By Megan Bronner
Conservative political commentator Mark Steyn released a new collection of essays, The Undocumented Mark Steyn: Don’t Say You Weren’t Warned, in which he argues that the real battleground for American is not through politics, but culture. His argument is that the direction that America is heading in is controlled by culture rather than politics. According to Stein, liberals currently have the upper hand in controlling the country because America’s culture is liberal, not because a democrat is president. This is because liberals understand that culture is where they need to have the greatest impact; if they control the culture then they control the country, even if a Republican is in office.
When considering the recent midterm elections, Mark Steyn argues that it will not matter and never mattered what political party ruled the nation. Instead the liberal influences in entertainment and in the education system are deciding the future of America. Overall, change in America and in the world is propelled by cultural trends.
A quote from his essay that adequately sums up Steyn’s argument is, “If the culture’s liberal, if the schools are liberal, if the churches are liberal, if the hip, groovy business elite is liberal, if the guys who make the movies and the pop songs are liberal, then electing a guy with an “R” after his name isn’t going to make a lot of difference.”
Even if you identify as a Republican, it is nearly impossible not to be influenced by America’s liberal culture.
As college students, our lives are particularly dominated by culture. We are most concerned with TV shows, movies, clothing styles, books, celebrity gossip and music, all of which are usually liberally charged. Younger generations, this case our own, are in general more susceptible to culture influencing our ideas and beliefs. An example of the way culture can influence politics can be found in the popular television show “Modern Family.” Last season, “Modern Family” depicted Mitchelle and Cameron’s wedding, and realistically portrays a gay relationship. After viewing the show, people with one perspective on same-sex marriage may change their minds. A cultural phenomenon may influence how people view a political issue.
Republicans tend to fall behind in the cultural sphere because conservative ideas are not typically portrayed in the entertainment industry, at least not in a positive light. Steyn says that presidents are also in danger of falling behind cultural development. This is based on the fact that no matter what political party, Republican or Democrat, presidents and politicians do not accomplish things in office as quickly as culture progresses. The fact of the matter is that celebrities, teachers, family members and Tinder matches are going to influence someone’s day-to-day life much more than legislation.
This is not to say that American politics are completely unnecessary; rather, it is through influencing politics that culture can change society, or show that politics is lagging behind culture. For example, states only legalized same-sex marriage after having a cultural push for it. Because culture changes much more rapidly, laws tend to change once the culture of America has changed or gone in a more socially liberal direction, instead of culture evolving after laws have been made.
Overall, culture influences America more than politics. This is because culture is imbedded in society and will always have an influence on people. Rather than focusing on problems that are happening in America now, politicians should start thinking about problems America will have in the future.
Take America’s fast-food-obsessed culture as an example. It is more important to think about how many people will be obese 20 years from now versus how many American’s are obese now. Since vast cultural changes in America happen quickly, but elected officials make promises that take longer than their terms to fulfill, hopefully, politicians will look at culture as a means to helping America’s future.
