• Pudutr0n@lemmy.world
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    15 days ago

    American culture is stuck in adolescence because culture has shifted towards the complete annihilation of any and all significant rites of passage into adulthood.

    A child is someone that needs to be told what they can and can’t do.
    An adolescent is someone who tests the limits of what they can and can’t do.
    An adult is someone who enforces socially responsible limits of what they themselves and others can and can’t do.

    Never telling people “these are now your responsibilities towards others and we all expect you to take them seriously” in an in-equivocal ceremonial way is how you destroy a society.

    • Hegar@fedia.io
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      15 days ago

      I don’t think you can say that no rites of passage means not becoming an adult. Rituals smooth or explain transitions, they’re not a requirement for the transition to happen.

      And besides their are plenty of rites of passage into adulthood in the US - first car is huge, moving out of home, first job, etc.