2010 at 12:04 am
I think that traditional morality and common decency can be highly illusionary, and not at all at the same length with genuine ethics. For example, people lament how “this generation” is decaying because some kids don’t hold up doors for girls, or wear androgynous clothing/hairdos, or how agnosticism is taking hold. But not one of these “conservative bastions of morality” are arguing against the injustices the US is actively perpetrating against civilians in Iraq or Afghanistan, how around 5500 people die of AIDS everyday, how we are destroying our planet for the reap of the short gain, etc. I would rather be an independent, non-conformist character who challenges society, rather than a overtly hypocritical person who cherishes “traditional values” while overpassing immense injustice with ignorance. It’s probably more fun to shake your head about your neighbor’s gay son across the street, then to think of mangled bodies in Baghdad, of which you helped finance.