© Elliot Essman 2005. All rights reserved.

These pages contain the complete text of Human Action, public speaking trainer Elliot Essman's philosophy of human achievement.

Elliot Essman Public Speaking Training
Human Action Table of Contents
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In very closed societies, social strictures are so severe that subcultures rarely develop. If they do, they remain on the fringe. Japan is an example. The subculture that involves professional rock musicians in Japan is small and not very visible. The same is true for Japanese groups as diverse as the handicapped and female impersonators. In the United States, with its fluid general culture, subcultures become very strong indeed.

The subculture involves camaraderie, shared interests, perhaps even political action. It creates a common reference matrix that offers support and validation, especially in the case of people who are misunderstood or have trouble fitting in with the general culture.

The United States has so many sub-cultures who consider themselves minorities in one way or another that if you added them all up, you wouldn't have enough non-subculture members left to make up a decent softball team, much less a majority. To start with, there is every sort of disease or affliction. Add to this every sort of sexual orientation and interest. The “New Age” subculture is an extremely broad reference group. So is the related “Human Potential” movement. And if you ever work out at a professional body-building gym, you soon come to realize that the people you see there all the time have their own language, tastes, values and commonalities.

This section is not being written to judge on the usefulness of subcultures in general, or of any particular one. Every person who participates in a subculture does so as a free individual. What we wish to do here is recognize that subcultures pose potential dangers. This is especially true in the case of people who turn to a subculture because the general culture seems not to understand them or even persecutes them. I have gay friends, for example, who are very wary of the powerful gay subculture. One of them put it this way to me, “Just because I'm gay, and don't want to hide the fact, and support causes that protect gay people, doesn't mean every vacation I go on, every cultural event, every person I choose to associate with in my business has to also be gay.” In a less controversial area, I know people who are excellent rock musicians, but who just don't want anything to do with the strong rock subculture, the drugs, and all that it entails. There are enormous numbers of Harley-Davidson enthusiasts who don't ride around in bike gangs.

And then, of course, there are the joiners. Sometimes they flip from one subculture to another, seeking some kind of definition and security to their lives. When faced with the life choice of Shocking or joining, they join. This kind of hard-core joining is a superb example of un-vectored Trans-Biological Imperative. Their Trans-Biological Imperative causes discontent and restlessness, but their biological imperative twists the Trans-Biological Imperative into unproductive areas. They seek answers instead of questions. They seek static outward definition instead of kinetic inward validation. They seek certainty instead of process.

The sad part is this: the whole person who takes part in a subculture can find it enormously empowering. But the subculture can swallow up “thin” egos and churn them around until there is nothing left to churn. We can make a good analogy to the previous chapter on love here. To make any progress in life, to live the kinetic process of life with any joy, sooner or later, even for a brief period of decision and personal change, you have to be alone with yourself…and like it. The only way to find security in life is not to look for it.