Culture is the Lowest Behaviour We Accept

There is an old saying: culture is set by the lowest behaviour we accept.

This is true in business - and in society.

In a neighbouring town, there was an incident this weekend. A march was planned, where there was to be a lot of red and white flag-waving. A local venue owner disagreed with the motivations behind the march. The venue owner reached out to the organiser of the march, and they met.

They did not agree on everything. But they did agree to end the march at the venue, where participants could meet and talk to people with differing views. The intention - on both sides - was to attempt to build bridges - to understand ‘the other’.

News spread about the planned meeting. The night before the march, every window in the venue was smashed, and a barrage of abusive, threatening messages were sent to the venue owner.

The march went ahead as planned. Unfortunately, the meeting did not.

I’m sharing this story for two reasons.

Firstly, if you are in a part of the UK currently sheltered from this sort of thing, that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. It is - I’ve been to this venue, and worked with the owner.

And second, I believe we must call this behaviour out for what it is. Differences of opinion are to be expected, but intimidation and violence are unacceptable.

As a society, our actions define our culture.

What is the lowest behaviour we will accept?