Just over a year ago, I graduated with a degree in American Studies. It’s really what interested me in general, and was (eventually) free of a lot of the crap that I disliked about college. But I’m far from done studying. It’s hard to find anything that isn’t a reflection of culture. Maybe one exception is the natural world, but it’s quite easy to see it through a cultural lens if you want to – most people do. I try and pay attention to culture because of its power. Obviously I’m simplifying a bit by saying that, there’s no one person or source who can identify culture, but if you pay attention to what people are interested in, and pay attention to a large amount of people, you can get a weak grasp of culture.
American culture in particular is important because we are so good at exporting it, and it’s influence can be found in every other major culture, and many smaller cultures. We’re pretty good at exporting our politics as well, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. Considering the wide influence of American culture in today’s world, why would I go anywhere else? I was born into the epicenter of contemporary culture.
Considering this, it becomes important to look at how culture is created. There are always people who have a greater influence on culture than others, and I like to think of them as ‘artists.’ Usually people define an artist as someone who creates cultural artifacts, but I prefer my definition. I think it holds up when you take the many kinds of cultures into consideration. These are the reasons I care about copyright, the internet, and New York City. It’s all about creating, and shaping the world around us. It may not have been a ‘real’ major, but I take it seriously.