Turmoil in our Nation

From mass shootings to terrorism, turmoil has split our nation. Whether one takes a conservative or liberal outlook on these political topics, I think we all can agree that something needs to change. As a young adult, I fear for the world my children will soon grow up in. With so much hate harvesting in our world, I worry. 

Whether you believe that guns are an issue in our nation or not, here are some statistics about firearms in the United States. In America, there are approximately 270 million firearms possessed by civilians. With that being said, there are nearly as many guns in our nation as people. Approximately 20% of gun owners own 65% of the guns. Some believe that gun registration and background checks will illuminate the misuse of firearms involved in mass killings. Like stated before, however, whether you take this stance or not, our nation needs to make a change to prevent further killings. As a nation, we should not have to cower to people misusing firearms or to potential terrorists. 

Since 9/11/2001 our nation is more afraid of terrorism than ever, says a recent poll by the New York Times. Terrorism is a major threat to the United States as the Islamic State continues to grow. People are more afraid of ISIS than they have ever been before. With their brutal attacks, Americans have a right to be scared. However, the threat should not prevent citizens from doing their every day routines. Our country is in a sad place. Fearing for our lives has become inevitable. Whether the threat comes from firearms in our nation or terrorism across the sea, America needs to do something to change the way things are going.  

Symbolic Interaction Theory

Symbolic theory is the idea that society is based on things that people attach meaning to such as symbols. Symbols help people around the world communicate with one another. Attaching meaning to something helps understand the way we view the world and how things operate. George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley were the two sociologists who coined the idea of symbolic interaction-ism and how it shows up in our daily lives. It is hard to imagine that without symbols there would be no such thing as having aunts, uncles, siblings, teachers, bosses, or employees. Symbols are what define our relationships and help us know who we owe our respect and obligations to. Without symbols we could still reproduce but there would be nothing there to tell us who our family is. Symbols go much further than just family though. Society and our lives depend on symbols every day. Face-to-face interactions would change tremendously without the use of symbols. Holidays, such as Christmas would not have the meaning and significance as it does today. If one is it think about it, symbols are the core to any social society and is what help us make sense of everything in our world. This theory makes the most sense to me because without I would not know my place in life. I would not know who my mother and father was and could not know if I was dating my brother. Every day I use symbols to communicate with friends, teachers, and employees. Life would have no meaning without symbols and people would not know their place in society. 


Works Cited

Henslin, James M. Sociology ;a Down-to-earth Approach: Core Concepts. 12th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2012. Print.

Economy (Social Institution)

The economy is the institution that provides production and distribution of goods and services, and every society needs.Sometimes they can provide these things for themselves, and sometimes they rely on others to provide them. When people rely on others for goods and services they must have something in return to make it worth it.The customs surrounding exchange and distribution of good and services shape societies in fundamental ways and are what shape us as a society. 

Religion (Social Institution)

 Religion is something that has a lot of meaning to people all over the world. It is so deep in fact that many times we believe religion to be an individual term. But actually religion is a social institution because it involves patterns of beliefs and behavior that help a society meet its needs. Religion is all over the world and many people use it in their day to day life. Religion not only brings family closer together but also can bring strangers close with the bond of Christ. 

Even though religion may differ from country to country at the end of the day we all have the same passion for what we believe in. Everybody has their own traditions and customs but that does not mean we all do not believe in the same thing. Ultimately at the end of the day everyone needs a high power to believe in. Something so special we can not even think of how wonderful it is. It is that belief that at the end of everyday brings people together. 

Works Cited

http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/sociology-comprehensive-edition/s20-01-religion-as-a-social-instituti.html

Media

The world has evolved tremendously over the years and the media and technology has evolved with it. Everything we do in life somehow involves the media and technology. For instance the first thing many people do when they wake up is check their phones. While they get on their phones usually they are checking on apps such as instagram, twitter and facebook. In other words people are checking the media from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed. People in today's world are obsessed over the media and always want to do the next "cool" or "big" thing. It is so easy for people NOT to live in the moment because they are constantly worried about another moment that is going on half way across the world on media. It would be a lie to say I am not guilty of it myself. But the sad truth of the matter is, I do it without even knowing I am doing it. People are so consumed with media that it has became "normal" to see someone constantly checking their phone. Even though I am guilty of this action too, I still believe our world would be a much better place without the addiction of media. 

Functionalism

Just like pieces to a puzzle everyone has a place in society and a duty to fulfill in order to put all the pieces or functions together.

Functionalism is all about working together and as a team. It is the theory that states if one part of the system is not working then it affects all other parts and that one problem creates a big problem.
Functionalism theory is the complete opposite of what conflict theory consists of. Unlike conflict theory, functionalism believes in society as a whole unit that works together rather than groups working apart. This theory has the idea that society is made up of interrelated parts that work together as whole. Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer said society is just like an animal that has organs that function as a system. Just like organs have to work together in order to function smoothly so does our society. Emile Durkheim also played a big role in the functionalism theory. He believed that society is many parts as opposed to just one, and each has a certain role and function to fill out. Durkheim said that each function needs to be fulfilled or society will be in an "abnormal" state and will not be able to function normally for day to day activities. Another sociologist named Robert Merton did not like the idea of society acting like a human organism. Although he did uphold the soul of functionalism and the idea that society is a whole unit composed of many parts working together to be one. Merton believed that functions were the beneficial consequences of people's actions and without functions society would be unbalanced and unruly. Functionalism to me is like people working in a restaurant. Without every person doing their job the restaurant would not be able to run smoothly. Every person has a duty and when someone does not obtain their duty everything will go hectic.

Works Cited
"The Functionalist Perspective." Boundless.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.