Culture.

i don’t think i need to say much about our Technology’s rate of growth, it’s been thru the roof, with the speaker, the microphone, the videocamera, the computer chip, spaceships, robots almost all unforeseeable a couple centuries ago.

Moneywise . . . what can i say, at this blip, we are hurting . . . & it’s not unconsequential how it is resolved. but  in actuality, we are getting better in certain ways, ways i could not elucidate, but still, i am smart enough to realize we should thank our lucky stars we drew two aces when we got Barack Hussein Obama as Our President to inherit his portion of the national situation . . . back in 2008, at the confluence of the mortgage de-regulation crisis, & the unjust, unpopular Iraq (& Afghanistan, et al) war, along with many many other influences.

but *Money*, Everyone, has not been Our Life’s master; & nor is Technology the last word in what you can experience in This Life;

Culture — that is, Conversation. Romance. Movies. Operas. Books. Blog posts. we also have a Cultural life. we engage in Cultural *transactions*, in our civilization — like me posting this post;

we use the mental *tools* (my increasing view of ideas) of Culture, e.g. internet memes, or words, to deal with Life – to seek out goals, & address concerns.

& This Time Of Ours, Our Culture, has been golden.

we’ve had a revival in Spirituality, a reprise of classicism, a regeneration of natural living, a renewal of our vows to civic duty, a return to high art in movies, tv shows, even pornography, &  a resurgence in our strongholds of Culture —

like in government, when Barack Obama said, *Love is an American ideal*, in his Presidential inauguration speech –

& a generally Romantic sense, among other things, leading to us just pawing at positive psychology, self-actualization, ever-higher-art & societal-actualization: Utopia, in terms of environmental (natural), political, aesthetic, philosophical, scientific, etc, strife & success.

& all of this golden-era *culture* has been swapped on the trade routes of information using the new transportation of the Information Age: The Computer, The Internet, The Smartphone.

i can know up-to-the-minute when justin bieber eats a sandwich =)

& not to mention a 60s-style musical revival. it truly is A Golden Era – *Culturally* – & of the 3, i think if it ever came down to having Wealth versus Culture, Culture wins; & if it came down to having Technology versus Culture. having Culture wins again.

obviously, the practical aim of a politician  is finding the needed levels of Money, Technology & Culture, & other parts of society, & understanding how best to acquire them; but

the specific situation this post undergoes is that, Here, & Now, we need to *sensitize* (‘make sensitive’) as many people as we can, (within reason), to Culture being a commodity — no — a treasury of A Community, (just like Wealth is, in a way) —

too, to Culture being a valuable toolbox replete with internet memes, philosophical concepts, etc — *just like Technology* is in a way.

an example idea that knows the value of Culture, would be to tax the rich, & provide culturation subsidies: free books, free videos, free audio, to any resident, with a fair (& working, re the current one) system for artists’ being paid back. you would do this because culture is a good of society, like technology too, generally, & while being sensible, it should therefore be saught out *as a society* – *as a government* – *as a people*.

always always always in my life *Culture* has been neglected in discussions of progress, but it’s true: our ethical understandings tend to become more substantive, generally; our opera houses go thru complex cultural cycles — reactionary developments, nationalist, etc, — in a hermeneutic growth of culture; & our journalism & general communal awareness seems to improve, if unimpeded by other large events – a very throbbing example of *Our Culture*. these are the best form of progress, better than the fronts of space travel, or GDP. they are not only not dangerous, but the ‘civilization of people’ makes all 3 of these parts less dangerous: more cosmopolitan in their approach to science & technology, more sapient in our approach to nutrition & also materials, more strident & magnanimous in our approach to diplomacy –

it makes us better lovers, better parents, better jokers, better *thinkers*, better *believers*,  better *doers*. it makes **us** better, not just our tools better. & for that i say love culture, & invest pugnaciously in its unfinished heavenly painting.

& who knows, maybe we’re not alone in this Universe – would you rather meet your neighbor planet-dwelling species as magnanimous diplomats, as artists wrought with inspiration, people brimming with life & tenacity, or as ‘efficient’ businessmen — as cons & sells. craftily explaining financial derivatives. etc. i know which identity i subscribe to. i hope you choose to value culture as a beacon of a community, of a society, of civilization.

(a fun bonus paragraph to this is that a great example of what i mean is “memes”. they are not very big, physically. not very heavy. you can’t move stuff with memes – but you can move hearts & minds a good distance. these internet “memes” are in my perspective crystallizations & mascots of life phenomena & roles in the complex cultural domain of socialization – the nom nom nom meme, or the ‘you said something stupid’ guy meme. if you think about it, they’re sort of like mind tools, which has some rightful inheritance of the world stage alongside ‘thing tools’ like agricultural equipment & medical equipment – Technology. memes are a great example of something we get better as a society by nurturing, along with ethics, journalism, science, diplomacy, etc. a good meme mockup is literally a valuable thing, not moneywise, but beyond that, just ‘good to have’.)