by Ahmad Saeid

Created on: December 24, 2008

I lived in four countries, and can clearly see the effects of social standards on the mentality of each individual, and the consequences of that back to society in general that shapes its certain form and a place in the world

Three of these four countries are Arabic, Kuwait, Syria, and Egypt, and the fourth is Ukraine. Comparing all of these cultures and sub-cultures together we can understand the influence of culture on people, that reflects back to affect the culture itself. In the Arab world for example, the bounds between relatives are too strong, and people are forced to maintain them, because otherwise they will face rejection among people who are considered to be "their group", in the infinite division of society into clans. A saying here states that: "Me and my brother against our cousin, and me with my cousin against a stranger"! This is how blood relations are forming the bounds between people in this society.

People go to their relatives for help, if a fight happens for instance, people seek the assistance of their relatives, not the police, or the government, the government itself is created based on blood relevance to the "man in charge", people consider big quantity of relatives as an advantage for them, they feel powerful when they are too many, although every group is separated inside to sub-groups, and a lot of clashes arise between members of the same group, all the way down to people in the same family.

This kind of division is making blood-based relationships more powerful than any other bounds or responsibilities, and that is causing the society to be less productive than those in which people are grouped according to their interests and professions, where the law and order are the only force people depend on to solve their conflicts and problems. When people gather and create groups according to their interests, then the knowledge and science in hands develops rather rapidly, because people share knowledge and are driven by passion to discover new horizons in their subject of interest.

On the other hand, people in the "bloody" societies tend to eternally struggle to maintain their place in the "image" of the group, which can easily distract them from focusing on their passions and goals, if there are some. The success of anyone is considered a threat to people with "positions" in the group. One can create enemies if he grows in importance to the group or in influence to the group. People with historical power in that group will declare "war"

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