CULTURE FACTOR IN THE PROGRESS OF COUNTRIES
Culture is divided into two: material and spiritual. Spiritual culture is simply called culture, and material culture is also called civilization. Material culture is technical tools and equipment, machinery, means of production and material structures. Material culture is the excluded form of spiritual culture. Spiritual culture, on the other hand, is the customs and traditions, collective behaviors, value judgments, moralization, social norms and change of mentality that enable one nation to be distinguished from another. A television transmitter is an element of material culture, but the programs broadcast from that transmitter may reflect spiritual culture (national culture). A printing and typesetting machine is again an element of material culture; However, the work printed by that printing and typesetting machine is the product of spiritual culture. It is normal for nations that protect and develop their spiritual culture and maintain their vitality to also develop material culture. If the culture of the nations that are the recipients of civilization and material culture is strong and creative enough, it can process foreign material culture elements as raw materials. Since material culture is international, it is at the disposal of all humanity. However, since spiritual culture is national, we cannot import it from abroad. In a society where the nationality and independence of the national culture is lost, it is not meaningful that the elements of civilization are sufficient and modern. The importance of culture is its unity with the concepts of nation, nationality and national independence.Reconciliation between culture and civilization is possible if spiritual culture has the ability to shape material culture as it wishes. Culture (Spiritual) is literally the soul of civilization. However, I would like to emphasize that there are some differences between culture and civilization.
Civilization is not represented by a single nation. For example, there are differences in spiritual culture between the nations representing the Western Civilization. Although these nations represent the same civilization, the existence of national cultural differences between them reveals that the civilization corresponding to material culture and the culture corresponding to spiritual culture are not identical. Of course, there are those who defend the opposite of my thesis, and they argue that civilization and spiritual culture cannot be considered separately from each other, and that if the material culture elements required by civilization are imported, culture must also be imported.In my opinion, it is not necessary to give up national culture in order to modernize and enter Western civilization. While both Japan and Israel adopted Western civilization, they did not achieve their development by importing Western culture. In my opinion, modernization for our Turkey means adopting the scientific life, rational thinking and modern technique and technology in Western civilization. Science and scientific thought can be transferred from one country to another, but only if the necessary environment is provided for this. If the conditions and environment are not suitable, the transfer will only be an imitation and a bad copy. The material culture elements to be purchased must meet social needs and must not be in stark contrast to the values of the recipient culture.Creative and innovative intellectuals should be numerous and widespread among the recipients of the culture. Otherwise, the material culture received is not only not useful, but may also cause adverse reactions. In summary, if there is no change in mentality, the implementation of new technology will not be of much benefit. As a matter of fact, the efforts of some oil-rich countries with insufficient social and cultural levels to apply advanced technology make them face many bottlenecks. Economic power based on oil will not be very meaningful unless the cultural level is raised and manpower resources are developed, and the gap between material culture and spiritual culture will widen. and incompatibility may arise.
Today, the destruction of spiritual culture is included within the scope of cultural imperialism. The wear and tear of spiritual culture occurs through the processes of practice and indoctrination. The inculcation process is followed by the indoctrination process. First the indoctrination process is completed and then the indoctrination process begins. In the indoctrination phase, national values, leaders and historical figures are tried to be worn down and some pressure is exerted on the language through non-public and indirect ways. If the spiritual culture is rich in a human community, it becomes possible for material culture to develop, for example, to find and apply new techniques. Again, if the spiritual culture is rich, the society's quickness and harmony in acquiring science and technology will be achieved more easily. This creative feature of spiritual culture also directs the social changes that will emerge. It is possible to raise material culture to the desired level by enriching it over time as well as preserving spiritual culture. The continuation of the close relationship and mutual interaction between material and spiritual culture ensures that the general social balance of the society is not disrupted. Preserving this social balance helps bring about the social changes necessary for social life. Material culture is international because it is at the service of all humanity. Spiritual culture, on the other hand, is National in that it can be selected and distinguished in terms of its elements. For this, an integration and compromise between national culture and civilization is required. Cultures that provide this combination are making significant progress towards social development. For a society to be strong, both culture and civilization must be balanced. It is difficult for a nation with a culture that lacks civilization to rise in various fields. Likewise, the culture needs to be rich and creative. Because nations cannot import culture from outside. It is very natural for societies in the process of social change to benefit from material culture elements in order to progress and avoid entering into a change process that would hinder their development. However, while increasing production and efficiency by making use of new techniques and a change of mentality that will support social development, it is necessary to prevent any degeneration in national cultural elements.
One of the most important claims of globalization is that the communication opportunities provided by technology have removed the borders between societies and that all societies will inevitably resemble each other and there will be no differences between them. It is a fact that in the age of information and communication there will be a lot of cultural interaction. However, this interaction appears to be in favor of the popular, in the form of a one-sided cultural dominance. Presenting the consumer culture of the West as the final point reached by humanity means ignoring the existence of non-Western cultures or relegating them to museums. In this process, it tends to distort even the deep-rooted cultures in history by making them resemble its own consumption culture. Although popular culture has influenced the whole world through communication technology, it is observed that it has not settled into the social life of all societies, cannot completely erase national cultural codes and is temporary in use. At the same time, the most important local and nationalist reactions against globalization are developing on a cultural basis. The most important inaccessible worlds of the world societies, which are controlled through various globalization tools, are their cultural roots. No matter how much they are suppressed and digested, they can somehow sprout again when they get the opportunity.
We are a nation with perhaps the most culturally rich geography in the world, and the name of this geography is ANATOLIA. The only thing we need to do is to examine and analyze Anatolia and the heritage in Anatolia and to be able to integrate with the rest of the world with the power we receive from there.
Faik Tunay
24th Parliament of Turkey