Publisher’s Note

I find ironic that we are so focused on New Year’s Resolution at the beginning of the year. When we think of resolve, it harkens ideas of closure. But in January of every year we are doing anything but settling things, we are rustling them up. It is time for us to make good on all that nervous energy and set our intentions for the year. This is why the focus, to me should be on the end of the year when it comes to resolutions.

We had all of 2017 to accomplish the goals we set then, and now we must move on. We must put those old issues to bed, we must start a new, we have got to let the past be the past for the sake of the now. There is a lot of baggage we may want to carry into this year, things that make our environment familiar, but all that is familiar is not good. There is a subtle but important difference between comfort and safety. One, it would do us well to recognize.

So this month we are focusing on the end of the year instead of the beginning. While everyone it trying to have the perfect take off, we are sticking to the runway for a few extra seconds to make sure we nail the landing. Because even though we call it a resolution, as it points to the goals we would like to close out the year with. Accomplishing those goals really means that we need to be setting a new year’s intention so that the resolution is possible.

So this month we will be looking at how to cope with the things that happened we have no control over. Perhaps these are the feelings of others or circumstances we found ourself in. It may seem counterproductive to look back, but that is where the lessons are. It takes closing the chapter to be able to read it in 20/20.

For entertainment’s sake we have compiled a list of incredible music and invite everyone to check out the 4th Annual Deffery Awards. Our 2017 year in music review by music director and DJ, Def sound covers albums, videos, singles and gives highs and lows to the years greatest projects.

We will also be looking into the different ways we can take the insights from 2017 and apply them in fruitful ways to the current year. We would be correct in assuming it is unhelpful to look back, without continuing to move forward!

Thank you for reading,

Maceo

Founder, Citizens Of Culture

When we talk of freedom, of liberty, and agency we talk of the ability to shape a reality that is aligned with our vision of how the world should be. Last month, we looked at our definition of goodness and our ideal reality. When we talk of struggle, we point to the hardship that we must endure to bring that reality to life. Reluctantly, we give up our comforts to pursue our dreams, but an investigation of this struggle may help us reshape our perspective.

Nothing worth while comes easy in the world. In fact, nothing comes to be in the universe at all without some exercise of work. Whether we are referring to the physics of energy transference from one form to another, or the time and energy required to build a house, work is fundamental to the formation of any reality. What we find at different times in the history of humanity are conflicts of interest, and personal goals that demand we put our energies towards objectives that are unpopular, or lack momentum.

In these instances we must not only do the work that would be required to overcome the natural obstacles to our success, like inertia, but also face the additional challenge of being confronted with the auxiliary resistance that may come from gravity, the wind, or even a financial hurdle to acquiring the supplies need to build our dream house. This compounding of obstacles moves us beyond the typical demands of work but starts us at a handicap that we have to beat in order to be granted a fair shot.

For some, this conditional obstacle may be a physical disability, others may face some form of social discrimination, still there are those who might simply have to face their own shortcomings of character. In all cases, there is a conflict of forces that is addressed during the process of bringing the ideal into the material world. This always requires some form of energy to fuel the activity and some capacity of strength to withstand the opposition.

All this amounts to struggle. And, over the years the term has been applied to many things but it always points to this process of going against the grain to create something worthwhile. So when we talk about struggle it may not be fair to synonymize it with sacrifice. If we recognize the process is not arbitrary but a necessary part of creating our reality, does it change how we approach it? This month I am interested in finding out if we can push against our tendency towards reluctance to struggle, and lean into it,maybe even enjoy it.

If we see the conflict of forces, our ideals versus reality, as the friction required to make energetic work, that may be unpleasant but not unduly traumatic or painful, is it easier to find the courage to face it? I hope that by following this path as far as we can this we come to some understanding about our ability to withstand opposition, reframe how we think of struggle, and perhaps see it as an opportunity and not an obligation.

We may not find that it is not that ” the struggle is real” but that the struggle makes real and embracing it is the shortest path to fulfilling our dreams.

Ever optimistically,

Maceo
Founder, Citizens Of Culture

How do you know what is  “good” ? It is one of the oldest questions we have on record, and there are several answers. It depends on what we are talking about actually right? If we mean a piece of cake, we might mean that it tastes sweet, moist, and fluffy. But that much carbs in bread and frosting can be bad for you. So when we ask a doctor what good cake is they might say something with fiber and no frosting, but that might not taste good. So do we go with what is pleasing or what is healthy?

I am not so sure we have an agreement on what good is even when we think we know. What about at work? Is the good employee the one who follows orders or is the one who takes initiative and proactively solves problems without waiting to be told. At the end of the day, it kind of depends. And what it depends on are different views of goodness. These are ethical frameworks that have an ideal for what good is that we are trying to match our behaviors too.

This month we are going to look at different types of criteria for defining good. Some will say that hedonism, pursuing spiritual and physical pleasure is the most intuitive and natural. Others will say that can be great for the short term, but we need to base our behaviors on longer term goals for our society. Still we may need to think about the effect our actions have on other people before we consider ourselves good or bad because a lot of harm can come from good intentions.

Realizing that there are many definitions for good, we will find that its not so easy to agree on the concept, and that makes it particularly difficult to have societies with many different definitions. If we can’t agree on what is good, how do we expect people to be good people? How do we know if we are  good people?

At the same time we have to think about the opposite of goodness and the conflict between a bad action, and being a bad person. For example, how many lies do you have to tell before you can be labeled a liar? If you are indeed labeled a liar what should be done with you? it might also help us to look at whether a rigid consistency is best or some flexibility in the rules might be more appropriate for how we work together.

There are pros and cons to each strategy and in many cases there is only one way to find out the implications of our decision besides to try it out. We will learn a lot about what is good, but also about what is right and wrong, and the kind of expectations we carry when it comes to how we treat each other and how we’d like to be treated.

Etiquette is a word we do not often hear much these days but it speaks to how we should act in society, it is directly tied to morality, which is linked to ethics. If there is a right way to treat people, then there must also be a wrong way to treat people as well. We might want to look at how our society has shifted and see if the rules for our behavior have shifted to match.

Please come along,

Maceo
Founder, Citizens Of Culture

Nothing in the modern world has been created without great care and attention to detail. Whether the intricate weavings of a waterproof wicker basket or the complicated web of transistors that make up a computer board each has very specific parameters that allow it to function. The same is true for our social system as well. We are living in a world that has been built to sustain ever increasing levels of complexity. This has resulted in systems that are more rigid and intolerant to variation.

This is, in part, what makes civilization, as we call it, so impressive. But it is this same prescriptive attention to detail that has made the social order so fragile and unadaptive. This month we are going to be taking a look at the conditions that uphold modernity from the technological sense, and the social order. We will ask questions about the validity of law and order, hierarchy, and mobility.

Along the way, we hope to reveal insights as to the reasonable support of politics that seek to reduce social fluidity and diversity for the sake of simplicity. An analysis of political conservatism, and its appeal will allow us to both understand and challenge the ideals of those who prefer separation to unity.

This investigation will no doubt force us to ask personal questions of ourselves as well. Digging in to the nature of our own pettyness and rigid principle that might seem good and well in the moment but could be creating long term harm or stifling progress. In the same moment we must ask ourselves how intolerant of our own mistakes and shortcomings in order to do better and at what point it serves only to tear us down.

Historically we have so many examples of authoritarianism, but also visionary leadership that create conditions of austerity or strict rule. It will be important to make distinctions between a much needed period of discipline and fascism, if there is to be a distinction made at all. America’s war on drugs was a particularly aggressive campaign to rid the streets of illegal narcotics, but there is argument to be had about whether or not it was effective. Across the globe, we can look to North Korea and their strict media policies and how the citizens react. Interpersonally we can observe the nature of monogamy in romantic relationships, and the real costs of this type of arrangement.

We hope you will join us both here and social media for the conversation around these critical topics.

Thank you

Maceo

Founder, Citizens Of Culture

These days we are bombarded by so much information that we literally can’t. We can’t consume it all, we can’t even derive meaning from all that we consume, and we can’t extract value from all of the meaning. So sometimes, rationale leaves us with only more complicated questions when it comes to how we should view the world. Our brain has developed tools for sorting through an abundance of information that is more efficient than raw processing, even filling in the blanks when we don’t have enough information to decide. Hte prat fo yuor biran taht le’st yuo mkae snese fo tish, is the part of your brain that tell you what do when a wild animal pops up on your trail. What might feel like anxiety is actually a shutting down of your rational mind, it is smart enough to know when to bow out. So it let’s your instinct and habit kick in. Actually 40% of your decisions are made without consideration. That leave a lot of extra capacity for your brain to deal with the right kinds of things, but it also leaves a lot of room for error.

The processes your brain employs to make the decision making easier when they come to simplification and relying on fundamental rules are called heuristics. These tools influence our prejudice, short cuts, and what we consider best practices. For some this results in funny saying like  “If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, its probably a duck.” which is very helpful when identifying animals. For others it results in heuristics like “shoot first, ask questions later” and while this may be helpful in the pursuit of survival, it may not be helpful in the pursuit of justice.

Common sense also falls into the realm of heuristics and because of this it has a lot to do with the fundamentals of society. Expectations related to our behavior, appearance, and language all feed into our social norms to help us determine who a person is to us, what their motives might be, and what they are trying to communicate to us. This month we are going to be looking at the socialized heuristics that we use day to day, but we will also explore the constructs that are programmed into computers, and taught to children to better understand how and why our society works the way it does.

I invite you to join us, but pardon us if we skip a head, its just more efficient that way.

Maceo Paisley,
Founder