These types of cultural changes are often referred to as post-materialism, a theory developed by Ronald Inglehart in the 1970s.
He argued that Western societies were undergoing a transformation of individual values, whereby people were moving away from economic, materialistic values and becoming more concerned about autonomy and self-expression - with growing concerns about our environment, individual rights and other issues such as the welfare of animals. Which leads me to rodeos.
An acquaintance posted a video of a rodeo on Facebook and I posted that I thought rodeos were animal cruelty - not a belief I once held.
It did not take long before a member of the farming community started propelling personal insults my way.
That is not uncommon for a political commentator and columnist like myself. Whanganui woman Rachel Stewart, herself a columnist and former Whanganui Federated Farmers president, experienced much worse when confronting the farming community on environmental issues.
According to those who did not agree with me, I was speaking without any evidence. What proof did I have? What would I know? As far as they were concerned rodeos were a great family event.
Well, I have had some experience. I have actually ridden in a rodeo and, for many years, I took my children to rodeos without any consideration of the animals' treatment during shows.
But now I have given it some serious thought and, in my opinion, it is simply cruel.
To tie a kicker strap around an animal's flanks to make it kick and buck to an extent that places that animal at extreme risk of multiple injuries, such as breaking a leg or worse, dying, is narcissistic; to lasso a calf running for its life and snap its neck back at full speed is inhumane; to drive metal spurs into an animal is callous when done just for some entertainment. These animals are not exposed to this on a farm, nor in the wild. If you thought about it for just a moment, perhaps you would agree and might think twice about going to a rodeo because by attending you are supporting the maltreatment of animals.
If you would like to see the cruelty and pain inflicted on animals at a real live rodeo just follow this link if you dare: http://tinyurl.com/jyk57n2
In the final analysis, a rodeo is not much different from the barbaric pagan events held at the Colosseum thousands of years ago.
-Steve Baron is a Whanganui-based political commentator, author and founder of Better Democracy NZ, and holds degrees in economics and political science. He is standing for Whanganui District Council in October - feedback to: steve@stevebaron.co.nz