Sociological Imagination

The idea of sociological imagination was created by C. Wright Mills in 1959 to describe the special way sociologists look at the world. Basically, most personal problems in people's lives are rarely ever truly personal. Usually these “personal” problems are problems experienced by a large population of people in society. Many personal problems are really just social problems disguised by people's selfishness. The difference between a personal and societal problem in an individual are the troubles a person experiences and the issues an entire society experiences that could threaten its structure. An example of the distinction between troubles and issues in society is unemployment. When only one man is unemployed in a city of thousands or millions, it is this person's personal trouble that stems from a flaw in his or her character, set of skills, or the amount of opportunities he or she may receive. Comparatively, if thousands or millions of people are out of work in a city, this shows there is an issue with unemployment in that city. This issue affects the structure of society and should be fixed to bring society back to normal. A current example is the issue of debt and corporate greed in 21st century America. A large amount of the American population nowadays is in debt and losing their jobs and just generally living a lesser way of life than they were five or ten years ago. The American Dream is being perverted into a Marxist nightmare where the corporate bourgeoisie is taking advantage of the American proletarians more and more. In response to this issue, some activists have started a movement called Occupy Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street is a movement to acknowledge the current corporate decadence and how it is affecting th...

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...ating. Max Weber's rational vision still rings true today as well. The American Dream motivates American citizens to think rationally and work towards rational goals that will make them happy. Karl Marx's class conflict is apparent today as well. Most people in the United States are middle or lower class people trying to make a living for themselves. In the last few months, the Occupy Walll Street movement has been trying to open people's eyes to this struggle and maybe close the gap between the American bourgeoisie and proletarians a little bit. Occupy Wall Street's main motto “We are the 99 percent” reflects this Marxist attitude. Sociology seeps into many crevices of everyday life. Whether I do get into heaven or not, it was beneficial for me to think sociologically when I was alive. I truly appreciate the insight sociology has given me and I cherish it always.