Cultures and Conformity

Distinct and separate are the ways of all cultures, but they all have common properties in that all wish to prosper and thrive. This is all to the good, except when that prosperity is conditioned on the poverty of some other culture. And of course, this is exactly how cultures work because they are in competition with each other for survival. Given all this; should one adhere to any culture's values and standards? Obviously not, unless the culture's values and standards also agree with one's own. Mostly, they don't; especially if one has very high standards. Any culture's standards stem from the mean of its membership and not from the best. One is always in conflict with the culture one happens to be in---whatever that culture might happen to be: Conformity is suicide.