Reggae into the Contemporary American Society Essay

Reggae into the Contemporary American Society - Essay Example Regardless of the culture from which and individual hails, the common point is that a desirable culture should provide an individual with a sense of identity and the individual should be able to understand the dynamic nature of the world and be able to adjust to the changes encountered. Folk culture refers to the natural way of life that is defined by an ideal culture in a given community. This culture emphasizes on the human values like honor and the principle of reasoning and a view that the natural setting should be valued and considered wholesome. The spirit of hard work, self-discipline, and excellence are some of the aims of a folk culture, and which have currently lost grounds in the majority of the modern culture. Others include individual responsibility and loyalty to the authority. There are various ways through which communities preserve their cultural heritage to uphold their identity. The traditional cultural preservations include some ritual practices, traditional folk dances, folk tales, and folk music (Jankee, 2). The themes of the folk songs pointed out the cultural values like brevity, loyalty, and hard work. They often contained information on peaceful coexistence among the individuals in a given society. These traditional folk cultural expressions developed into the modern expressions with some deviations. Much of the human values that were emphasized by the traditional folk songs are not stressed in the modern Western cultures. The modern culture happens not to view nature as it was viewed earlier and neither does it allow nature to take control of life as in the olden days. There has also emerged a relation between the cultural expressions and grass root developments, especially in the developing nations. The different cultural expressions that are witnessed in different parts of the world are all concerned with the issue of defining the identity of the community.