Tradition should serve the people

08 Aug 2026·7 min read

I am of the mind that tradition should serve people not the other way around, many traditions came into existence for reasons such as preservation of the group, explain the world or activities that keep people connected.

Traditions - the good

NowI would be lying if i said if i said tradition isn’t a positive thing, tradition is a great thing it allows the knowledge to be passed down through generations, this is vital not only because it ensures the continuation of cultures and that the values, knowledge and experiences of those who came before are clear to those who come after.

aside

yes that was indeed a clair obscur expedition 33 reference

Examples of positive traditions include but isn’t limited to:

life milestone

birth ceremonies & birthday celebrations
coming off age or rite of passage ceremonies
marriage ceremonies
funerals rites

communal & seasonal customs

music & dance
holidays and festivals
shared meals

The list goes on, it would be completely dishonest to even attempt to argue that traditions do not have a positive impact as all of the items I have listed, bring communities closer together and foster a sense of belonging all of which are vital to the human experience.

Traditions - the bad

Traditions can morph into obligations, people can end up in a “well that is just how we do it here” mentality and forget the reason the tradition itself started. What may have started with the intension of helping with end up confining people.

The biggest examples of this is and household labor, this exponentially affects women in that many cultures view it as a woman’s duty to make the house when things that this should be a team effort. Back in older times when the men were more likely to be the ones heading out to provide for their families and women stayed home, by choice or otherwise it would have made sense that the duty would fall to them for the most part. That said as time has passed and we are not in an era where more often than not both men and women have to work to provide for a singular family it makes no sense that it wouldn’t change.

Traditions often resist change even when the circumstances surrounding it does, this can be due to the group that benefits not wanting to give up the benefit they’re getting, that is not just unfair but also impractical as it doesn’t help the people, at least not all of them, but rather is kept alive due to being “what our ancestors did”.

Traditions - the ugly

At their worst, traditions become shields, “it’s tradition” or “thats what our forefathers did” is often used to justify practices that negatively affect people. Where the act of merely questioning it is viewed as some sort of betrayal or is taboo rather than actually examining the practice to see how it treats the individuals who perform it.

Tradition often enforces conformity and as humans we like to fit in, as a result those who choose not to maybe punished, sometimes in direct ways but often in a less direct fashion. A lot of customs are protected in the name of “heritage” and they end up doing more harm than good, if they do any good at all.

Traditions - are they worth keeping?

Now you might be wondering based on my title, I’m I trying to argue that we should we discard traditions if they don’t serve the people. To that I say yes. An emphatic yes, if I may. If a tradition does not help the people in any meaningful way I would argue it shouldn’t exist.

For example a “tradition” that my father claims we have is that children must serve their parents, because they are your parents and that they will get you chance when you become a parent. On the paper it is a great tradition but the moment you try to apply it into practice you notice that it doesn’t always work out very well. I do get it, parents are people who gave birth to you and take care of you and as such you should in return offer that same level of care back.

That said it isn’t what my father does, what he does is treat me like a glorified servant. Simple things like getting food, taking water and doing his dishes I have to do it. Why this irks me is that the birthing me doesn’t mean I all of a sudden have to be the one doing all of this for you all the time when he himself isa full grown adult who is more than capable of doing all of that for himself. Not to mention I am not a child that is financially dependent on him, haven’t been for coming up on 6 years. On the contrary I actually offer financial support, in addition to working 9-5 five days a week. By all accounts it makes no sense.

I am aware that he is just using tradition as a shield of sorts to make sure he has his way, and as it stands our situation isn’t one that allows me to just move out as much as I’d like to. I also recognize, as I am approaching the conclusion of this essay, that it is just an emotional reaction and my trying to justify my thoughts but I am sure that I am not entirely wrong.

Another he mentioned was that, children would eat after the adults. Now this isn’t something he has attempted, and good because I call bullshit on this one. Outside of dire situations where the adults need to retain strength to ensure the safety of the whole group, in which case even it is still tenuous, there is no reason the children who are in greater need of nutrition should eat after.

Dare I say, there is little to no value in a modern era that the children eat after the parents. Especially when adults can last much longer hungry than the children ever could, we should do away with traditions like that, they work at the expense of one group and passed down in the name of that is what tradition is.

So to tradition or not to tradition

Well, overall I am in favor of the continual existence of traditions they are a net positive. However I think we should prune or revise those that do not serve us well. Now my example may have been bad since I am referencing my own life., like i said it is a glorified diary, but I certainly am of the opinion that traditions should benefit all parties involved in it and should’t happen at the cost of of one or the other. They should also be situational and not taken advantage of as we humans are prone to.

Traditions are at the end of the day tools, as with most tools they are not inherently good or bad, its the people who use them that define that. That said if a tool is objectively useless there is little reason to keep it

exshuntingly, obsidian spire