Societal change Essays - Social Status, Gender Studies,

Societal change A common point of debate is the direction of society: is it moving in a positive or negative direction. While an argument could be made in either direction, the evidence would favor a movement in a positive direction. Overall, society is improving as the current progression of society reflects a positive change and positive progress through an increase in the quality of life and health of society, increased equality, and improved communication and collaboration. A major factor of societal change is the improved quality of life and health that society enjoys. At our fingertips are search engines that can provide answers and instructions regarding nearly any task we may desire to do or better understand. One only must go as far as Youtube to find a self-help tutorial for nearly any task. Society is supported by a healthcare system that, while certainly flawed, has actively removed formerly lethal threats from society such as polio, plague, smallpox, and scarlet fever. Improvement to quality of life is further shown by the infrastructure that is in place to enable almost anyone to have ready access to water, waste disposal, and a food supply far beyond anything that has been seen in history. It can readily be pointed out that none of these factors are perfect. Not every single person has access to clean water or has been vaccinated against deadly diseases. However, the presence of the potential is a clear indication of the positive direction so ciety is moving. It is certainly not at a utopian state, but the direction is certainly a positive one. Another positive step society is taken can be found in the realm of equality. Only 150 years ago it would have been impossible to find a country where women shared the right to vote alongside men. It was only nearly 100 years ago that this right was first obtained in the United States. When compared with the past, society did a terrible job of taking steps for gender equality and it has only been in recent history that the gap has begun to close. This same progress can be seen in the legal eradication of slavery around the world. While illegal slavery is still in existence, progress is being made to allow people of every birth, color, creed, or race to participate in elections, own property, run for office, and be a respected member of society. Again, this is not perfect progress. Discrimination still exists based on any factor that can be dreamed up, but again, this is a manifestation from those that are behind the curve, rather than a reflection upon society as a whole. Society its elf is progressing forward to bring greater equality for all. Perhaps the most powerful example of societal positive progress can be found in the subtle realm of communication and collaboration. It was common for humans to collaborate in the past, villages would support each other, clubs would gather based on their common interest. Those events are still able to happen today, but they were limited by their location. Now, because of websites like Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, and the countless forums that exist, those with mutual interests can come together from around the world and find common ground, unlike in the past where you needed to enjoy what those around you enjoyed or you would face social isolation. This sense of community, acceptance, and encouragement is certainly a step forward for society. A similar spirit of collaboration can be seen with websites such as GoFundMe, where complete strangers can learn about and help a cause. Lastly, websites such as Stackexchange show most perfectly the spirit of collaboration and communication thr ough answering questions, providing hours of coding work for free, and offering helpful tips, all in the spirit of collaboration and communication. This spirit is becoming stronger in society and shows the encouraging progresses that has been achieved. It is possible to argue that it has allowed for collaboration of hate as well, which is true. Online bullying certainly exists. There are tragic examples of large sums of people ganging up to ridicule, mock, or humiliate others on a level that was not previously possible. But for each of these instances, there are another