CHANGE YOUR CULTURE AND PERSONALITY

By  FIDELIS SUKINA

We are all born into a society that exists; otherwise we would not have a culture, custom and traditions.

There is no doubt society plays a pivotal role in shaping each and every one of us, according to the school of Culture and Personality in Anthropology, socializing with others in society shapes a person’s emotions, thoughts, behaviors and of course cultural norms, in which the person must fit into to function well as a member of society.

No one wants to be an outcast, some members in society especially men cause uproar because of personal problems, which they feel ashamed to tell to others

So, they end up drinking and complaining causing a scuffle in the community, and living in a culturally diverse, nation like Papua New Guinea , your problem indulged drinking causes you to start a fight with someone from another region or kin,

In most cases there is a solution and things are in as jiffy sorted out, but in other cases the idea of reinforcements, is a blend, crosscutting our society even in the modern age, we don’t go to the law but stick to outside court dispute settlement, but in some mediation methods, people still gather their kinsmen for support in case of hostility.

But whenever the thought and sweet sound of compensation is heard we all have mixed feelings, some accept compensation both ways, but some pay to only one,

The person who deserves the payment is usually the person with the most inflictions, whether he is the one who started the whole ordeal, or the person who retaliated from the attacker,
  
That is a culture accepted by all from all the four regions of Papua New Guinea, its nothing new really even in the past people had to pay for the trouble caused,

But living in peace and harmony in a community of diversity is a big ask, people tend to stereotype, members of society in their ethnic regional groupings, classing them from highest to lowest in aggression and mobilized retaliation,

This could cause the notion on who to respect and who is just another patient member of society.

The theory of culture and personality says childhood experiences, which are heavily culturally shaped, can be linked to predictable adult personality patterns,

There is this word in Anthropology called ethos which refers to the spirit which motivates the ideas and customs of a particular group or culture,

Famous poet Thomas Stearns Eliot once said “the general ethos of the people they have to govern determines the behavior of politicians”

That’s something we need to consider the behavior of our politicians, does it reflect us the people of this nation.

If our ethos represents patterns that is producing a world view of dire consequences, than a total overhaul of our attitudes is paramount. 

It all starts in our community make it a peaceful place make it your duty to meet and greet everyone in your community, smile and wave, approach each individual with a happy face; create a new happy and loving culture,

We often see people in the streets contributing for alcohol why not contribute for a barbeque, Christmas parties and Independence celebrations should be a community affair,

We often neglect our community members and see them as just members of society, 

In Papua New Guinea we seek leadership, and if leaders in our community don’t see the need to create a peaceful community, than someone should take leadership and organize the community for sports or recreation, for the benefit of meeting each other and having the courtesy to respect each other in the community,

You might think that world peace is impossible, but community peace is possible anywhere, wherever it may be.