Criticizing the "Norms" of Society

Humans are truly fascinating animals. Unlike almost any other animal of our kind, humans are born with essentially no knowledge of the world and without the ability to take care of themselves in any way. The factor that makes humans so interesting is that we learn almost everything we know from the world around us. That being said, humans are extremely malleable, but this malleability lends itself to the possibly of "molding" people to have unswayable ideas which many times blocks the ability for society to progress and better the lives of the people living in it. 

I see the inability to get past certain ideas that have been so deeply rooted into society all the time and I would be hypocritical if I didn't say that I see it in myself as well. Coming from an American, white, middle-class family, there are many privileged ideas that I have that are the result of my environment and my family. In thinking about many of these ideas, it had never really occurred to me, and still doesn't at times, that not all of these ideas and norms are necessarily correct or true in any form. After looking through the same lens for 18 years, it honestly is hard to see and understand things from other perspectives, however without criticizing or maybe even just taking the time to understand the things that we have just began to consider "normal" in our society. 

I think its important to think critically about these norms because the way we do things is not necessarily going to be the way that others would do the exact same things. Take for example, capitalism. The United States has had a capitalist economic system since it's independence from Great Britain and honestly, since then, not many things have changed. My parents raised me to believe that the United States was the best country in the world. The only country with complete independence. Not until last year, did I take a moment to think about these broad statements that I found completely engrained in my brain. The thing is, looking from an economic standpoint, yes, the US is pretty well off, however have we ever taken a moment to think just about the quality of life in the United States in comparison to other parts of the world? The answer is no, and the reason is that we as humans don't always naturally question the things that we have been taught growing up, we consider them facts. So after I began to think about this complete "independence" that my parents had always assured me that I had, just based on the fact that we live in the United States, I began to think about some of the effects on society that capitalist systems can present. With such a high focus on the economy, many times we completely forget about social and environmental issues that are also important factors that determine our quality of life. So is the US still the best country in the world if we often times forget 2 important factors that affect our lives in such large ways? Maybe, maybe not, but the great part is that its an opinion and NOT a fact, so you get to decide.

The point here is that not everything we hear and see everyday in our environments is necessarily the best, most productive, or most satisfying way to do things. To really move forward in society we need to find the root to the basic issues that we find ourselves having everyday. So be progressive and think outside the box because progressive people are the people that will keep our country and possibly the world afloat.