The Cultures of Wealth and Poverty

Throughout the world, and time, human societies have always had a uniqueness to their mode of operation. The way people talk, the way they dress, what they do for fun, what they think is acceptable, and alot of what they think of, and how they think of it to a degree. Their music, their food, their architecture, politics, education system, if they have one, their poetry, their distinctive traits as an independent country or region. These are all the characteristics of a culture, and as with all human societies, there is one. This is also a thing that separates human beings from animals, as some believe humans derive from animals, so I pose this question to that group of people; When something evolves, its instincts stay relatively the same, for instance, if an animal is independent, such an iguana, it does not require the need to interact with other iguanas. If an animal is dependent, such as lion, it does require the need to interact with other lions. If humans were to be dependent animals, then why do some chose to wander away from their pride or herd? there is no travelling lion, and yet there is a travelling human, and if one believes it instinct that determines a species' mode of operation, and not its intelligence, then how would you explain what I dub, 'the travelling lion paradox'.

Since there is a travelling lion paradox present, then human beings are therefore, fundamentally different from lions, and so, other animals too. This is because of reason, human beings have the ability to decide what they want to do, and what they do not want to do, so if one chooses to be a travelling lion, he or she is able to, and if one does not want to be a travelling lion, he or she, is able, not to be a travelling lion, so, he or she, is by no means anything like a lion, but rather, a traveler, or, not a traveler. In order for reason to exists, three other things must also exist: intelligence, a will, and a perception. To reason is to think, and order to think, one must posses intelligence, for instance; if you see a fish swim, you think of why it swims, and if you can swim, like the fish, so now, until a deer, you can decide whether or not you want to jump in the water and see if you can swim, and if you cannot swim, you can think of how you might be able to, you can learn something new. A will is necessary in order to achieve reason, after intelligence, because how can you decide to swim, or to learn how to swim, without the ability to act on  a thought or idea. With a will, you can decide not only what you think, but also what you do, without a will you cannot bring anything into reality, any reality, and so, you would just be a bunch of floating ideas disconnected from your body.

Your will brings you together into something, it connects you to the world you are in, as a human being. and lastly, a perception, with both intelligence and a will, you can think, and do, but with a perception, you can imagine. The reason an imagination is essential to achieving reason, is because if you cannot imagine yourself swimming like a fish, how would you ever have the thought, of could I swim like a fish? or perhaps, what would this fish look like if it was a different color. So within a human imagination, the purple fish, can be blue, and so, it exists a a blue fish, where? your perception, where within your perception? your imagination, and how can something exist, in non-existence? it cant, so therefore, perception is a world, and so..your imagination is a world, and both exist, as realities, how you move through this world, is through thought, and emotion, as your vehicle, and your will, as its fuel. The city, being your perception, and the culture of this city, is dependent, on your reason. Do you want your city to open to the public? why? what, will you do to achieve that? who will you let it? where, do you draw the line? how, do you decide where the line is drawn? once this has all been established, through reason, your 'city' has its won 'culture', its uniqueness, you can learn how it works, and how you want it to be, this is why human societies have a culture, because we can reason.Your thoughts, however different, typically follow your reason, just as people in a city, often follow the city's culture.

How does ones reason change? well, how does ones culture change? it discovery, a war, or an outside influence, there are more examples but these are typically the largest factors in a culture shift. If you scale it to the level of a human perception, the resulting, 'culture shift' is likely to happen. We have culture, in all are societies, because that is how human beings, reason, think, and function. So who decides what the culture is, or rather, whos reason, does the society follow? Those in power, traditionally, the most powerful and influential members of the society are the ones who dictate and mandate all the rules, and proscribe the culture. Just as the most powerful and influential thoughts, are the often the ones that effect your reason. For instance, if a Somalian woman saved your life when you were a child, you would few Somalians differently then if a Somalian woman assisted in ruined your parents marriage by cheating with your father, if either was the only Somalian woman you ever met, that would strongly impact your view and perception of Somalians, and Somalian woman in particular. This is an example of a strong thought born from a specific event, that evolved or devolved into form of reason, which dictates a perception. Whereas if someone falls in love, it isn't so much a particular event that changed their perception, but rather, a new perception resulting from the fragmented thoughts forged together in a congealed mixture of feelings, emotions, and internal logic, stemming from the heart, that changed ones reason.

 More simply, a strong perception, with which thoughts came out of, which then reform into new way of reasoning. This is not to say love is merely a perception, but it definitely has a huge impact on one. So, imagine love as musician or artist in society, that speaks to the hearts of the individuals with it, connecting them, and influencing their perceptions, which ofcourse will influence their reason. Now imagine powerful thought, as a strong and powerful leader, that pushes a particular viewpoint so passionately, or forcefully, that his view is always in the society's mind, which ofcourse would effect their reason, and eventually, start to change their perceptions. Even if someone hates the musician, or thinks the leader is corrupt, it doesn't really matter, their views are already inside of you, that is what makes you either follow, or despise, because they are definitely effecting you. They are also very familiar to you, Rihanna influences the culture of America or even the UK, just as Barrack Obama effected the laws and mentalities of America or even Iraq. Both are modes of power, used to dictate or influence societies, in essence, soft power, or hard power. This is why media is such a dangerous tool in a democracy, a few influence the reason of the many, and the many keep the few in power. The few, the reason, of a society, gain their power through the symbol of a higher status in the society. This status symbol can be; spirituality, might, lineage, or wealth. It can really be anything, but most often, its one of those four. In the modern world, its usually just wealth, which means the many see wealth as the most uplifting status symbol. When the culture of a society is centered around wealth, wealth becomes the means of upward mobility within the society.

 Wealth is happiness, success, respect, power, influence, status, and the goal of the many. Your work becomes you, if one was to ask who you were, you would respond, 'I am a software engineer', or 'I am doctor', because that is how you gain wealth, and money. Because those are both lucrative professions, they are both prestigious professions, and if you are in one of those professions, you have prestige, because you have wealth. If you were to respond to the question " I am bus driver" you are not seen as prestigious, because that profession has no wealth in it. A society centered around wealth, is called a capitalist society. Capitalism is when those in power (the reason), establishes a culture of wealth, to the many (the individual thoughts following the reason). When this happens, money becomes everything, so then, what of all the other things? what of love? which cant be bought, what if piety? what of creativity and innovation? The short answer is, one by one, each non-physical reality, is crossed off, one by one, so that only the material remains.

Marriage, religion, faith, morality, abstract thought, spirituality, anything that isn't physically tangible, is not to exist in the minds of the general population, so that they may continue to look only at the material and physical world, where money, can be seen as the only symbol of status, and the meaning of life.

This is the foundation for a culture of wealth, but in any society, there is rich and also poor, so what of the poor?, what do the poor see as the meaning of life in a culture of wealth? the same thing the majority see as the meaning of life; wealth. Although, the poor members of a culture and society centered around money, develop a different wealth oriented culture. In this culture, anything goes in the pursuit of wealth, regardless of the actual reason. This is prostitution, drug and arms dealing, human trafficking, robbery, theft, extortion, and all other desperate pathways to sure destruction in the pursuit of often otherwise unattainable wealth and money. The professions, elements and lifestyles of the truly poor, the people who have no wealth and no means of upward mobility in this kind of society, are a result of capitalism.

Their reason for choosing to break outside the rules of society, are due to the effects of poverty on their reason, (read 'The Effects of Poverty on the Human Mind and Rationality' for more depth') and whether they are a communal or barbaric reasoner may have a great impact on their intention, but often not, what they actually end up doing. Their ability to reason becomes distorted by hunger, thirst, and pain, just as the wealthy cannot reason as their reason is distorted by power, comfort, and a lack of empathy. One is the culture of poverty, and the other is the culture of wealth, but it is the same culture, the same mind, so to speak, with the same reason, the same goal; *do whatever it takes, to get money, do whatever it takes to get rich, and so rich get richer, the poor don't eat dinner, you're society loses, but it doesn't matter if your the winner*