Introduction
Culture is the representation of the totality of all socially conveyed or learned mannerisms, views beliefs ad interactions that result from human work and activity. The cultures traditions and historical concepts of the Middle
East have over the centuries been characterised as by a distinct sense of variety that stems from a whirlwind of customs and traditions. An interrogation of the various cultural values form the comparative stand between the older and younger generation provides an adequate argument for this claim.
Argument
Materialism
Once upon a time, men and women would follow their guided herds through the desserts ferrying goods and transporting commodities such as slave’s garments skins and food. The Middle East was rich with activity as its population majored on middlemen jobs. In the process, the true wealth was built on their animals and slaves that were a symbol of pride.
As it were, the Middle East society was a transportable and flexible entity and therefore had little time to invest in areas such as real estate or land. In effect, the true value of wealth was quantified in terms of animals and jewelry objects of which were movable and easily disposable.
It follows that such a society will also value the human as an asset. Given the background and setup of the slave trade, the older society culturally valued the number of children and slaves that one acquired or held. This theme is well emphasized by the biblical stories of dynasties and kings that put these material possessions as the focus of wealth.
Times have however changed, new methods of transportation have been installed and slave trade abolished. New ideas have been born into the society and the rather materialistic society has begun to ease up to the modern contemporary trends.
The new generation has dismissed the cultural kingship and value of wealth and replaced it with an aggressive sense of competition. The respect that accrued to the value holders has gradually grown out to become an avenue for competition.
Religiosity
Bluntly put the Middle East is considered as the cradle of civilizations. The world’s three largest religions -Judaism, Christianity and Islam- also have origins in the Middle East. The religious capacity of the region is by all means not restricted to these three.
In fact, the great variety of religions in the region has up to date been a source of conflict for a long period. Understanding the region’s religious affiliations inadvertently amounts to understanding the region as a whole in its particulars and preferences.
The value attached to religion transcends all other social cultural and political factors. The Middle East culture is religion driven and has been so since its early days. This has been passed on from the older generations through to the new and coming generations.
It has been embedded in their daily lives and forms a fundamental requirement for membership in the society. This is unlikely to change in the near future since the influence and value attached to religion forms the foundation of all other cultural and social phenomenon.
Attitudes towards technology and change
The appetite for technology in the Middle East has always fallen behind the modernity and world trends. Historically the conservative culture of the population leaves a slim edge on which the base for technology stands.
The older generation therefore often fell off the graph in as far as technology is concerned in the hope of maintaining a pure and historically correct mannerism and trends. They are rather justified since the changes in technology stand on the feet of culture and more often than not end up toppling these cultures.
This however will not survive long since there has been a great paradigm shift that has seen t eh newer and younger generation invests a lot of time and money in technology. The world has kept an envious eye at the sudden interest if the Middle Eastern people in the technology sector. Of even greater concern and interest ids their sudden crave for advanced warfare technology.
Gender roles
What people think, imagine or conceive of others is contemptible to their religious preferences. The Middle East is inflated with religious driven societies that perceive of social phenomenon from the religious point of view. Seemingly, the role of women in as far as religion is concerned has been belittled and marginalized to reproduction and housewifery.
This perception stems from the religious provisions for this status one that has been cordially followed by generations on end. The new generation however has bowed down to the feminist movement to create room for the women in education economics social life and yet to be, politics. This shift has taken a lot of martyrdom owing to the harsh rules as against defiance of the religious and social provisions of the role of women.
Risk-taking
From the workings of a rather barren environment the Middle East culture has preached the concept of risks across the century. Far and wide the idle east population is known to be a trading society that has mastered the art of risks.
The refined interest in business by the younger population is just a contemporary representation of the traditional cultural values that have been embedded into their culture.
The environment
Before the industrial revolution, the Middle East was a barren region with endless tracks of sand. There was little to tell of the barren region of herdsmen and nomads. Consequently, there was little if any interest in environmental concerns.
The mid 20th century saw a great transformation of the region with more interest being given to environmental exploitation. Thanks to industrialization, the world developed an appetite for energy that was good news to the Middle Eastern people.
The discovery of oil and other forms of energy created a sudden interest in the region that led to reclamation of the dessert land and the development of industries. The agrarian revolution saw the transformation of the region into a hub of activity.
These developments however were at the expense of the environment. The new generation has however responded to the call for environmental awareness and conservation. The region is conscious of global warming and has made attempts at reducing their contribution to this crisis.
However this has not been fully embraced since most of the nations still remain at was and continues to develop non environmental friendly weapons.