Different social problems occur in conjunction with the different eras and timelines. This might be due to the fact that in different eras, the society comes out with different ideals and beliefs.
‘Approach to Social Problems’ is basically focused on America itself; how it changed over the years in the twentieth-century. Skolnick states that with change, social problems will also in conjunction change as well. He divides his chapter into timelines, namely the 1950s, 1960s, and from 1970 onwards. But however he states the differences of what seemed to be the social problems then, the fundamentals of the ‘problems’ are always the same: poverty, crime, violence and such. Our expectation of a modern society is that they are able to handle these problems and eradicate them. But as sociologist, we know that it is almost impossible to do so. Although we can improve our welfare system to improve the people’s way of life, we must first ask ourselves: What is the desired way of life? The answer looks standard. Equality amongst ethnicities (justice and peace), a society without poverty (wealth), where everyone is happy and contented with life as it is.
So why is it so difficult to achieve this ‘desired’ society? Perhaps the problem lies within us individuals. As humans, we are naturally individualistic, always wanting the best for ourselves (and our loved ones). It can also be termed as ‘selfish’. This doesn’t mean that I am generalizing everyone as a selfish being. But given history, like World War One and Two, shows that there are individuals who strive for power. There are certain individuals who seem to think that only their beliefs are the ‘right’ beliefs and that everyone should follow them. Isn’t this a sort of selfishness? But as time went on, we seemed to realize that it just isn’t fair to suppress others against their beliefs. For the Americans, the topic of the inequality of the Blacks was brought up. And for years, the blacks are still being discriminated as the ‘lower class’. Indeed, their status has risen with the influence of pop culture. But it is hard to erase away the thought that they were once the ‘discriminated’ race. The whites would rather see themselves as the superior race. Who wouldn’t? Everyone wants to be the better one. This is especially true in a competitive society, where the best gets it all the benefits. If it is automated superiority, isn’t it all the better?
Perhaps this is what is hindering us from creating our ‘perfect’ society. It is improving, no doubt, with the numerous welfare systems that has been put up by the government. But without the support of the people, it would not work out. What I feel is that majority of the people know that they should allow equal rights because fairness is one of the unspoken values of morality. But there are a few who don’t want to share resources; they want to have more power and control over something. Some might tolerate, but those who cannot tolerate it will show it through violence and protest. These are then will be classified as ‘problems’. As what we discussed in lecture, this is the irony in a modernized and globalized society. While we are supposed to be striving for peace and equality, some people might not want to change because of these ‘selfishness’. As an individual, we are not only part of society, we also represent our society. Every race and ethnicity has their own beliefs and culture, in which others might find it disturbing or disagreeable. In the past, when people were less travelled, people of a country thought that they were the center of the world, and that other societies were ‘barbarians’. Even though now we know and learn about other societies, it doesn’t mean we totally accept them. Yes, in Singapore’s context, we make sure that there is religious harmony, but then our freedom of speech is taken away. Even with education and laws implemented, we still have people who threaten our religious harmony by blogging racist posts. This shows that even with globalization, with brings education and more awareness about the need to respect harmony for the better of our economy, we still have these individuals who show the irony of the situation. Our goal now might be to try to understand the root of the problems. Hopefully, we might be able to come up with ways to counter this problem. Solving it totally might be impossible because of human traits, but lessening it will also help our society to lead a better and more fulfilling life.
