An individual is a person who is distinct from other people and has their responsibilities, desires, and goals. There exists a mutual relationship between the individual and society. A society cannot exist freely without the individual while the individual is constrained in their actions by their community as it is an essential factor in deterring antihuman behavior. This article aims to answer the individual's role in helping to solve some of the expected societal problems. Furthermore, the report will discuss the possibilities of solving our societal problems by choosing to be united or acting on them individually. The essay will conclude whether there is a balance between what the individual is responsible for and their role in society.
Most of society's problems result from human intervention; thus, the existence of a mutual relationship between the individual and the community creates the need for the individual to try and solve some of society's problems like unemployment, political violence, rising ecological disasters, and poverty. In trying to solve society's problems, an individual has the role of using different measures to ensure that each issue is solved accordingly. According to Ludwig (2007), all social problems are distinct from each other as they affect people differently; therefore, each case necessitates one to formulate a unique solution.
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An individual also has a role in understanding the cause of a societal problem. For example, in solving the rising levels of unemployment, the individual must first understand the types of unemployment, such as frictional unemployment, structural unemployment, demand deficient unemployment, and voluntary unemployment. By understanding the types of unemployment, the individual is in a better position to know how such a problem occurs, ways of solving the problem, and how to later prevent such a situation from recurring.
A person has a role in further realizing the effects a societal problem has on themselves and the general public. For example, poverty is known to lead to other societal issues such as increased drug abuse, crime, and even a rise in school drop outs. Due to the negative consequences that such a problem such as poverty has, it becomes a role for a person who intends to solve such a problem to be equipped to understand the effects that such a situation has. Understanding the problem's consequences will consequently motivate the individual while also provide a reason to formulate better solutions that can cap the problem.
We are in a better position to solve most of our societal problems if we embrace a sense of common purpose and public spirit that’s focused on ensuring the collective good furthermore, we should note that we should also focus on our private pursuits as some of the societal problems require a person's intervention if they are to be solved. In support of the above argument, Hossain and Ali, in their 2014 article , Relation between individual and society , explained that people are naturally social animals as they tend to act in collective groups. Furthermore, the two-state that cooperative action is more efficient and further productive than individual intervention.
When an individual acts while in a group, they are better positioned to deal with a particular problem such as the rise in ecological disaster. According to a study done by the UN-Habitat on the various ways of solving the increase in global pollution, all the countries whose citizens demonstrated a high degree of cooperation with each other recorded lower pollution levels than all the other countries whose citizens recorded a low degree of collaboration. Research conducted on the various uses of social media platforms such as Facebook revealed that in the occurrence of a social problem such as political violence, people flocked around these platforms to express their different concerns while also showing support to the people who were affected by such a situation.
On the contrary, some societal problems require individual interventions; thus, it becomes essential for people to also focus on their pursuits in the quest to solve our societal issues. According to Galina (2018), a person's societal position can have a crucial factor in resolving a problem in their society. She explains further that people like politicians have an essential role in solving issues like political conflicts as they can be the very cause of these problems. Another study that focused on entrepreneurship as a solution to the rise in unemployment revealed that those who concentrate on entrepreneurship activities when they failed to be employed were at the forefront of reducing the rising levels of unemployment (Park, 2017) . The study also observed these people to be responsible for creating more employment opportunities as such individual intervention is also a crucial factor in resolving some of our societal problems.
There is a relationship between what an individual is responsible for and their role in the public sphere. Society defines clear roles for an individual; as such, these roles come with responsibilities. Therefore, a person's role brings about a responsibility that they commit to in order to accomplish their functions. For instance, a person who enters a new apartment has the role of being a good neighbor; thus, the person becomes responsible for ensuring that their apartment and all the areas surrounding such an apartment remain clean. Furthermore, this person has the responsibility of maintaining peace with their neighbors.
References
Hossain, F., & Ali, M. (2014). The Relation between Individual and Society. Open Journal of Social Sciences , 130-137.
Martea, G. (2018). The Role Of the Individual and of the social environment in the value system. Rais conference proceedings- The 11th international RAIS Conference on Social Sciences.
Mises, L. v. (2007). The Individual in Society. Economic Freedom and Interventionism.
Park, C. (2017). A study on the effect of entrepreneurship on entrepreneurial intention: Focusing on ICT majors". Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 11 No. 2 , 159-170.
