Economic Struggles

922 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Components of sociological imagination

The twenties are supposed to be the best years of someone’s life; however, with the declining economy and lack of potential jobs, the generation of young adults has been forced to live substandard lifestyles. Depicted through The Wall Street Journal’s article, Young Men Suffer Worst As Economy Staggers, the life of Cody Preston and Justin Randal, 25 year-old males living in the recession, exploits the common economic and social troubles of their generation. The similarities of Cody and Justin’s situation portrays the troubles throughout the population shown in For Those Under 24, Job Shortage Adds Up to Crisis. The ability of thinking that allows for an individual to recognize a specific circumstance and apply it to a more general concept of the world is known as the sociological imagination. C. Wright Mills, a sociologist, recognizes the sociological imagination to be the understanding of personal troubles and public issues allowing for common relativity of world problems. The jobless market, lack of long-term relationships and economic struggles are not only personal problems; they effect the nation and stimulate the desire for change.

With the economic recession prevalent in the United States, the job market is malaise. Many young adults, including Cody Preston and Justin Randol, have become unemployed and been forced to take menial, inept, and low-paying jobs. The unemployment rate has skyrocketed in the past few years exceedingly affecting the young adult population. The personal issue of economic struggles seemingly correlates to the bigger problem. Personal troubles become societal problems and the economic recession is a huge topic of politics and societal matters. Alike the recession in the early 80’s, history has begun...

... middle of paper ...

...adult males in society will have the ability to support themselves and eventually create a family. The connection between the private lives of Cody and Justin reveal the adverse economical issues prevalent in society for all young adults portrayed in the article, For Those Under 24, Job Shortage Adds Up to Crisis.

Through the globalization of the world problematic issues such as unemployment are often exploited in the media, making personal issues public knowledge. C. Wright Mills depicts the intertwining of personal bibliographies and public history throughout The Promise. The use of this concept, the sociological imagination, creates a direct link between the struggles of Cody Preston and Justin Randol to those of young men in society through the inability to obtain jobs, recurring relationship failures and the inabilities to support themselves due to low wages.

Show More
Related

  • The Heartland And The Rural Youth Exodus Analysis

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    All the drastic changes that the world has been through, and Carr and Kefalas show that in their writing. These changes at some time made the current town, were they live, a thriving and prosperous place. People would move from their towns to these prospering communities to seek out the benefits that were offered. Many of those small towns are slowly fading into the background because of the modern world changes that big and upcoming cities that offering. These changes are creating new jobs and environments for the youth that are looking for change in the small towns that once were big and thriving, are now filled with the older generation that don’t want to make the change. They are looking to keep things consistent with the life they have been living; some changes in their eyes are not good, they are just creating problems. In Carr and Kefalas’s article they write about living in a small town called Ellis in Iowa. Carr and Kefalas talked to an employee working at a new factory in Ellis, “A machine operator living in Ellis complains about the strugglers facing old-fashion workers who find themselves trapped in a newfangled economy” (33). People living in small towns are unlikely to adapt to new changes, but are having to because of companies starting new factories in their community. This new technology is bound to change the life of older generation parents, whether they choose to stay in their small town lifestyle or move to

    Read More

  • Palladino: The Sociological Imagination In Action

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    Palladino creates a historical background of the thirties in order to show how history related to and effected the personal experiences early teenagers were having. When Palladino wanted to talk about the challenges and repercussions faced by teens of the 1930s, how they were beginning to go to high school and develop a social group of their own, she first had to explain the historical context teens of the thirties were living in which was the Great Depression. Describing the historical context without directly bringing in teenagedom shows Palladino uses sociological imagination by implying a relationship between the Great Depression and the personal experiences of early teenagers. Palladino explains, “But the realities of economic depression, severe and unrelenting by the mid 1930s, altered their plans. Between 1929 and 1933, professional incomes dropped 40 percent, and the supply of white-collar workers dangerously exceeded demand...During the great depression there were 4 million young Americans sixteen to twenty-four who were looking for work, and about 40 percent of them--1 million boys and 750,000 girls--were high school age” (Palladino, 35-36). Later she elaborates to explain that much of teenage life was affected by this historical occurrence, showing that she understands history connects to the personal lives of the early teenage societal group. Palladino does this again when analyzing teens of the forties, “Although the nation had been gearing up for war ever since the fall of France in 1940…” (Palladino, 63), Palladino creates a fuller awareness of the historical context teenagers were living in, in order to examine the group by showing their relation to societal forces as a whole and the history being made around

    Read More

  • Facing Challenges Is Part Of Growing Up By Taylor Tepper's Article Analysis

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article, “Facing Challenges Is Part of Growing Up,” Taylor Tepper, a reporter at Money, discusses the reasons for why delaying adulthood is not smart. In response, Jessica Grose, a journalist and novelist, explains her reasons for why it is smart to delay adulthood in her article, “For Many Millennials, Children Are Out of Reach”. Both Grose and Tepper wrote their articles for the opinions page in the New York Times. The use of ethos, pathos, and logos in Tepper’s article appeals more to the audience than Grose’s article, which focuses mainly on ethos and logos, because he is more likely to be trusted due to his use of personal experiences relevant to the topic of adulthood.

    Read More

  • 'A Rhetorical Analysis Of Nathan Robin Of The Onion'

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his 2011 article, 2 cheers for the maligned slacker dude, Nathan Robin of the Onion attempts to reveal the unseen potential that perhaps lies within America's bachelors. Robin addresses the seeming lack of masculinity that has arisen in previous decades, and the effects that this is having on the 20 something males of today. In the article, the author makes the point that men in their early twenties have always been creators and accomplishers, and that despite appearances, this is still true today. Robin adds that these males are occasionally blind to their own potential, and while many appear to be under achievers, they show initiative, and promise. The author uses Mark Zuckerberg as an example of this almost dormant brilliance,

    Read More

  • Summary Of Our Kids: The American Dream In Crisis

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first chapter of Our Kids: The American Dream In Crisis, written by Robert D. Putnam, started off with numerous accounts of the lives, community and environment that students of the Port Clinton’s high school graduating class of 1959 experienced. As a consequence of the social and economic diversity from the class of 1959, each person underwent a contrasting biography. Nonetheless, most of the people from the class of 1959 still had similar elements in their lives that greatly affected their life outcomes and their journey to the end result of their lives.

    Read More

  • Adolescents, Smartphones and Workplace Commitment

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the changes that Tyler analyzes is their development of the brain. For example, she states that “the parts of the brain -specifically the prefrontal lobes are involved in planning and decision-making – continue to develop well into the late teens and early twenty’s” (Tyler). Then she backed up her argument with the source from Jordan Grafman, “the prefrontal is important for decision-making, planning, reasoning, and the storage of knowledge” (Tyler). With this strategy, Tyler allows the readers to draw attention to her reasoning about the changes of adolescent’s lifestyle by making a short decision and strategies to take care of themselves. She emphasizes the risk of becoming dependent if the adolescents continue to call their parents for advices and guidance. Not only does she display credibility sources, but she also employs logo to raise an awareness about the adolescent’s development. For instances, she reports that “roughly three-quarters of executives and HR managers at 400 companies surveyed said that recent four-year college graduate displayed only “adequate” professionalism and work ethic, creativity and innovation, and critical thinking and problem-solving and decision-making” (Tyler). By arguing about the late development of becoming matured, Tyler gives logical appeal to the reader to forewarn them about the characteristics adolescents need for their job. Without gaining these strengths, they will encounter short decision in a difficult situation. While Tyler uses the strategies of logos to structure her ideas, she also uses parallelism structure to raise an issue of hovering

    Read More

  • Might Magazine Analysis

    203 Words  | 1 Pages

    In contemporary America, energetic twenty-somethings were on the border of transitioning from teenage years to adulthood. Might Magazine exposes many of young adults’ concerns and frustrations about financial, family, friends, and future struggles. They desire to be heard and noticed, instead of remaining to be a quiet nobody. The magazine embraces youth. “We are tired of such misuse of our creative powers, and have decided that we will not wait to raise money this way to fund Might...I simply wrote a check,” (Eggers 159). Egger describes how Might Magazine isn’t producing much money, he and his friends are just spending. Thus, this represents financial concerns and frustrations. Eggers was interviewed for a spot on MTV’s Real World show, “‘Might’

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of Millennials

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    Millennials are well on their way to redefining the “American Dream.” In a world where they have to constantly exercise critical thinking to financially survive the debts the average Millennial life incurs, suggesting that their reluctance to fall into the status quo will hurt them is a stagnant, inflexible view. It only hurts those entrenched in a narrow worldview limited to one accepted lifestyle and standard of living. To this life, Millennials are thoroughly disillusioned. They’re causing all these economic ‘problems’ because they aren’t buying into the hazy suburban complacency that the traditional dream represents. It’s not just that it costs too much to get there, it’s mostly that it’s hardly achievable. Contemporary high school is less of a system for education as it is an Olympic triathlon. Students must jump through every well-nigh arbitrary hoop, competing against each other for the most scholarship money based on the right opinion said in the right words. Who was in the most meaningless clubs at the same time? Who happened to attend a school with the most extra-curricular activities or AP courses? When school – that

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Millennials

    1140 Words  | 3 Pages

    Life for Millennials is not as easy as it has been said to be. According to Taylor Tepper, an editor of Money Magazine, when the Great Recession peaked in 2010, the large mass of Millennials graduating college were more vulnerable being that the unemployment rate among young adults peaked at 14% (Tepper). A Pew Research Center survey came to the conclusion that “Millennials are the first in the modern era to have higher levels of debt, poverty and unemployment, and lower levels of wealth and personal income than their two immediate predecessor generations had at the same time” (Tepper). In addition, David Bass, a Millennial himself and author of “The Millennial Generation Lacks a Strong Work Ethic,” states that the current employment rate for young adults is 55.3%, “the lowest rate since the end of World War Two” (Bass). These numbers do not tell it all, rather “a generation’s greatness is not determined by data; it’s determined by how they react to the challenges that befall them,” challenges that this generation does not fall short of

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Jeffrey Arnett's 'Medium Tough'

    1262 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s culture, the number of issues that the average person has to face on a daily basis, are astronomical. Millennials, in particular, have been greatly affected by this, so much so that a new phase in the human lifespan has been created just for them! Dubbed “emerging adulthood” by psychologist Jeffrey Arnett, plopped smack dab in the middle of adolescence, and adulthood, this phase captures any, and all doubts that 20-29 year olds are plagued with. From their economic standing, to racial, ethnic, and identity issues, and to disabilities ranging from both mental, and physical, this phase captures every single uncertainty, fear, and qualm that one person can possibly have in a neat little package.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...nt of maturity. In addition, both authors think that matured readers in general are harder to persuade compared to younger readers (those at the of 16 to 18). This is why both Franklin and Douglass intentionally set their "rebellion stage" at the age of 17. This is to encourage the "less stable" teenage readers to dare do something different and to not compromise with normality. This less-stableness would enable these teenage readers to be more receptive to radical ideas. With this thought in mind and armed with Americans vulnerability in believing the rags-to-riches myth, Franklin and Douglass are able generated effective and persuasive narrations.With such effective writing prose, the authors created well-fabricate compositions which modeled upon the "rags-to-riches" chronology.These are the myths, Americans live by them and the country survives with them. Thus, it is the American Dream.

    Read More

  • The Struggle To Achieve The American Dream

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    This generation of American teenagers and young adults have the greatest advantage in the history of humankind when to comes to advances in technology, science, and every other field of study. Yet, today’s youth of America is facing obstacles that past generations did not have to deal with. According to Josh Mitchell, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, student loan debt has surpassed one trillion dollars with two-thirds of college students graduating with over thirty-five thousand dollars of debt each. Competition for jobs has made it progressively harder to find a stable job and make a living. According to Hardin’s metaphor of the world being a lifeboat, it is increasingly difficult for people who are not on the lifeboat to find away

    Read More

  • Analysis Of John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

    1384 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ is a social commentary on the reality of life in the 1930s. During the Great Depression many people were left unemployed and homeless. Due to this, the concept of the American Dream became even more idealized. Steinbeck uses characters and events that take place in the novella to display his views not only towards the American Dream but also the social ills of the era.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Unemployment

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    In December 2007, the United States of America experienced a very scarce yet appealing setback. In fact, because of this specific dilemma between 200,000 and 500,000 were left unemployed and without a stable home. The national Bureau of the Economic research defined this nationwide downfall as “The great recession”. According to the U.S Bureau of labor statistics the unemployment rate has not made a drastic improvement since the start of the great recession. Unemployment has become that is still rising today with a slow rate of change. Unemployment is usually expressed as a number or as a percentage of a larger number. Although it has been ambiguous who has to be included in the percentage, there are members of society without a job, for whom it is certain that should not be added. Officially the unemployed are the people who are registered with the government as willing to work and able to work at a going wage rate but can’t find suitable employment despite an active search for work. In the article “why long-time employment can’t get back on track”, the author begins speaking on a ...

    Read More

  • Social Issues and Poverty

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social issues are problems in the society today that are described as wrong, widespread and changeable. A category of conditions that people believe need to be changed. Poverty is a serious social issue in the society today. According to Peilin (2012), poverty brings hardships to families and individuals as well as political thereby negatively affecting the social stability and social development and posing a severe threat to human security (p. 243). This paper focuses on poverty as a social issue in today’s society. First, it gives a succinct introduction of the social issue, and then describes how it fits into the field of sociology. It also evaluates the sociological theories and terminology that relate to the social issue. The section that follows evaluates what is known and unknown about the particular social issue. This is followed by a discussion regarding the value of sociological research into the issue determining the available or possible practical implications of the sociological inquiry. The information presented here is strongly supported by the concepts and theories derived from reliable sources.

    Read More

More about Economic Struggles

Open Document