Society--Nathan

We have grown too accustomed to blaming our faults and shortcomings on a common
scapegoat: society. When we blame society for something, however, we have a tendency to not
specify what people that society includes and what geographical area it is talking about.
One problem with assigning blame to society for something is th at we are society. We are so
quick to blame society for so many things and yet we are a part of it and we do not actively try to
correct them. It is easy to say that certain problems continue to exist and that nothing can be
done about them simply because society wills it so. Why is it then that we sit by passively and
watch the issues keep happening rather than step in to do something? For example, someone
could say that prejudice exists because society encourages it. They likely aren't making an effort
to stop it. If everyone just chooses to blame society for a problem rather than a specific cause, no
solution will be developed and the issue will be allowed to fester and only grow worse.
The word society, when used without specifying what people or what location is a part of it,
could include anyone and could refer to any location, though the usage of the word now tends to
refer to the United States as a whole. Blaming a society implies that everyone in that society is a
part of that problem. If the society in question includes everyone in the nation or a specific area
without excluding anyone, then every person there, even someone complaining about society, is
a part of it.
When the accusation is made that society is at fault for a problem, what geographical area
does the word society encompass? Is it a small community, a city, a county, or a whole state? Or
is it the entire country? Everyone is different. Each person has different beliefs, lifestyles,
customs, ideologies, tastes, preferences, to name a few things among a plethora of other
characteristics that makes each person unique. Differences exist between people of different
cities, so how can people of completely different parts of the country still be compared?
Someone from California will be very noticeably different than someone from the East Coast. In
such a large, diverse country like ours, how can one big blanket statement be applied to every
individual? With so many differences, it is quite difficult to assign blame to society on a large
scale when most of that society is likely not even remotely involved with the problem.
Who is included in society? Everyone will have varying levels of involvement in society, if
they are at all involved, and some may choose not to participate in some aspects of it. For
instance, someone that does not use social media will have a different contribution to society
than someone who posts regularly on social media. Some will try to have frequent interactions
with society while others will avoid them at all costs.
It is often unclear who is addressed when the word society is used. When it is used without
specifying what people or what area it includes, it is making a one size fits all assumption about
everybody there with no exception. Doing so could even encourage problems to continue and
prevent them from being solved.