When we do not take the time to enter into silence we cannot know the mysteries of life. Instead we only come to know what lies on the surface.
– Lorraine Voss
Cultural homogenization is an aspect of cultural globalization and refers to the reduction in cultural diversity through the popularization and diffusion of a wide array of cultural symbols — not only physical objects but customs, ideas and values. Cultural homogenization in theory could lead to the development of a single global culture and the elimination of all other, local cultures becoming the same. ~ Wikipedia
It appears that there is a strong push and incentive towards cultural homogenization or sameness in our current culture. This is sad because it eliminates cultural diversity as it seeks to eliminate differences between people and instead, coerces them into maintaining a one-mind, one-voice, one-world myopic view through hearsay. In spite of the notion that this is an all-inclusive route for conjectural cultural uniformity, it is instead a course that is detrimental, regressive, and fails to incorporate individual evolutionary progress.
There are many people advocating for equality. What this has sadly come to mean for most is that we all chant the same mantra, share the same ideas, and agree on virtually everything. As warriors on a path of freedom it is important to avoid creating such limitations. The natural diversity of human experience far exceeds identical ideologies with one correct way of living. Cultural homogenization can only be achieved through brainwashing (meme after meme of the same thing) or by exerting force through a sense of guilt or shame to those who are non-compliant to a standardized method of doing things.
A path of freedom provides one with the potential to organically arrive at connecting with others through mutually beneficial and necessary diversity. It is when we are given the opportunity to strongly disagree with others that we come to recognize our own individual strengths for attaining new levels of awareness and evolutionary growth. If we were to merely agree with one another on everything presented to us, we eliminate our capacity for vision, revision, and ultimately a new way to view our humanity and our world.
While all spiritual and metaphysical paths ultimately lead to knowing universal source energy or God, the way in which one arrives to that knowing is as diverse and different as there are species upon the planet earth. Cultural homogenization causes the trailblazers or dissenters who are opposed to the dominant paradigm to seem rebellious as they refuse to conform to the sometimes mindless membership into the popular culture of what is most tasteful or acceptable to the masses.
Even when done with the intention of the highest good, coercing people into following a single mode of conduct prevents them from the wonder of arriving at their own conclusion founded upon their own unique and individual experiences. When a society comes together in agreement without true knowledge they function in a manner that lacks common sense, intuition, and pure perception. This is the very thing that creates the blind leading the blind, even when it is presented under the guise of doing what is best for the world.
When did we, as human beings, decide that it is better for one person to hold a vision and recruit everyone else on the planet to support and maintain that vision? Oddly, and what few people seem to remember, is that it has already been done. Indigenous people across the entire planet have been stripped of their customs while missionaries and conquerors imposed their beliefs upon them to the point of killing those who chose not to comply. Pagans and healers were burned at the stake. Do we really want to repeat that destructive pattern? Do warriors of freedom stand to have their personal visions maligned and slandered if they do not buy into the shallow theory of one-mindedness? It sometimes seems as though they already are if they are not in complete alignment with the visions of another.
More important than “becoming one” is the need to come together in our uniqueness so that we can coexist in a state of respect, balance, and peace. What occurs in a state of diverse coexistence is our ability to confront a greater scope of difficulties that can be creatively solved from multiple perspectives for the benefit of all.
Dancing in freedom!
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