Societal Shaping: Impact of System on Our Behaviour & Values - Essay Sample

Introduction

Our parent or guardians have a significant influence on our behavior and moral values when we are at an early age. With age, one goes to school and begins to get in contact with the world whereby you build your personality, and this is why we have diverse characters ("Man and Society"). The system shapes us through the rules and regulations set up and is responsible for determining what is moral or ethical; hence, there exist law abiders as well as lawbreakers. This societal shaping is the reason as to why individuals change society, whether it is for good or bad intentions.

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Society is made up of the sum of people in it, meaning that each decision or change orchestrated by individuals changes the culture a little bit. As the famous novelist, Kipling said, "The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack." ("How Does Society Influence People?"). When people get angry at the system, there comes up movements which arise for the sake of changing or editing the policy. Famous people like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks are well known for beginning movements in a bid to change the system. However, most of the orchestrators of demonstrations are not quite famous, but in most cases, the action becomes a big deal, and in some situations, it turns out to be a success.

On the other hand, the system changes people since it will manifest with rules that enable society to live in peace and harmony. Also, it ensures the regulations have been adhered to; there exist police forces that provide individuals that have not been shaped by the system are acted upon accordingly. People that rise to oppose the system trough movements and uprisings usually are considered enemies and mostly turn up dead or just missing showing the power of the system and the measures in which it is willing to go to insure individuals against the regime are adequately shaped.

Individuals shape the system by editing the irrelevant or outdated details involved and making them fit their best interests. Frequently, not any individual can develop it since there is a need for power or political stature ("Man and Society"). This is precisely why many private businesses worldwide opt to have a free market where there is a belief that laissez-faire would be the answer to solving most of the social and economic problems. In many public companies, the government takes charge of majority transactions, and as a result, they impose tariffs and regulations which have been seen to jeopardize businesses. The system can be seen to have been shaped by individuals in the private sector to fit their standards and hence get more out of it.

Political leaders have the responsibility to articulate all the risks facing their people fully. According to the Klein text, it the responsibility for these leaders to observe if the politics are favorable to their people, if not, they have the moral obligation to speak truthfully and devote more energy and resources on changing the politics since the people are the ones that make up the system ("Man and Society"). If the majority of the people do not like the system, they will be angry and therefore develop methods, some of which may be uncouth to change the regime and ensure they get what they want. This has happened to some countries whereby people took the law in their hands and protested against the leadership, eventually making it crumble down.

Systems shape individuals by determining one's values and instilling beliefs which make up a person ("How Does Society Influence People?"). The personality of each individual is characterized by societal matters like family, friends, and social circles in general. Also, the experiences that someone goes through distinguish them significantly and either influence them to abide by the laws or break them. Federal governments are the regimes that govern the society and are responsible for instilling rules and regulations hence the system. Issues like speed limits and not driving under the influence would not be possible if there were no federal law, and if that were the case, there would be so many casualties ("How Does Society Influence People?"). This enabled the rational population to ensure there is a system, and there are repercussions if people do not follow them.

The presence of penalties and the police force is what governs the obstinate individuals to have to adhere to the system and in turn, ensure their friends and social acquaintances do the same. After the adult population has followed these regulations, it is their sole responsibility to nurture their children to have a proper character for them to be law-abiding citizens and to have to deal with the repercussions. Aside from written rules, there exist unwritten rules known as social norms which also influence the population. One standard is like having to wear clothes while in public is like a rule though not written anywhere but sounds ethical among others.

Social norms are another way in which the system shapes an individual ("How Does Society Influence People?"). Most of them are taught at an early age by parents or guardians but not all of them. As an individual continues to explore life, school, and the general social circle, they learn more social norms and understand better what it means to be a noble person.

On the other hand, some people know these norms but have no bother in following them maybe since they are rebellious and always wish to be on the wrong side. These are the people found facing prison time due to not conforming to the written laws. Since they are so used to not following rules but at the same time they do not want to be penalized, they opt too against the social norms since they are not written and therefore have no repercussions.

Psychiatrists and mental institutions have been set up with a bid to help such individuals and in some cases, contain them. These institutions are all thanks to the system which is trying to shape these individuals and not punish them. These people may have committed offenses, but as a result of the psycho evaluation, they have been deemed to have various mental issues and so are not criminals by nature ("Man and Society"). These people are taken to the mental institutions and receive counseling and medicine that will shape them, and eventually, most of them become better individuals. For the chronic cases that are not treatable, the system ensures they are detained like prison cells whereby they aim to keep these people away from others so that they cannot cause harm to anyone.

The media is another platform that the system uses to shape individuals, and also the individuals use to develop the policy. In most countries, the media practices freedom and expresses anything they seem fit in their perspective ("Man and Society"). Those protesting can further influence people through media and therefore make their voice spread vastly. If their voice expands and the people like what they are saying, it means that they will have the power of the masses and eventually cause the regime to abide by their needs. On the other hand, some countries experience robust media control from the government and can, therefore, control what the people hear and see - hence shaping the individuals precisely the way the system wants.

Society is, in most cases, the reason for embracing change slowly and creating inertia ("How Does Society Influence People?"). This regulates individuals to shape the system too much or too fast since it would cause a shift in power or an imbalance of regimes. Since none of the skills want this, it is not possible for people to shape the world wildly but is quite regulated. A good illustration is a man from the year 1907 and another from 2019. There is no difference between these two people and the similarity between these people is that they were both shaped by the society in accordance with the way it was at their time. It is usual for a black person to be secluded from the whites according to the 1907 man since, in their time, which was how the system worked with no questions asked. In 2019, such an idea sounds alien and absurd to even think about; therefore illustrating that man has not really changed but has just been shaped by society respectively.

When an individual decides on what they aspire to be in the future, this is also a way of individuals shaping society. The decision made may be positively influential to the system and therefore make it to progress or can be negative hence shaping the policy negatively ("Man and Society"). The choice of an individual's aspiration is inspired by the people around them, mainly. Also, what they have learned through life and religion shapes a person, and their behavior consequently molds the system. In conclusion, we can say that individuals are the ones that are responsible for developing the policy since they are the creators of it, although the change will be gradual. Also, the system is responsible for shaping and individual through the existent rules and regulations that make a person conform with the society accordingly.

Works Cited

"How Does Society Influence People?" Reference, www.reference.com/world-view/society-influence-people-fc16a17f88b476d3.

"Man and Society." Marxists Internet Archive, www.marxists.org/reference/archive/spirkin/works/dialectical-materialism/ch05-s04.html.