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This week we discussed the sociological imagination as the “ability to see the impact of massive cultural and historical processes on our private lives,” and that we are not merely the product of our own decisions, but that everything we are – beliefs, behavior, fashion-sense, etc., is influenced by society. Traditionally, society is defined as a people with a common identity, shared culture, under the same political authority, and in the same geographic location. However, with the internet and the explosion of social media (at least in the developed world) this definition of society can pretty much be thrown out the window. Well, of course, we can always talk about ‘pockets of society,’ but it’s undeniable that the world is “shrinking” as we become more interconnected.

The video above shows a spectrum of how social media and technology is changing society. Some people say that this generation is doomed because we are addicted to our “phones” (I put phones in quotations because many of them functioned more than just a hearing-speaking device), and that our social skills are going down the drain because we favor media communication over face-to-face interaction. This is evident in the scenes with the girl waiting for her phone to beep, the boy hiding in his jacket in the middle of the playground, the women at the bar, the alienated young lady in the elevator without a smartphone/tablet, the guy on his computer at a party, and the kids on their separate devices during what appears to be “family time.” We even see a woman committing the social faux pas of breaking up via e-mail, but I guess that’s acceptable now (considering the circumstances).

The video goes on to show how society is seemingly “losing its values” and ends with a final scene of a girl contemplating suicide. You almost lose hope, but then you see a glimmer of light (aside from those of the oncoming train) as the girl’s phone is bombarded with encouraging words.

Anyway, tying this back to “The Sociological Imagination,” it is amazing how Mills’ writing is still applicable today. Even though he wrote about the sociological imagination decades before the computer and internet, etc., it seems like he is referencing it just the same. He talks about the “Age of Fact” as we are now living in the age of information and how almost everything we want to know is at our fingertips. Yet, as much as we want to consume all this information about the world and people in our immediate circles, we are severely concerned with privacy. It’s interesting to think about how we are to reconcile our want to know everything about everyone else, but limit everyone else’s knowledge of us.

That last scene with the girl was especially moving because, although the audience doesn’t know exactly what is causing her to feel so alone and want to give up, it seems to be something universally understood. We have all heard the stories of how internet bullying was the cause (or a cause) of suicide for many youths, but in this video narrative, we see how the internet community came together and saved her life in the nick of time. With the world getting smaller and people realizing that they have more in common than differences, the sociological imagination for the masses is expanding.

Obviously, there will always be those who are informed yet closed-minded, but if we are to look at this expanding sociological imagination with optimism, we might achieve world peace in our lifetime  (insert A LOT of optimism here).

Kitty Genovese

In 1946, twenty eight years old Catherine Genovese was killed on a public street while thirty-eight households did not doing anything and watched a killer stalk and stab more than half an hour.  During this period the murder had three chances to kill. She screamed several times, and the windows were open, and lights went on in many apartments at each time. And some came to their windows to see what was happened. And one man screamed that leave her alone. But that was it. No one tried to help her and call to the police. After few minutes, the murder found her and stabbed again and again. The police received a first call after the assailant stabbed her for the third time which means she dead already.

I have learned about this incident when I took the psychology class. This sad story is an example of the bystander effect or a Genovese Symptom, which is where individuals ignore the victim of an emergency situation when they are present at the scene. This story related with the social Influence which is included in the chapter two “Seeing and Thinking sociologically”. In my opinion, an individual human being is undoubtedly the most important factor in our society but the thirty-eight households or bystanders in this case absolutely ignored a completely preventive murder, even though they knew they could have helped her. If they even called the police when they heard her scream for the first time, she might not have been dead.

Throughout the last decade, people have been putting in a lot more work, and having a lot less breaks, although, there are a limited amount of hours in the day. More specifically, many college students are forced to balance five college courses each semester, a job, after school activities, and a social life. With so much on one’s plate, it becomes difficult to do each task at hand well which in the end all leads to stress. This outcome is referred to as role conflict, which is a person’s feeling of frustration when one command interferes with the commands of another. With student loans and bills to pay for, college students are finding that it’s impossible to go through college without having a job. Also, students are made aware that it’s important to build up a resume through after school activities or experiences that help make one student stand apart from another. It has come to the point where there is too much pressure on people to complete every given task in the day. It has been repeatedly drilled into our heads that we always have to do more in order to succeed and to stand out from the rest. Without adding one more activity or task in our day, in most people’s minds, it then becomes a risk for the future of finding a job. Society has become concerned and surrounded around wealth, and we’ll do anything to succeed wealth, regardless of high stress levels.

Being a college student, I constantly feel that there is pressure to complete an impossible amount of things in a day. Although, my days are filled with going to University, having a job, and taking separate non credited courses at FIT, I still feel as if I’m not doing enough. Especially with the difficulty of finding a job due to the economy, I feel an increase in pressure and the feeling that I have to do even more in hopes to stand out.

Wal-Mart bad or good?

It is difficult for me to take one side in this debate. I think there are some good things about Wal-Mart and some bad things.
I understand that when a big Wal-Mart store opens up, it tends to force other ‘Mom and Pop’ shops out of business. This does bother me. This is a very difficult business climate so seeing any family owned business fail is heartbreaking. However, Wal-Mart saves a lot of people a lot of money in a time where disposable income is hard to come by. I agree that it is not a positive thing that all the products are only cheap because they are mostly made in China and may be lower quality. It is unfortunate that companies like Wal-Mart find it cheaper to outsource all of its manufacturing and use overseas suppliers instead of giving American manufacture’s incentive to supply Wal-Mart.  I know there are a lot of complaints about the labor practices Wal-Mart uses such as low wages and mostly part time shifts to avoid paying for benefits but then I hear of stories where a person with no formal education has an opportunity to become a manger and make a very good living. Wal-Mart has created hundreds of thousands of jobs which have to be appreciated.
In an ideal world, Americans here would be willing to produce quality goods for a competitive wage which could supply Wal-Mart and other retail stores but it is just not the case. I agree that there are unfair advantages when you are the size of a  mega corporation like Wal-Mart that have an impact on local communities sometimes negatively but it seems that the consumer has spoken otherwise Wal-Mart would not be thriving the way it as.

One of the biggest issues in our present society is the instability of the job market, especially for current college graduates.  The link above is a video illustrating the frustration of college graduates and how they can’t find a job right after college.  Presently, the unemployment rate for college graduates is approximately 53%, a staggering number compared to the 2000 college graduate unemployment rate, a merely 40%.  Before it was all about graduating college and getting that bachelor’s degree but it seems that’s just not enough.  One has to do more such as getting that prized internship during college or getting that “exclusive major” such as engineering and finance rather than history or communications.

The college graduate unemployment rate leads to consequent problems such as not being able to pay off college loans and not being able to participate in planned economic consumption.  The idea after college is to get a job, buying that nice condo with the brand new BMW, and just splurging the rest of that paycheck in vacations, high end clubs, and nice branded clothes but guess what, without that job you can’t do A, B, and C and therefore not only does it affect the individual but also the macro economy.  With no job you can’t pay off your loans and can’t progress financially therefore it doesn’t help you, your parents, or the economy.

The current administration have tried to remedy these problems but yet again I’ve been hearing about these “tries” since I was a sophomore in high school and nothing has changed, if anything it has gotten worse.  One can blame the government, one can blame the institution they graduated from, one can even blame God but the truth of the matter is that it really is nobody’s fault.  Times are just hard and at this point not one entity can do anything about it.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

watch?v=y8Gf4-eT3w0&list=UUEOhcOACopL42xyOBIv1ekg&index=4&feature=plcp

In chapter two of “Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life,” David Newman informs us on the magnitude those who surround us also have an impact on the lives we’ve lived, live and are going to live in the near future. In other words, everyone from family members, friends, fellow students and colleagues, all have a vital contribution to the configuration of our lives. Lil’ Wayne, who is widely known for his controversial music, reaffirms the idea behind social influence in his music video, “How to Love.”

The music video opens with a mother who becomes apprehensive about aborting her child and later gives birth to her daughter. However, while raising her daughter, the mother undergoes a variety of unfortunate events such as domestic abuse and visiting her incarcerated love one, all of which her daughter has to experience as a child. Furthermore, once the daughter gets sexually assaulted in the “safety” of her own home while her mother was asleep, the chain of ill-fated events begin to shape the life she lives as a teenager. Nonetheless, the daughter matures into a promiscuous teenager who shortly becomes a parent of what appears to be two children. She then “chooses” to become a nightclub dancer which eventually results into the use of drugs and alcohol in addition to prostitution. Above all, after years of witnessing and experiencing unfortunate situations, the daughter soon learns she has become affected with HIV.

On the other hand, when the daughter was raised in a stable home, assuming there weren’t any acts of violence, and witnesses a profound love between her mother and a man, her life takes an entire new course. The daughter becomes a studious teenager, prioritizes school over boys and “chooses” a career path in cosmetology. In short, everything we endure in life has a prolific way of determining the lives we live. Although it may not be as tragic as the example shown by Lil’ Wayne, but it will definitely play a significant role in the lives we “choose” to live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkS2uEqaL5s

Some people think,  that just getting a job is easy. For a qualified, young college graduate, it may be. But if you’re 55 or older, and unemployed, it’s really not that easy. The issue of unemployed isn’t isn’t a black and white. There are people who are unemployed for many months, and the longer they stay jobless, the harder it is for them to find work. There are many factors that come into play.

Isn’t it crazy, that some companies refuse to hire the unemployed? When they look for workers, they only ask for people who are already employed?

Lost on Long Island is a documentary explaining the troubles of four families, and linking them to the grand issue of unemployment. It’s a must-watch documentary about folks who live in Long Island, going through difficult times.

Many conservative politicians and radio talk show hosts believe that Americans on unemployment are lazy. They are completely wrong. There are Americans that spend twelve hours a day, looking work, while these very same talk show hosts work little hours, and get paid in the six digit figures.

People are bouncing paycheck to paycheck trying to survive out there in the wild, and to say that they are lazy, and that they aren’t looking for work, is just a lie. Either thepeople who believe these americans are lazy are themselves ignorant, or they are just spewing their propaganda to the masses for their own benefit.

Interestingly, There are laws set in place to combat worker discrimination, but in reality, it still exists. For some jobs, if you are fifty five, and highly qualified, they’d much rather have a younger, less experienced worker, than you. Companies would much rather hire confident, young worker, rather than highly qualified experienced professional.

The saddest part of it all, is that some of these Americans have been working all their lives, and paying into system. The very system, which is failing them now.

by david bassin

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/video/economy-divorce-13535581

One of the most serious problems facing the U.S. is rising divorce rate. According to U.S. divorce statistics, one out of every three marriages ends up in divorce and it will soon reach 50% if current trends continue. There are many issues in why divorce rate is high in the U.S. and mostly self-centered and free life style is one of the factors. However, there is an interesting fact that economic performance changes the divorce rate.

The video I linked basically tells us how expensive the divorce can cost and how economic conditions can affect the divorce rates. It says, the struggling economy make people to delay making important decisions including divorces. But now, as the economy improved, the divorce rate is increasing again. In other words, when economy is doing well, people make enough money to afford the divorce expenses, however, when economy isn’t doing good, they might have to wait until it gets better so they can pay for it.  

 This is interesting and sad fact of the modern society. Everything in our life can’t be there without considering money. Our lives are so strongly influenced by economy and money becomes the biggest matter even in the loves. “Everyday social life- our thoughts, actions, feelings, decisions, interactions, and so on- is the product of a complex interplay between societal forces and personal characteristics” (textbook, 5). As it says, we can’t talk about our life, thought, and action without considering social forces such as broad economic trends because individuals are highly affected by societal forces in making every decision.Money Matters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK5p8_llLhk

As a student, one of the most important things is time management. At many universities all around the country, students have to deal with many problems but the most important one is how to manage your social life and academics. This is a very big role conflict. The reason we go to college in the first place is to get an education, to increase your awareness, discover what you are passionate about, to network with different people, and lastly to challenge your self. Alcohol is known to create many obstacles negatively affecting your academics and overall grade point average. Alcohol changes the mental reasoning of a person. Going to class hangover because of excess drinking causes lack of participation and slowing of physical and psychological reactions.  After a long day of classes, it is hard enough to just sit and study but trying to do so while mentally impaired by alcohol or other drugs is twice as bad. Many students try their best at managing their time but later on regret their decisions when it is time for a test or an overdue assignment. This role conflict makes up a majority of many students lives whether it is due to alcohol, drugs, or excessive participation in unnecessary hobbies or sports. Making this a habit in college can lead to more problems in the future. College exemplifies a major role conflict, both during and after your college experience, the pressure on everyone to be a social being. But the cost and opportunity of academic and extra-curricular also creates conflict for students to chose one or the other, or balance the strains of both.