About 2 weeks ago I mentioned religion and its impact on
sustainable development in mountainous regions. Today I would like to talk more
about culture and its impact. I have come to the conclusion that, although the
survival of culture is being address in the sustainable mountain development
agenda, it is sorely overlooked. In mountainous areas where mountains transcend
boundaries, the major constant in a given area is the people. These people are,
what most would consider, isolated from the outside world. So when an area that
was isolated is introduced to modernization, a certain measure of caution must
be made, in order to prevent a loss of the native culture. Unfortunately, in
the search for sustainable development, culture often gets put on the
back-burner and is not preserved to its fullest.
Additionally, with the advent of modernization a confluence
of two or more cultures occurs. This can lead to loss of culture, conflict of
culture, and the death of culture. With the increase in connectivity that
modernization brings, it is important to use that same connectivity to
implement a means or rules by which conflicting cultures might find some degree
of co-existence. While, I do not disagree with the need for sustainable
development and subsequently modernization, I do not think that it is
impossible to maintain a progression of sustainable development without keeping
culture intact.
One means of doing such would be to restrict the modes of
transportation between sites A through Z. Then, introducing such things as
wireless internet and appropriate means of renewable energy and sustainable
development. After, it is then appropriate to introduce non-restrictive measures;
allowing transportation to continue between sites. The reason for this is the
cultivation of ideas. While it is easy to disagree with a new idea, it is much
more difficult to introduce foreign concepts and then demand that, previously
isolated, locals accept its recent indoctrination. After a reasonable amount of
time, the removal of isolation and its associated risk is then reduced becoming
more manageable.
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