Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Cultural Desperation

I was born, raised, and still live in the epicenter of cultural desperation, within the borders of San Diego at least; Paradise Hills. As a child, it never particularly struck me that not only my aesthetic features, but my overall tendencies towards iconoclasm, were remarkably individual in nature in comparison to my peers. I suppose the wide-eyed and ever encompassing innocence of childhood would indeed take away from the vortex-like thought patterns that we call analytical thought, so it's understandable why certain observations didn't come to the forefront of my perception until adolescence.

According to all demographical statistics that I have seen, this microcosmic neighborhood is populated by primarily Latinos and Pacific Islanders (who most group into the unnecessary generalization of "Filipino"), who have come here either through the Naval Force or because of the supposedly eternal American delusion that our land is an oasis of opportunity and democratic representation in a world populated by post-Cold War communists. It should be noted that both of these cultures have spent centuries being bombarded and colonized by superpowers in an attempt to claim land and assimilate the native people, and this is where my dominating point lies; even on a second generation level, these cultures are in a constant pursuit of assimilating themselves to what they believe to be American. I recently dropped out of high school due to dissatisfaction with the local Academia as a whole, but I've never lost interest in observing my peers from an outside standpoint. Many Pacific Islanders and Latinos in this country find it hard to truly bring together their native culture and the conventions of the land they live in now. Every individual I find has a tendency towards avoiding individualism. Many of their parents are somewhat recent immigrants who believe success lies in the subsistence that is the expected American lifestyle, so this generation has been raised from a very early age to believe that a blind synergy with the shallow image of their place of residence is the road to overall fruition. That's how you get teenage Filipino-Americans dressing like thugs, but with voices and identities that completely contradict this image they assume that they understand.

It's an interesting concept, really. That an entire generation of Americans will live the rest of their lives believing that an undying mentality of injudicious acclimatization will lead them to the promise land.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Dia de los Muertos Celebration, Love Thy Neighbor(Hood): Food & Art Exploration

Events November 2-November 6, 2024

I was born, raised, and still live in the epicenter of cultural desperation, within the borders of San Diego at least; Paradise Hills. As a child, it never particularly struck me that not only my aesthetic features, but my overall tendencies towards iconoclasm, were remarkably individual in nature in comparison to my peers. I suppose the wide-eyed and ever encompassing innocence of childhood would indeed take away from the vortex-like thought patterns that we call analytical thought, so it's understandable why certain observations didn't come to the forefront of my perception until adolescence.

According to all demographical statistics that I have seen, this microcosmic neighborhood is populated by primarily Latinos and Pacific Islanders (who most group into the unnecessary generalization of "Filipino"), who have come here either through the Naval Force or because of the supposedly eternal American delusion that our land is an oasis of opportunity and democratic representation in a world populated by post-Cold War communists. It should be noted that both of these cultures have spent centuries being bombarded and colonized by superpowers in an attempt to claim land and assimilate the native people, and this is where my dominating point lies; even on a second generation level, these cultures are in a constant pursuit of assimilating themselves to what they believe to be American. I recently dropped out of high school due to dissatisfaction with the local Academia as a whole, but I've never lost interest in observing my peers from an outside standpoint. Many Pacific Islanders and Latinos in this country find it hard to truly bring together their native culture and the conventions of the land they live in now. Every individual I find has a tendency towards avoiding individualism. Many of their parents are somewhat recent immigrants who believe success lies in the subsistence that is the expected American lifestyle, so this generation has been raised from a very early age to believe that a blind synergy with the shallow image of their place of residence is the road to overall fruition. That's how you get teenage Filipino-Americans dressing like thugs, but with voices and identities that completely contradict this image they assume that they understand.

It's an interesting concept, really. That an entire generation of Americans will live the rest of their lives believing that an undying mentality of injudicious acclimatization will lead them to the promise land.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Samoan culture in San Diego fades away

You never get your tattoo alone
Next Article

Filipino Flair – The Philippines

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader