Sociological Imagination

A human being stresses his independence and self-reliance in moral, political and social aspects through Individualism. This is done so by upholding and exercising individual goals and desires as opposed to the norms in the society, the state or any other institution. Individualists also set a campaign against limiting an individual's choice of actions especially if it does not violate the rights of other individuals.

The argument that individuals are not and must not be duty-bound to any socially-enforced morals and principles allow individualists to think that they are not selfish as long as they do not harm others. They don't believe that the society must affect their actions as individuals and vice versa. It is undeniably true however that individuality is not inherent and only develops as one grows in the society. An infant for example cannot survive without the nurturing care of others.

All the diversities in the individual's principles depend on his environment and education; a thought is developed over time that freedom from constraining social laws means freedom to do what he wanted. But it is a known fact that this isn't the case because freedom is only sustainable when an individual starts from the scratch without employing the help of others to survive.

Unemployment - A Sociological Imagination

Individual

• difficulty to meet financial obligations
• may cause malnutrition and illnesses
• major source of mental stress and loss of self-confidence
• lack of social contact
• spur psychological anxiety

Society

• weakens labor unions and its members' sense of solidarity
• may help avert runaway inflation
• may promote general labor productivity and profitability
• may increase crime rate and suicide rate

Connection

Individuals who go depressed due to unemployment will find ways to meet their financial obligations even if they have to commit crimes and compound the society's crime problems.

Unemployment, which is a problem most visible to developing countries, results to various negative social and economic upshots. The consequences are highly noticeable in the unemployed person but its connecting impact to the society is also undeniably evident.

If one is unemployed, it will be very difficult for him to meet his financial obligations such as his basic needs (food, shelter and clothing). This will invariably lead to the loss of one's health benefits and security which will allow him to suffer malnutrition and illnesses, as well as mental stress and depression which may further one's health problems and overall condition in life. Being an unemployed also means being a cast away; away from fellow employees, and away from social contacts. This will of course also have negative effects on one's mental, behavioral and physical being. These individual effects will have a series of aggravating effects to the society where the individual belongs to. His being unhealthy and mentally and emotionally unstable will worsen the present declining healthiness of the society. This will also contribute to a higher suicide rate committed by those who long to stop their sufferings on their own, as well as to a higher crime rate when one chooses to steal and/or kill just to provide for their material needs.

Another unacceptable effect of unemployment to the unemployed is that this condition might push unemployed workers to accept jobs that do not fit their skills; thus, making them underemployed. If one is underemployed, it means he won't be allowed to use his skills and/or talents in his job. Thus, he will become a factor of a depleting national production. A high level of unemployment will result to a fall in the overall source of labor, which will further result to a fall in national output. Being unemployed will also decrease the buying power of an individual. This will then cause local suppliers and producers will experience a great loss in sales because supply now exceeds demands. If this is the case, the national economic stability will be greatly affected.

The longer the unemployment occurs, the more complicated are its attached social and economic effects in the society. Long unemployment will lead to a loss of one's professional qualification, which means, a decline in the society's standard of living, as well as a loss in the social and economic gains (no ROI). Not only this, unemployment worsens the stratification in the society, dividing it in several destitute and a handful rich people. This will in turn create a new social structure and change social groups in the society. The many unfortunate people tend to become more isolated and demoralized due to their pitiful conditions.

Conclusion

It is but imperative that an individual must not get carried away with the independence brought about by individuality in the society because every individual is under a chain of effects, over which an individual's actions will greatly affect the balance in the society. Moreover, individuals must endeavor to create close-knit communities that will encourage development of individuals as well as the fulfillment of each individual's goals. Each one must be open to the fact that a conflict must not be tolerated between individuality and the society since they both need each other.

References

1. Individuality and society - http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/individuality.html

2. Towards a Sociology of Unemployment - http://socialsciences.scielo.org/pdf/s_rbcsoc/v1nse/scs_a06.pdf

3. Macroeconomics/Employment and Unemployment - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Macroeconomics:Employment_and_Unemployment

4. Long-Term Unemployment as Social Exclusion - http://www.unesco.org/most/p86doc3.htm