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The Psychology of Dysfunctional Culture
by John Calvert

Many people are asking, what’s wrong with this society? Why is there so much pain and suffering? So much dysfunction? I think the answer lies in the way people accept and believe in the dominant culture, and it also lies in their willingness to accept untruth. (In this discussion, I am using the word culture to refer to the social and economic systems in the United States; not to fine art, music, pearl necklaces, or yogurt.) Without a doubt, this techno-industrial society we live in is grossly dysfunctional.

People who are embedded and invested in the culture do not see their own predicament, much like people stuck in unhealthy relationships. They become codependent in their relationship with the culture — like mutually symbiotic parasites — each causing the other harm and increasing overall levels of disharmony, suffering, and pain. Without really understanding the consequences, many people choose to exist within a pain body which constantly seeks modes of coping and escape, which the culture by its nature provides through various substances and entertainments. The addictions, the avoidance, the denial are all part of a destructive, self-perpetuating cycle of dependency.

On the other side of the coin from a person’s own relationship to the culture are the external factors: the economy, the government, and the mass media. The social and economic systems that define the culture are interrelated and influenced by the power of government, media, and corporate entities — which thereby influence the lives of individuals, families, and communities and affect human welfare, spirituality, and happiness. The influence of powerful moneyed interests has become so strong that we now live in a corporate culture, although growing numbers of people would rather live in a human- and ecologically-oriented, sustainable culture.

There are many myths surrounding this dysfunctional culture, and I will attempt to list and address some of these. Before I launch into the myths, it should be noted that the dysfunctions of this culture are so many that the list would probably fill several pages. Here are a few of the more prominent examples (in no particular order):
  • A transportation system — automobiles — that kills more than 45,000 people each year, injures and maims hundreds more, relies on foreign non-renewable fuel sources, and trashes the air we breathe and the atmosphere of the planet
  • Addiction of nearly one quarter of the adult population — some 48 million people — to the drug, S-3-(1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinyl) pyridine, commonly known as nicotine, a very strong psychoactive substance that alters one’s mental state, producing temporary sensations of euphoria, contentment, and stimulation. Over 430,000 people die each year in the U.S. due to smoking-related illness (American Cancer Society) — that’s about 1,100 people per day, or two jumbo jet crashes per day.
  • Drunk driving
  • Gun violence
  • Child abuse and domestic violence
  • Abuse and repression of one ethnic group by another. Systematic and institutionalized racism.
  • Teenage pregnancy
  • A K-12 education system that is centrally controlled and devalues the teacher-student relationship, devalues the uniqueness and originality of each child, and undervalues teachers
  • The use of pesticides on food crops and the destruction of the living soil by industrial agribusiness
  • The depletion of aquifers by industrial agribusiness
  • The production of radioactive waste by the nuclear power industry
  • The clearcutting and overcutting of coniferous forests by the timber industry, subsidized by the government
  • A mass media system owned and operated by private corporations for the main purpose of promoting the marketing of products, political views, and people. (Mass media is a key element in keeping the truth concealed and in helping people accept untruth.)
  • Systematic violent repression of groups and movements who stand up to abuse of governmental authority or question the competence of the government (e.g. COINTELPRO [COUNTER INTELLIGENCE PROGRAM, a program of FBI surveillance of American dissidents in the US starting in the 60s]).
  • Government and corporate control of natural resources
  • Overpopulation: too many people compound the severity of problems


The list is shocking, yet for those immersed in the dysfunction, this set of horrors is somehow internalized and taken on by the collective codependency. At a young age, people are indoctrinated with a sense of the inevitability of a culture that is largely dysfunctional, and just as the pain of family dysfunction is blocked out, so is the pain of assaults from every corner of what appears to be the only world created by adults. Later in life as adults, people live and breathe each day accepting the reality that somehow these things are just part-and-parcel of what it is to be human on the planet, perceiving all that is wrong as simply a collection of society’s ills.

Like their codependent counterparts in personal relationships, people enmeshed in the dysfunctional culture will seek to escape the pain through addictions. The culture provides all manner of entertainments, diversions, recreations, substances, and media. But the truth is still there and does not go away. The truth of the horrors persists, blocked out because there is too much pain. We see that in order for dysfunction to persist there must be both a concealment of the truth and a willingness to accept untruth. A couple examples on the political front are: the 2000 presidential election with the concealment of the doctoring of votes in Florida and the acceptance by the people of the United States of a falsely selected president; and the use of misinformation by the Bush administration to create a climate of approval for the war on Iraq.

Language helps to reify the dysfunction — to "thingify" all that is not right and place it neatly into convenient boxes, instead of looking at root causes. That in itself is a major dysfunction. This is a culture of bringing human energy to bear on the symptoms and side effects of dysfunctions, instead of eliminating the sources of dysfunction (much akin to western medicine’s allopathic approach and dependence on pharmaceuticals). Even though people keep on believing that this approach works, it continues to fail.

I have begun to talk about the myths, the biggest one being that there is no other course but to accept as reality a deeply troubled culture — one that we give our hearts and minds to — and one that is seen as the only dream available to our psyches. Here are some more myths:

  • People must rely on government and corporations to provide their basic needs
  • People must own and drive cars in order to survive and compete in the modern world
  • The best solution is the technological solution
  • Officials and experts have the best advice on how to deal with matters of society’s problems
  • Government regulations stop corporations from abusing their power
  • There are no consequences for "accepting the bad with the good"
  • If a product is perceived as good, it doesn’t matter where it came from or how it was produced
  • Choices we make that adversely affect others outside our communities or nation do not affect us
  • Religious freedom leads to happiness and peace (actually, separating oneself from neighbors on a spiritual basis devalues the inherent uniting spirit at the core of all religions)
  • Policing the world increases security within the borders of the nation state
  • Our government exists to provide for the common good of taxpaying citizens — for their health, welfare, and education
  • Money is just a store of wealth (money actually facilitates hoarding and hides the trail of accountability for the acquisition of wealth)

What conditions and behaviors does the dominant culture breed? People are steeped in a climate of me-first, in a large part isolated from healthy human community, in competition, and unhappy at the core. Society as it exists today is too large to function in a healthy way for individuals, families, and small communities. And thus, the insanity continues and the cycles of violence and fear continue.

Why does the culture persist to be dysfunctional? Is there a way out?

The answers to these questions I believe are interrelated. The key is in people, individually, believing in the value of their own freedom and in the divine intelligence that is within each of them. Clearly, in stripping away and letting go of all the negative emotion and sadness, people open a pathway of discovering the joy of their own uniqueness and ability to create a dream that is beautiful for themselves and for others. I believe the deepest answers lie in Nature and in the gifts that Mother Earth bestows upon all her living children, human and non-human, plant and animal alike.

It is true that human beings need culture in which to live their lives — to have healthy relationships with family members, friends, and associates; to share the experiences of life with others in a meaningful way; to gather knowledge for the benefit of all members of the community; and to provide wise protection from pain and suffering. It is, however, a personal choice to be in a codependent relationship with a dysfunctional culture. It is not an inevitability. And it is also a choice to seek something better.

How can people break free and bring about real change?

Breaking free means realizing that human energy is being hijacked by corporate culture for the purpose of wage labor and consumer purchasing of corporate commodities, all facilitated by the use of state-printed paper money. People are plugged into the system just like the humans in The Matrix whose bodily electricity was harvested by machines.

Money is a measure of wealth in the corporate culture. In a sustainable culture, tangible physical things such as land, food crops, animals, tools, structures, nature itself, and the strength of social community are measures of true wealth. The peace of mind of individuals is maximized and corporations are not needed. Is this a vague, idealistic utopian dream? Or is your viewpoint — your reference point — from inside a nightmare that you perceive as the only way? It is your choice whether or not you will break free or continue to be a human battery for the power brokers.

Breaking free means realizing that, as in The Matrix, humans in the corporate culture are continually indoctrinated with a false kind of reality, one that is counter to our evolved sense of relationship to each other and to Nature. This manufactured reality serves the needs of the corporate-ruled structuring of society: labor, manufacturing, resource extraction, production, distribution, and consumption. This way of structuring human society was produced by corporations with the help of the state, whereby regulations are minimized and immunities and favorable laws are maximized. In this model, the importance of the individual, the family, the small community is reduced, while the importance and power of the large corporation is maximized: money buys influence, political power, legal power, etc.

As a first step, we must acknowledge and be aware that powerful elites are programming the dominant culture — and thereby programming people — to serve their needs. We can be aware that by being obedient consumers and taxpayers, people are indeed serving their corporate overlords. And we can take refuge from the madness by seeking peace and quiet in Nature, so that we can emerge refreshed and with a renewed sense of spirit, to place ourselves squarely among the growing numbers of those who are unprogrammable.

The fundamental, systemic changes that are necessary to bring about a truly democratic and sustainable culture may actually begin with a simple choice for each individual, and the spreading of the information necessary to make that choice. For the truth is like a seed buried in the soil, awaiting the best conditions to sprout forth.

John Calvert lives in the mountains of Santa Barbara with his partner, Jamila Livergood. Each day they dream of living in community, in nature, and free of automobiles. John’s activism began in Oregon in the mid ‘90s, in the forests and on the streets. He is a yogi, djembe drummer, massage therapist, website designer, and beekeeper. In 1999, he began living on his bicycle which he did for two years, and in 2000 started the Santa Barbara Local Activists email listserv (http://www.sbnatural.com/superlist). In 2001 he became known as the "Gizmo Guy" for regularly driving an electric 3-wheel motorcycle around Santa Barbara. John is presently webmaster for HopeDance magazine. He can be contacted at jc@eco-sites.com

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