The way I look at it, unless you spend ya whole life in a cave out in the mountains somewhere, we've all grown up in and been affected by babylon shitstem. Consciousness is a process, it's not "yesterday you're unconscious, today you sight Selassie I and you're conscious", it's a constant journey. Speaking for myself I know there are aspects of my personality shaped by this shitstem, that I may not be able to purge completely for as long as I live, all I can do is keep trying, and keep trying to identify things within I-self I need to change. Smoking cancer-sticks is one example. Another is how I can be very quick to anger, it comes from getting pushed around a lot as a kid, more times I get angry for what i consider to be righteous reasons but I realize it's not the most effective way to be because when you're too angry you're not thinking clearly. (Like calling you a "fucking idiot" when I could have just said I disagree with you). That's speaking for me, how about yourself, isn't there anything about yourself that you absorbed from living in this sick society, and that you still haven't completely gotten rid of? Maybe not, but if I was a betting man I'd lay money that there is.
One more thing: when you say "Follow the teachings of the elders", which elders are you referring to, because there are many elders and considerable variance between their teachings.
Raspek, Peace and Love.