P.T. Barnum is a man who unquestionably changed the world of entertainment within America’s culture. He used a principle business technique of “rational recreation” that would end up becoming a national “norm” for American families everywhere. He would take the thematic archaisms of dramatic plays and mix them with the upstanding ideals of individual and family. This type of script writing would allow for his succession of new brand of entertainment. One great example is Barnum’s dime museum which featured tightrope artists and “educational” depictions of biblical events surrounding them.

The 1860’s to the 1890’s was the beginnings of a new modern-day enlightenment, comparable to that of the Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries. In that time however, their movement was one of intellectual ideas in Europe. They would use reason to pull themselves from the dark ages, question traditional authority and embrace the possibility that humankind could be improved through logical and rational change. The difference between then and our contemporary renaissance that we have experienced in our times is one that has embraced technology (like phones and television) in the place of logic and reason.[1]
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Broadcasted and televised mass media arrived on the scene in the 1890’s. The first entertainment pushed to the public was boxing matches set in store-fronts or a burlesque scene in one of many penny arcade peep show boxes. These along with candy machines, coin-operated phonographs, and fortune telling games. The ultimate push by media moguls here was to give the busy working man quick doses of instant gratification. It worked. In 1905 the media giants would bring nickelodeon (short-films) to the big screen. These 10-minute segments would feature slapstick comedy and adventure. By 1910—full blown movie theaters (upscale) were offering classy amenities compared to that of the penny arcades.

Films would offer the American public visual stories of alluring love interests, criminal success, and power. This would further give the public an intimate-view of fantastic story’s told that resonated with the people in general. The result of this thought process is this: “I can live my life like that.” This pipeline of entertainment would end up fast tracking consequences for American society. Although filled with a “cross-cultural” appeal to all social classes in America, this form of entertainment would begin to loosen the fabric that would keep the country woven together. This new cultural acceptance of appearance, dress, music halls, and amusement parks became a mass commodity for everybody. And also a newly accepted necessity.[2]

Consumption Behaviors Divide American Society

Fun, fashion, and fantasy goods would come out of the marketing and advertising piped through these entertainment fast-tracks. A release from traditional boredom and a new form of youthful energy. A gathering of individuality, liberty, self-expression would begin to subside during this period as the American public was underhandedly being silenced, separated, and increasingly brought-together by the “dream factories” in Hollywood and New York City. The mass change in public thinking related to this phenomena was more surprising to those in media and government than they expected. Fast forward fifty-years and the mass emergence of consumerism would show it’s face and TV would become a family member.

It is really important to mention this fact before continuing forward: By 1957, the average viewer was viewing 420 advertisements in one week. A lot! Considering the old hand-made function of advertising. One station would show 50-ads in two-hours on one station in 1964. The TV-set would become a nearly-perfect expression of American suburban family life. TV would come to project domestic family-lives inside of the home (according to Hollywierd) and also warn people of urban-dangers in action-adventure shows. All of this to culminate in enticing viewers through ads to shopping malls and fast-food joints. Ultimately, it would go to reinforce a new trend (established by the radio) of “living room privacy” and a new national entertainment culture.

Consumption behaviors really started emerging by the 1930’s; where the need for instant self-gratification and a certain emphasized want for individual attentions. American consumerism foundationally expressed the new cultural ideas of America. These, certainly liberal ideas, of a self-interest approach in lifestyle choice resulted in enabling an emphasis on these same counter-principles, in our now seemingly service based culture of liberty and democracy.

American Families Exposed

With little consequences from these self-destructive and humiliating behaviors; the result of this consumerist lifestyle is an American society filled with narcissistic, self-centered, attention hungry people. They aptly look to make ends meet in whatever ways possible, while continually dreaming for that million dollars to land in their laps. The issue of societal division in reference to the consumption behaviors of Americans is pretty blatantly obvious to any American alive prior to the year 2000.

Instant gratification has caused the need for instant attention… and public “likes.” It seems that a majority of Americans these days living life  by way of social media and television could definitely have the potential to be far more personable, thoughtful, skillful, creative, and generally well-rounded than they are nowadays.[3] America has lost her majority wealth in human capital to consumption behaviors completely detrimental to society.

The typical American consumer is most impacted by the issues of social division. More importantly, targeted audiences I feel are more susceptible to the further divisions that consumerism tends to fuel in people. American families nationwide are vulnerable to the social separation that consumer behaviors have result from. Further, negative moral and ethical marketing targeting men, women, and children alike have aggravated the issue.

Consumer behaviors as a result, have stoked individual forms of division through one’s own psyche; such as not living to moral and ethical personal standards set down by America’s founders. Often times it seems more and more often that individuals leave behind their family morals and values when out in the public scene. I mean, who hasn’t heard about a Wal-Mart fight on Black Friday?

It is important for the typical American to understand that consumer behaviors are not normal. In fact, did you know that Forbes is actually promoting the soul-killing marketing strategy of instant-gratification to other corporations world-wide.[4] Is this not an attack on the family at home? It is important to understand that these associated consumerist behaviors creates no tolerance for delay in public (even private) venues.[5]

Richard Sweeney, a University Librarian, wrote a report on consumerist behaviors in Millennial's and the social impatience further proving social division (and frustration):

“Millennial's, by their own admission, have no tolerance for delays. They expect their services instantly when they are ready. They require almost constant feedback to know how they are progressing.  Their worst nightmare is when they are delayed, required to wait in line, or have to deal with some other unproductive process. Their desire for speed and efficiency cannot be overestimated. The need for speedy satisfaction, or as some believe instant gratification, permeates virtually all of their service expectations.”[6]

Globalization: An Underhanded Enabler

Globalization take precedence in the effects of consumer behaviors on the American public. Instant gratification is the result of globalizations far reaching effects on personal convenience. Receiving material and/or information at extremely fast speeds only exacerbates the personal issues for any American family; with an immediate effect on social impatience and a seemingly endless need for the self-gratification that instant information provides.

To understand globalization is to understand how marketing is enabling individuals as well as constraining people intellectually, motivationally, and ethically. People tend to cut corners a lot more, to make their ends justify their means. This is an affecting consumer behavior, and as a result contributes to negative social divide. Globalization systematizes the world, and cuts back on the need for intellectual human capital. The end result would be the dumbing down (for lack of better words) of American society.
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Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have discovered that the controlled information from syndicated network television stations, have led to an arbitrary intelligence decrease in individuals that spend two to three hours a day soaked in media.[7] In terms of social media, it has desensitized individuals to what would be considered a “typical” social life. Impatience, self-gratification, and a desire for more pleasure – is by far the most typical of resulting consumer behaviors.

In the America we live in today, it is important to measure and apply self-control in an instant gratification world. I know, it's easier said than done. 2 Corinthians 10:5 say's: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
 
It's something to reflect in light of the entirety of the last century...

Humbly,
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D.L. Smith
ComplexAmerica.org



Resources:

[1] "Enlightenment." Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed October 17, 2019. http://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history.
[2] Cross, Gary. "Setting The Course." In An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America, pp. 108-109. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
[3] Ritzer, George. "The Irrationality of Rationality." In The McDonaldization of Society, pp. 16. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2018.
[4] Wertz, Jia. "Why Instant Gratification Is The One Marketing Tactic Companies Should Focus On Right Now." Forbes. Last modified May 1, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jiawertz/2018/04/30/why-instant-gratification-is-the-one-marketing-tactic-companies-should-focus-on-right-now/.
[5] Sweeney, Richard. "Millennial Behaviors & Demographics." University Librarian, New Jersey Institute of Technology, December 2006, 10.
[6] Ibid.
[7] "Watching Lots of TV 'makes You Stupid?" The Independent. Last modified December 3, 2015. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/watching-lots-of-tv-makes-you-stupid-says-american-universities-a6759026.html.

American’s do not typically think anything about native tribal culture outside of the fact that it was a big part of our national history. The typical cliche of the rustic 19th century steady and proud native American hunter, wrapped in tanned leather for clothing and a tomahawk hanging at his waist, pulls back on his bow only to quickly release the arrow he had set to strike a deer, killing it instantly. This is an ideal image that usually flashes across our memory banks anyways. But where did they originate from?

To start, for history to make complete sense, you should come at it from a biblical world-view. That is the “Christian” perception in how we see the world around us. Most of us have heard the story of the Great Flood that drowned the world, but one man and his family: Noah. The world in 2300 BC was a very immoral, unethical, a seriously wicked and evil place. Genesis 6:6 states that the world was such a bad place, even God himself grieved that he even made human beings in the first place. People further do not realize that by roughly 2300 BC, technological advancements rivaled 19th and 20th centuries of our modern era. The critical backdrop for where tribal cultures came from starts after the great flood in the first few verses of Genesis 11:

             “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.” (Genesis 11:1-2)

Immediately after the global floodwaters receded, people had returned to the Fertile Crescent (the land of Shinar). It is called this because of its shape, and the fertility of the land. It is regarded as the birthplace of civilization. During this period, people could only speak the same one-single-language in existence. There was much building and constant warring as chaos reigned in. In the midst of the chaos, the people of the world united together in one common goal, of creating and designing the most advanced superstructure in the world.  The City of Man was formed with The Tower of Babel being at its epicenter.

One of mankind’s early developments was the ability to design and make structures. This was one of God’s gifts to man, in being able to subdue the earth. Yet, in man’s rebellion, these structures were built to rebel against God. Not to honor, or glorify Him. With the growing advancements of being able to work together as one unit, mankind, at the City of Man in the Fertile Crescent, began to make plans to accomplish four key goals: One, build a city. They looked to unify the world in one city. Two, build a tower. Archaeological finds proven that in Hebrew, the tower was to have “its top in the heavens.” Three, make a name for themselves. This tower was built for man to rule from the clouds, and place government over all people. Four, prevent from being dispersed.

This tower was meant for man to glorify himself. They designed a city and a one world religion based around the glory of man. All man-centered humanistic religions all share in one single motivation: to be man-focused and man-glorifying. This is secular (means: absent of God) thinking, where men’s idea’s become the final word in human philosophy. This way of thinking today is delivered through modern science and technology. The people, here, wanted to push their glory over both God and the world:

            “And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:3-4)

This tower and temple in ancient Mesopotamia was a structure called a ziggurat. Interestingly, ziggurats have been found through archaeology at later dates, with the same fundamental design, littered all around the world. This explains a few reasons behind the theory’s on human dispersion, ancient land-bridges, cultural identity, and regional language. It is not unreasonable to believe that the Tower of Babel was a ziggurat superstructure. It was after this massive temple was built that God responded. His response to humankind would turn the world’s history books in a massive way!

           “And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” (Genesis 11:5-6)

The idea in this passage here is not that the Lord had no idea what was happening up to this point in time, but instead that God had decided that the time was appropriate to come to earth to deal with the issue. The people, who were in rebellion, had completed the tower, which means that God had allowed human beings to have a certain amount of freedom of choice, and to use their abilities to a certain degree; and now God was going to act on the issue at hand. It shows here that “…God allows for an interplay between Himself and us, and responds to our actions.”[1]

         “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech..” (Genesis 11:7)

The people of the world said, “Come, let us build a one-world religion.” God punctually responded and said, “Come, let us break them up.” The people did not want to be dispersed. God made it happen regardless. Further, God hindered communication by introducing for the first time separate languages, again, leading to the development of unique world cultures. God did this in order to slow down the development of technology, and through language barriers, slowed man’s ability to work together effectively as a unit. This event happened to allow God to bring around His plan for a Messiah (Christ) without first having to bring about another universal judgment (the Flood) to stop the lawlessness and moral evil.

           “So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.” (Genesis 11:8)

The City of Man is abandoned at this point. Scripture does not distinctly state how exactly, or how long it took, for geographical dispersion. However the most common thought is that God split the languages in one quick divine act. After the act occurred, mass confusion and chaos occurred. The groups of people whom spoke alike dispersed as nomadic tribes across the globe. These peoples would have, over time, developed a depth and complexity to their respective tribal cultures.

           “Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the languages of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:9)

It truly is because of the Tower of Babel that we can understand the importance and meaning into why there are so many different cultures in the world. Besides this, it further shows us the uniqueness of each tribe while also proving its commonplace in the history books of mankind. Tribal religion, from a historical standpoint, stands as the most important piece of cultural evidence to base tribal history off of. Through bits and pieces of archaeology, evidence suggests that the religion and spirituality of tribal cultures globally are all connected in unique definition.

Tribal cultures world-wide are spiritual in their beliefs. These religions are called: Paganism, Ancient Spiritualism, Wicca, Druidism, Witchcraft, polytheistic mythologies of the past and a whole bunch of other variations. These native cultures live their lives governed by the thought that doing, or not doing something, and that these behaviors could affect your future as a living and breathing person. Inevitably with this belief you would develop a constant sense of fear that you would bring harm or misfortune upon yourself, as well as your family.

This is what it is like to live among spiritual tribalists’. Tribalists believe that spirit-beings are directly responsible for everything that happens, good and bad. The only reasonable approach to this perceived reality is to do everything you can to keep those spirit beings happy. Most of them hold to a belief in one supreme deity who is the creator of all that is. Differing varieties of myths regarding creation and how man came to be are regional.

In regard to moral sin (or doing wrongs, committing crimes), Tribalists generally dwell in corporate or ethnic social surroundings; that is to say that they are more concerned with the group than the individual. Concepts of evil are actually based upon what is toxic to the tribe as a whole element. David Weber, an American Historian, explained that they "…only cooperated when they believed that they had something to gain from the new religion and the material benefits that accompanied it, or too much to lose from resisting.”[2] Tribalists have no guilt because they have transgressed against the Creator, however will sense shame if their actions are seen harmful or negative to the tribe.

Exhibiting certain social behaviors that bring the fury of the spirits – such as breaking with customs, or failing proper rituals – is considered evil.[3] It is because of this that the tribe may act to punish an offender. Further, shame and fear are constantly employed to motivate individuals to comply with social expectations. For the Tribalist, iniquity is not a violation against the Creator, but one’s social group. Right and wrong are not issues of personal morality, but of their practical effect on the tribe as a whole element.

There is no central founder of tribal religions, nor its spirituality. There are no universal writings or sacred manuscripts that are common to tribal peoples, and if there is any literature, it is locally written. In fact, their myths and traditions are only usually passed down orally, or word-of-mouth.[4] This tradition is typical of world tribal cultures located well outside of civilized societies. It’s important to know how tribal cultures came to exist in this world.

The truth is, in this day and age, most people stick to their common assumptions and stereotypical views. The fact that religion exists in every single society on earth should wake everybody up to realizations about why civilization is quite different from one town to the next. This also explains why tribal influences in modern society, such as art, music, fashion, etc., can be found in historically tribal areas around the nation. How you view the world in which we live, will depict how you see and relate to the neighborhood you live in.

Out of the fall of the City of Man and the Tower of Babel came tribal cultures…[5]
 
 
            - Daniel L. Smith,
            ComplexAmerica.org


Sources:

[1] Leston, Stephen, and Christopher D. Hudson. “From Creation to the Tower of Babel,” In The Bible in World History: How History and Scripture Intersect. Barbour Pub, 2011. p. 38
[2] David J. Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992), p. 115.
[3] Ibid. p. 232
[4] Philip M. Steyne, Gods of Power: A Study in the Beliefs and Practices of Animists (Columbia, SC: Impact International Foundation, 2011), pp. 72.
[5] Genesis 11, The Holy Bible, NKJV. 2008.