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Tradition as either living or dead
One of the central characteristics of the 20th and 21st centuries has been the mass growth of western, especially American, cultural modes at the expense of non-western cultural traditions. The fact that all the most important modern methods of cultural transfusion (such as radio, T.V., film, and social media platforms) have their origin in the western world, has greatly facilitated this growth.
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In many countries that are not western, the experience of seeing their societies eroded has caused a reactionary backlash. Whether one agrees with this or not, the backlashes often have a point that there are many things to be proud of in their past traditions. Unfortunately, the reactionary movement often comes a few generations after the society has been heavily westernized. As such, the people there usually only have a limited or superficial understanding of whatever they are trying to preserve. As I have wrote this has happened in many places and times, but I believe it is not a good occurrence. When a tradition is reduced to a purely symbolic existence, it is already more or less dead. A living tradition by contrast has both symbolic aspects and aspects of it which are tied into daily life.
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A tradition must have a reason and environment for existence in order for it to be beneficial for the society it exists in. A good, living tradition can educate, unify, and grow the society it is part of. A dead tradition, on the other hand, is like a weight tied around societies foot. It will hinder, confuse, and eventually strangle the very people its meant to help.
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One example of this is in the political realm. Many nations around the world have attempted to resurrect or retain aspects of their ancient political systems alongside their more new ones. The reasoning behind this is that it helps to form continuity with the past for society, while also satisfying the old class of political elites. Really though, this practice only serves to create parallel authorities in the country. The sense of continuity is also false because while the traditional authorities have the trappings and symbols of the old state(s), they now serve a totally different, if still authoritative, function.
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Every society has traditions, and every society has a past. Yet it is important to know when a tradition should be let go. In our personal lives we all have habits that were helpful at one time or another. As we grow older however, a lot of these habits become useless, or even harmful. Traditions are like the same thing for a society as a whole. After a traditional activity is no longer helpful to the society, the people have to accept reality and let it go.