Cultural Osmosis

For no reason under the sun should a man or woman sacrifice their culture and identity. For when they do, they are left with… nothing (no culture, no identity). They will be put in the "Unknown" category of human history.

Why are some communities losing their culture and identity? You tell me. If you ask me, one of the reasons is "cultural osmosis".

Osmosis is defined as:

"the tendency of a fluid, usually water, to pass through a semipermeable membrane into a solution where the solvent concentration is higher, thus equalizing the concentrations of materials on either side of the membrane."

Cultural osmosis is "the tendency of a culture to pass through a semipermeable membrane into another culture with a more heightened cultural sensibility, thus equalizing the sensibilities of culture and identity on either side of the membrane."

This process can be devastating when left to evolve without a deliberately designed framework: one that gives members of a community the handles and tools to adjust their cultural and identity values as the community evolves in the global context.

The osmosis WILL happen. The question is: is the community in step with (and in control of) the coming changes? It should be. It must be. Otherwise it (the community) will be giving up centuries of its ancestors' work in return for… nothing, and a place in the graveyard of the "Unknowns".

Save your culture and identity. Be yourself. Without your culture and identity, can you be yourself? You tell me.

Take control of the cultural osmosis that is happening.

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When you see a man or woman walking down the street, can you tell whether they have a culture or not? It is true that you cannot tell a wolf among sheep if they are all dressed the same. But you can run down the list of attributes that make a sheep a sheep, and a wolf a wolf. For example, after passing the dress code, participants should be asked to sing too. Well, you tell me whether the wolf can pass the singing test (a wolf singing like a sheep, that is).

The world is flat again. Or is it? You tell me. Wherever you find yourself on Earth, the question you need to answer is: who are you?

The citizens of former British Southern Cameroons don't need to be told the answer to that question. They know it. As for those doubting their origins and hanging on to anything passing by… well, what will a drowning man or woman do? You tell me.

True citizens of former British Southern Cameroons do not need to be convinced to become who they already are. The few who have been brainwashed just need what could be called "a debriefing". "One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch."

— Wanaku Verdzekov