Culture Shock

My mom recently told me something that got me thinking. She said the opinion of an immigrant on social and political affairs is a highly valuable one— but only after some time has passed. An immigrant to the US for 25 years now, she claimed that for the first 10 years or so that an immigrant lives in America, their perspective is clouded as a result of the culture shock that they experience. What she meant is that an immigrant that was just “thrown into the fire” is likely to be overly paranoid or naive at first. Being exposed to a new system, new customs, new rules can lead to misguided and often radical viewpoints. Only after some time (maybe not 10 years) has passed does that immigrant start to get accustomed to the new environment and begin to see a clearer, bigger picture.

My mom’s thoughts really intrigued me. Because I believe this phenomenon applies in parallel to young people and the root of their opinions as well.

We’ve all seen how common it is for America’s youth (millennials/gen Z) to adamantly support far left or far right ideologies. And I can’t tell you how often I hear older generations complain about how intense “these kids are getting”. Blame the internet, blame Trump, blame Hillary, whatever. But the real underlying reason young people hold such extreme sociopolitical views is because they’re going through a culture shock of their own.

Here’s what I mean.

Imagine an 18 year old boy that has spent his whole life living as a dependent of his parents. Sure, he had some issues along the way but his parents never let him worry about bills, taxes, rent, etc. Lots of Americans grow up this way, sheltered if you will. And it provides a lot of benefits like allowing kids to focus on school and becoming socialized. But now he’s going to college or going into the workforce. All of sudden he’s encountering all of these adult issues and responsibilities that he was never fully accountable for until now. And when people encounter new problems, they tend to react harshly.

For example, maybe he has to visit the emergency room and then the insurance company scams him so now he’s bitter towards corporations in general. Maybe he has trouble finding a job and now he’s convinced the system is rigged against him. Maybe he tries to feed a homeless man that ends up spending the money on drugs and now he thinks the poor are all dishonest. Maybe he’s just struggling in general and needs someone or something to blame it on.

Extreme changes in our lives cause extreme reactions. When we’re encountering new situations, it means we only have our first impressions and limited anecdotes to formulate our analysis with. In reality it takes some time and experience for us to adapt to our environment and see the bigger picture. It’s true when our parents and grandparents say “things aren’t always what they seem at first glance.”

Okay so of course I’m not saying we should disregard the opinions of recent immigrants or young people. They have a lot to bring to the table. But as a young guy myself, I really feel that we all need to practice some more humility. Let’s take the time to reflect on our experiences and admit that we could be wrong about things if we simply don’t know enough yet.

Think and speak with a grain of salt.

Filip, again.