Yet again I have strayed from the righteous path of the blog posts. As a man seeking redemption, what other choice do I have other than to offer another double?
To start, I would like to preface this with some background pertaining to my classroom's current discussions. As of today, we are delving into Confucius and his philosophy, Daoism, and the differences between the two and western ideals/ideas.
My first topic is of my own thoughts, although it was inspired by our classroom dialogue. It is my assertion that Confucianism is in direct opposition to the capitalist, American way of life.
In order to narrow my argument, I have decided to focus on a single aspect of our culture, the one which I believe to be the its most defining characteristic. In my eyes, the American lifestyle is a series of fleeting experiences. We are materialistic, easily bored, and hungry for innovation. We chase all the trends: buying the next iPhone, participating in a viral challenge, and listening to the new Drake album. Every generation before us and every generation after us have and will shed the customs of their successor. For example, despite the scorn from adults, the teenagers of the 1950s continued to listen to rock and roll. In the future, I would not be surprised if the next generation invents new hip lingo, similar to our "lit" and "fam". I would even go so far as to say that the "living document" status of the Constitution of the United States is a direct result of the people's desire to change--and rapidly if wished.
This is why I believe Confucianism, a philosophy that preaches tradition and firm adherence to it, is in direct opposition to the ever-changing American lifestyle.
At first, I did not think I could make a decent argument out of this, but in retrospect, it's not all bad. What do you guys think? Is it nonsense?
I agree with your stance. It seems that America's craving for progress and Confucianism's lack thereof are both extreme forms of opposing ideals. Finding balance between the two may be ideal. Restoring certain traditions while moving forward past others...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Matt, but I do not believe a middle ground is the perfect point. The need to innovate and invent is ever present and is just a by product of the growing intelligence of people. The way we as Americans grab onto trends and new items is why we advanced so quickly as a country. If you look at the timeline of young ole America its crazy to see how much we have changed the world in what is really so little time. Is it nice to sit down and relax and just have traditional times, yes of course. These come through family vacations, traditions, and holidays. That is why Christmas is such a great time of the year because besides the new gifts you are all coming together usually in the same place every year and just enjoying family and tradition. At least that is how it is for my family. Just looking at the advances between the countries who feed off new innovations and those that chose the slower life shows that being "greedy", "childish", and other terms is not such a bad thing. People find enjoyment from it and the nation as a whole advances ever further into the future. Just have to have everything in moderation and a nice vacation to a spot full of memories once or twice a year is a wonderful way to get back to family and tradition.
ReplyDelete