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Monday, July 5, 2010

3 Problems with society essay

Eng. 101-17-Jan. 26, 2004

This was yet another rudamentary 3-part essay format. This time the subject was 3 problems inherent in society. Simple, but not a bad piece.

A Concern for All Involved?

Since the beginning of what is considered the civilized man, society has been plagued by a plethora of difficulties. For eons, societies have struggled with war, pestilence, poverty, and an endless list of hardships. Humankinds’ ultimate goal, a utopia where all live equally and happily, has become a unicorn of sorts. Even under the umbrella of great infrastructure—of governments and policies, monarchies and decrees, existing in the present—poverty, corruption, war, crime and a great many other ghosts haunt mankind. These problems are all seemingly unrelated; although, if since the beginning of civilized thought, humankind has evolved, grew and advanced beyond all expectation, then why does a “more advanced” civilization still face the same primeval shortcomings as always? One underlying and glaringly obvious constant is man. After all, it is man that has always had such crosses to bear. Could it be not a shortcoming in the system, but rather a flaw in the creator of the system itself? Perhaps much of what plagues society today directly relates to humanities’ inherent penchant for corruption, lack of compassion and lack of responsibility.

Crime is not a problem in and of itself; crime is more a product of an idea which is a bit more nefarious and rudimentary. After all, in order to solve a problem, the root of

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the problem must be identified. Crime of all sorts, from murder to petty theft, is all a direct product of the ease with which the human mind is corrupted. A person corrupt is not necessarily devilish or evil. Instead, a person who has become corrupt seems to care more about the payoff of their actions and not the real consequences. An arsonist may get a wonderful rush from turning a trailer park into a bonfire; however, the same individual never sits and imagines the pain of losing ones home or even life for the thrill of another person. Unfortunately, the truth is that the wrong way is more often the easy way, even though the wrong way often involves hurting others. Government officials may be bribed with a higher spot on the totem pole in order to keep an incident or shortcoming quiet. It is never the victims which are held in mind when they are actually victimized.

Much of the corruption which appears in society could be construed as a lack of compassion. Ignoring those less fortunate or those in need has become a growing trend. Passing up the homeless without so much as a glance, or ignoring someone being attacked or robbed just in sight can show as much of a lack of compassion as does robbing man of his hard-earned money on the street. In many self-defense classes taught to women in the inner cities, pupils are instructed that, if attacked, it is more constructive to yell “fire” than it is to yell “help” simply because nobody around will react to a call for ‘help’, but many more will respond to the danger of a fire. It seems citizens feel as if helping a fellow human in need is just not worth the trouble. If people showed more compassion towards one another, perhaps crime would be much less abundant, and with more people working harmoniously, maybe civilization could advance more readily.

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So what is being done about the problems with society today? About the same as was being done one thousand years ago: not much. Of course crime is being fought, and the poor are being helped, but to what extent? It is not enough for a small fraction of the population to go feed gruel to the homeless. For the most part, only those who are paid law enforcers try to stop criminal acts, and many law officials are corrupt or ‘dirty’ themselves. The unspoken attitude seems to be: “it’s not my problem”. But in many ways, the burden lies on all those who expect to live in a civilized society. For the problems of mankind to be solved and not simply fought, an effort must be made on the part of every human being.

Perhaps the trouble is that societies problems are mostly only the concern of those who fall prey to such problems. Many citizens will live out their lives without want of anything, and never fall victim of a crime or become impoverished. Is this a good sign, or maybe an excuse for inaction? In the future, mankind may learn to think more of others instead; however, for now, it seems enough for many to either contribute to the problem, or simply stay out of it.

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