Cutlural Universal

There are seven cultural universals; basic needs, beliefs, family, technology, arts and leisure, government and economy, and communication and education. All of these different things affect many lives; however some of them have more affect than others. I believe the three cultural universals that have affected my life the most is family, beliefs, and government and economy. Family is the most important thing to me, so why won’t it affect the way I live my life. The cultural universal family is all about courtship, marriage, and kin groups like friends or adopted family members. In my opinion family is supposed to help make your life better, but in some places that’s not so true. In the article “Marriage or Else,” by Rod Nordland and Alissa Rubin I learned that in Afghanistan girls have no say in who they are going to be with for the rest of their lives. It’s really their father’s decision, and usually the father gives his daughter away to settle debts or he’ll being feeding one less mouth if he gives her away. Learning about these facts made me feel grateful that I have the power to choose my own husband, and when I do choose him it’ll be for love and not for money. Family can affect who you live your life with but beliefs affect who you are. My beliefs and my opinions are important to my life because they show who I am. The cultural universal beliefs is all about religion, political opinion, funeral rites and how you take care of your body. In my opinion beliefs shape who you are because you are free to choose them. However I learned that that’s not all ways the case in other countries around the world. In the article “The World’s Newest Dictator,” by Patricia Smith I learned that in North Korea there is no freedom of religion like there is here in the US. In North Korea the dictators force the people who live there to worship them like they’re a god, and the citizens have no choice but to do so. Some of them may believe in a different religion but they have to worship in secret. Just thinking about how those people are forced to do something they may not want to do is scary to me. If they are not able to choose their beliefs then they’re just puppets because they have nothing to say about who they are. I thank my lucky stars everyday that I live in a country where I can choose my religion and opinions. So everyday I’m not afraid to tell others my opinions and beliefs, without being rude of course. Beliefs may show who you are but the government and the economy show you how you can live your life within the laws. The government and the economy both affect people lives a lot because of the laws laid down and how those laws affect the health of the country. The cultural universal government and economy are all about the country’s structure, laws, property rights, division of labor and status differentiation. In my opinion the USA’s government has laws in place to not only protect its citizens but also to keep them happy. However after reading many articles I learned yet again that that’s not always the case. Take China’s One-Child Policy, it was made to protect the country from being over populated but now a days it’s just hurting the country. The policy has created a huge hole between how old people are and some people are worried about who’s going to take care of the elderly in the future. It’s also making a lot of citizens angry because they want to have more than one child, but are afraid the government will take it away. I’m glad that every day the USA’s government is here to protect me but that it is also run by the people so that everyone is happy. Now the other four cultural universals affect my life as well but not as much as these three do. There are a lot of things that affect how you live your life, but sometimes you don’t have a choice about what affects it. But to all of you who live in other countries and don’t have the same type of government as I do, just remember that for the most part your life is affect how you want it to be.