Essay on Effects of Technology Changes on Culture and Family Life

Abstract

There have been many changes in the world from ancient times. With the growth of every society, there is always an eventual change in perception. What was right or wrong a decade ago, is not necessary so now or will be in the future. This paper looks at the various changes in the view of life and the world. it integrates technology and globalization influences on the current world as well as other elements.

Introduction

The culture and the family setting in the United States of America are a result of changes in technology and other factors. The cultures of the country borrow a lot from Native Africans, Latin’s, Americans and Polynesians. What represents the current situation dates back over 10000 years ago during the migration of Indians and Asians. Other factors give the culture of the United States of America unique cultural characteristics. Some of these elements include Music, Religion, Arts, Cuisine, folklore and dialect. American culture changes have an influence on the way families relate and on cultural habits (Fullan & Ballew 12). Today’s way of life in the country is very different as compared to decades ago. Although times have changed, the American culture still holds liberal and conservative views of life and family.

The culture paints varying views on religion, scientific alignment, political systems, Freedom of expression and on the morality. These with the inclusion of other elements have led to the rise of individualism, democracy and egalitarianism ideologies. The United States of America is the melting point for varieties of cultures. It is not a wonder that researchers have described it with a mythical identity. These differences in culture vary according to demographic and geographical diversity but in the recent past with the advent of technology these barriers have less influence (Tyler 204). The culture of the country through music, TV and the internet has spread everywhere influencing the whole world. Scientific advancement and innovation have transformed the way people live in today’s world. The term has transformed the way people communicate, the way people eat and further the way people view the world.

What people need to spend time doing

With the advent of technology and scientific breakthroughs, human beings tend to have forgotten their past ways of life. With the invention of the internet, cars, airplanes and forms of cooking more individuals tend not to be social as before. In one’s family parents and children now interact more with machines, as opposed to socializing. The advent of social media has made it easier for people to interact freely without necessarily meeting unlike in ancient time (Tyler 202). This interaction over the internet is mostly “virtual” excluding the emotional bits of human interactions. Families need time together to interact, and a family outing, fishing episodes or picnics is worth a while.

People in today’s society differ a lot with past. Teenagers and adults alike engage a lot in habits that are damaging to their health and moral setting of the society. The issue of teenagers drinking alcohol to the point where they blackout, people injecting heroin and cocaine, people engaging in sex which sometimes take incest or beastly is so traumatizing. Another influence to the health of an individual is with respect to diet. In the past people were cautious about their cuisine but fast foods and pastries are a way of life now. The effects of dieting are evident with the rise in cases of obesity and diseases relating to dieting. Hospitals now have seen an increase in cancer and diabetic cases a result of poor dieting. Further exercise is a vital component in the well being of man, but with the advent of computers, mobile phones and other electronic gadgets people tend to be lazy which has diverse effects on their physical abilities. Individuals need to be more proactive and exercise more.

Social Habits

Attitudes of Americans against alcohol and drugs have changed throughout history. During the 19^th century alcohol was readily available for consumption but with the introduction of the Harrison Act attitudes on drugs and alcohol addiction changed. This restriction gained acceptance from different groups of people over time, and since 1980, more efforts projected on prohibition and regulation. In 1919, an amendment of the constitution on alcohol use passed with the help of Temperance movement; women’s groups and protestant religious groups. The prohibition did reduce consumption of alcohol, but it also encouraged the growth of gangs who sold alcohol. The war in Vietnam however changed people perception on alcohol and drug use (Douglas et al 26-32).

After the war, people’s perceptions changed to criminalizing of behaviors resulting from alcohol and drug abuse rather than prohibition. From the 90s, marijuana use has been the norm in many states. There has been growning acceptance of using marijuana on medical grounds. This was true in the year 2012 where voters of Washington and Colorado approved the use of marijuana for recreational purposes.

Another aspect of United States of America is the gun culture. This culture is in contrast with other developed nations. Gun ownership in the country is permissible to private citizens, and it is an estimation that, over 40% of households own guns. Gun ownership on the other hand, varies from region to region but it is more prevalent in Alaska, Mountain, and California and Hawaii states. Gun owners use their guns for target shooting, hunting, plinking and personal protection as well. Men represent a bigger percentage of gun owners, and they are more prevalent in rural areas. In the recent times, rogue citizens to attack schools and institutions of learning have used guns. These attacks led to deaths and psychological effects on family members. The aftermath of one such attack made American’s begin discussing of ways of discouraging gun ownership. Nevertheless, after these brief discussions it was obvious that ‘Americans love their guns’ (Kristin 17). Americans can live without guns as other developed countries have done for decades.

Lessons for Youths

For one to prosper in life role models, play a critical role. During teenage and child life, family members and older persons shapes a person. These interactions with older individuals shape someone’s social skills, inculcate positive identity and promote responsible values. It is important for a young person to choose a model from teachers, coaches, parents, youth volunteers or neighbors. Parents are responsible for shaping one’s life, but other adults also play a role in modeling. Therefore, as a young person’s consideration has to make when selecting a model so as not to fall for bad models. Bad models are responsible for developing criminals and drug addicts. Individuals also need to be keen on their academic performance. Performing well academically ensures a future with many opportunities to choose from, and it is a onetime event for most. Health is very important aspect to humanity. Good health at a tender age, reflects one’s future. One needs to engage in exercises, maintaining a balanced diet and constantly taking medical checkups. Further as a young person, developing market skill for the 21st century is crucial. One need to be competent on basic analytical and academic skills learn how to use the latest technological gadgets, as well as understanding work etiquette. It is also essential for a younger person to be active in community service delivery. Community service delivery by way of volunteering promotes the society as well as the individual providing it. Community service builds one’s self-esteem, develop leadership skills and help individuals understand how to solve community problems (Douglas et al 26-32).

Over the last 500 years, media has had immense influence on society. The term media refers to the means of passing information to the intended audience. Over this periods media has transformed with changes in technology. First in forms of books, newspapers, recordings were in use and lately the methods of passage include the social media. Social media include forums such as “facebook” and other search engines. People today, depend on communication and information for healthcare services, educational facilities, entertainment, relationships and work. People make decisions based on what they see in television, work, communicate with colleagues and even eat meals. In the past people had their own ways of survival and communication and this does not mean they did not live a better lives (Douglas et al 26-32).. When one makes a superstition of the next 100 years, you can see that the world will have its own mode of communication. Maybe in the next 50 years we will have a new source of power for vehicles other than oil.

As one grows older, one comes to understand that not all we see is the truth. When you look at the various forms of media one will understand that only saleable, news is important for broadcast. Owners of this media station are there to make profits, and the only way to do so is by making sensational news. When one gets older their perceptions of life also changes. A person starts to act in a more responsible manner, watching diet and exercising. Media on the other hand, is a tool that influence opinions of individuals, political leaders on the other hand use various types of media to look for votes (Jae-Hwa, and Cameron 241). Various companies and organizations have capitalized on the media by making advertisements. Media like the internet is a tool for passing information on the pricing of products and in connecting buyers and customers.

The influence of media on teenagers is so immense that others emulate celebrities to the point of death. Obesity among teenagers has become a nation and global problems. More children are suffering from obesity, diabetes and other non-transferable diseases. These diseases are mostly because of changes in lifestyles, and this is propagated by advertisements on junk foods. Most of these advertisements use thin people as actors with the aim of encouraging teenager to buy junk foods (Douglas et al 26-32). Further, models and celebrities who pose in these advertisements influence girls who acquire eating problems and even die. The right thing for one to do is to analyze ancient eating habits and lifestyles and incorporate it with modernity in order to fulfill ambitions.

The concept of globalization or free trade has had a great impact of people’s lives. This term was inevitable as envisaged by Margaret Thatcher the Former UK Prime Minister. In this form of trade, all nations prosper equally and fairly. The system has noble intentions, but various aspects of the society have pushed the system in divergent directions. The importance of free trade is making trade easier by allowing the market forces to play. When the called war ended, the term of international trade came into the limelight. However, the system we have now in the world is only true as theory. The basic principles of this theory include a free market without government interferences; it should be beneficial to everyone. Governments need to provide infrastructure and rule, privatization should reduce inefficiency and that this trade should sustain human progress.

In reality, globalization result in weaker countries losing off their resources to powerful nations. This has led to criticism from different quarters as Robbins outlines it. According to him, a human is driven by self-greed, competitive behavior is rational for an individual, as opposed to cooperation, and it is a belief that progress is measure of materialistic consumption. He further argues that cooperation is a survival tactic for competition, and they go together or overlap. It is also true that there is an element of humans of self-interest, and this is imply for the need to have stable societies to live in (Douglas et al 26-32). Further human progress is measured in material terms, but what one ignores out in this discussions are other factors such as emotional perspective and environmental issues.

The other thing to note is that different cultures have different ways of measuring progress and poverty. It is also wrong for one to export cultures to other places since this may result in societal problems. Environments on the other hand, have a role to play in human progress although directly not taken as a factor. It is a belief that environments benefit indirectly because of individual greed necessitating creation of markets to meet such greed (Dana et al 227-239). It is an argument that powerful countries are pushing policies to encourage globalization, but this is a continual repeat of ancient mercantilist. It is as if old Mercantilism nicely dressed up for today’s occasion.

Works cited

Fullan, Michael, and Arlette C. Ballew. Leading in a culture of change. Vol. 1. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.

Shin, Jae-Hwa, and Glen T. Cameron. “Informal relations: A look at personal influence in media relations.” Journal of Communication Management 7.3 (2003): 239-253.

Tyler, Tom R. “Is the Internet changing social life? It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Journal of Social Issues 58.1 (2002): 195-205.

Alden, Dana L., Jan-Benedict EM Steenkamp, and Rajeev Batra. “Consumer attitudes toward marketplace globalization: Structure, antecedents and consequences.” International Journal of Research in Marketing 23.3 (2006): 227-239.

Evans, W. Douglas, et al. “Public perceptions of childhood obesity.” American journal of preventive medicine 28.1 (2005): 26-32.

Goss, Kristin A. Disarmed: The missing movement for gun control in America. Princeton University Press, 2010.