March 20th - Socialisation

 Our culture is always open to change and we 'learn' it - sort of just absorb it really - through a process of ’SOCIALISATION’ from a very early age.  We quickly pick up customs and rituals, the expectations of others, our place in the order of things and this becomes our ‘social reality’ which is, generally speaking, taken for granted.  Its just how things are ...   

It seems that ancient Rome and similar early cities imported olive oil, wine and wheat from their empire, but generally speaking, early human life for millenia  was agricultural and ‘land-based’. 

Contrast that with modern industrial society where goods, food, building materials and much that makes up modern-day life is shipped to and fro across the world and where world population growth is seen as a major problem. 

Another interesting difference is between how people learn to fit into the society into which they are born.   In pre-industrial societies group culture was passed down the generations by family, friends and the local community to which they belonged.  Learning was at mother’s knee and power rested with local tribal leaders.  In industrialised societies socialisation is through a

much wider network with formal education playing an important role.    Around the middle of the 20^th century a significant change occurred when many people in the world took into their homes a new source for ideas and information  – television. Today it is uncommon for families in the ‘developed’ world to be without a television and when development begins to intrude on a society television is seen as one of the first desirable consumer items. 

We are constantly subjected to the news, tv programmes, films and advertising with images of what we should look like, how our homes should look, where ‘successful’ people take their holidays and the rest. Companies know that advertising pays dividends which is why Ford and General Motors spend in the region of $8 billion each year on persuading us which car to buy. The 21st Century successful person's identity is very closely tied up with the material consumption on which our ‘developed’ economy depends.

We've moved a long way from being exposed to socialisation at a very local level to coming under the socialising influence of worldwide media.
What’s this got to do with our chaotic world I'm wondering?  Well, I've come to understand that the way we live isn’t  ‘natural’ and ‘not to be questioned’  but that it changes over time and can be shaped by powers which are often out of our control  - and even unknown to us.  Not really a spooky alien presence but much more a part of the system under which we live.  I’ll think about that next …