Discuss about The Article for Influences of Social Processes.
The influences of social processes on the early formative years remain with one all through life. The interviewed personality holds up this truth when he discusses his growing up years and early life in South Africa. He is the youngest child of Japanese parents where the mother was from London and settled in South Africa after she got married. The respondent spent a comfortable life seemingly living in the lap of comfort in a middle class white family. He was brought up virtually in the lap of luxury with servants waiting on his family needs. He became aware of the segregation between the blacks and the whites at an early age. Even the residential areas were distinctively designated. The whites had big sprawling properties while the blacks lived in makeshift shanty towns on the periphery of the white settlements (Wang, 2008). He was also quick to note the differences in dealing with the blacks.
The way in which the black people working for them were addressed by their first name without any terms of respect for the elderly left a deep impact upon the young man. He and his three brothers played outdoor games while they studied in white only schools. They did not have any social interaction with the black community or black children. This strict segregation was very disturbing. As a young man the respondent was most disturbed by the inhuman circumstances the blacks were living in. He was very concerned with the sub-human treatment being meted out to them. It left an indelible mark on his psyche (Correll, Judd, Park, and Wittenbrink, 2010).
The influence of the family was not very great on his psychological development but the elder brother contributed significantly in sowing the seeds of discontent within the mind of the young man. He began to reflect upon the differences between the blacks and the whites. He wanted to do something.
The challenge of discrimination and differentiating against the black population was daunting (Banton, 1983). What was most amazing was that a small minority of a mere 10-15 per cent of whites were ruling over the huge majority of the black population. This experience in the childhood and youth of the respondent has helped form an opinion that leads to the overall development of the psyche of the young man. As he grew up in the environment he picked up the positive aspect of the struggle against discrimination despite having lived with the benefits of this discrimination in the form of a luxury filled childhood and youth. He was more concerned about what was to become of the status accorded to the black.
While studying for Master’s in Cape Town and later during the research work for his doctoral degree the respondent was actively involved showing his solidarity with blacks. He participated in several meetings, marches, protests and demonstration (Zimbardo, 2007). He was active in writing and sending his opinion to news papers and scientific journals. His enthusiasm and camaraderie were unshaken despite his shifting from South Africa along with his family in 1999 to Australia.
While his parents remained in South Africa, he along with his wife and children immigrated to Australia. It was a time of unsettlement. Australia was seen as the land of opportunity. He had had a lucrative career as a teacher in the university in Johannesburg but he left it to seek a life in Australia along with his family. He probably wanted to bring up his children in an open atmosphere free from all forms of discrimination (Sellers, and Shelton, 2003).
He had been an activist full time during his life in South Africa. He had participated whole heartedly and given full support to the Soweto Rivolt. This was a major turning point in life. He was seeing Apartheid at its peak. He admires and almost hero worships Nelson Mandela who has done the greatest service to ending apartheid by virtually sacrificing his entire life to the movement against discrimination (Sanders, 2002). He spent several years in jail and was the main protagonist in the entire protest movement against discrimination. He equates Mandela to a saint saying that what he achieved was impossible for ordinary people.
There were several promotive factors favoring the movement of the family from South Africa to Sydney. The strongest motivation for this move was a better future for the children. Originally from Japan, the respondent was aware of the discriminatory nature of the society there (McCulloch, 2004). The racist sentiments were high while considering with whom to interact, where to live, who to do business with and so on. Some people were thought to occupy very derogatory positions while others felt they lived very exalted lives. There was no middle path. Thus, he was against this kind of upbringing for his children.
After having seen the racial discrimination in Africa, the respondent was very clear about what he did not want. His education and early life experience motivated him to take the ultimate decision. No doubt there was a lot of preparation, planning and thinking about the situation. Leaving a settled life with fixed income and some form of certainty was being opted out of to favor a life of uncertainty, unemployment for an unknown duration and severe economic deprivation (Hogg, and Vaughan, 2009).
Yet there was a desire to move out of a racist environment which was burning from the aftermath of several protests and dissensions. Even though he had affiliations with black organizations like the Black Sash and was teaching at the University he wanted to quit that life and move on. He was mindful of the need for progressing in his life. He wanted to escape the distressing situation of racial discrimination and the post apartheid regime chaos. He wanted to put all this behind himself and escape to a more conducive atmosphere (Nicoll, 2005).
After landing in Australia he opted to settle in Sydney and has remained there ever since. Living in Australia proved a boon as both husband and wife obtained teaching positions in Universities (Root, & Jong, 1991). He continued to carry on with his affiliation to the Black Sash and joined up with other interest groups that were concerned with several pressing issues like global warming and feminism (Parkin, 1979). He gave his full support through participation in marches and demonstrations and continues to write and speak on these subjects which are very close to his heart.
What Ails Australia
He was highly concerned about the changing situation in Australia where all forms of issues were taking on a serious facet. The sexism which was becoming rampant among the increasing numbers of successful women, the ongoing battle of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. There is little focus on the severally deteriorating environment.
Many of the things that he feels are wrong with Australia today stem from the lopsided governance values. He said that the government was favoring only the huge corporate houses and doing very little for the small scale microenterprises. He felt that the larger part of Australia was suffering from a number of problems like unemployment domestic violence, gender bias, poverty, squalor and all these are being further aggravated by the rapidly depleting environment. In many cases there have been instances of gross mismanagement because the government is pro-rich and doing nothing for the poorer section (Fredrickson, 1982).
He points out that even the social security dole given to unemployed citizens is too meager. It is a mere 250 Australian dollars per week which is just a pittance and barely adequate survival. It is not enough to meet the basic nutritional needs of the family. Among the other social and cultural issues highlighted by the respondent are the increasing instances of domestic violence (Harris, et al., 2006).
There is little being done on the global environmental front as well. He protests that housing is fast becoming a major problem as the poor are getting lesser and lesser space to live in while the rich are being favored by the government to take up large chunks of land.
The Haphazard, unchecked and unplanned rise of residential and official space occupation is placing a tremendous burden on the available natural and non-renewable resources of the country. He feels that the options of renewable energy resources should be actively explored (Ruth Frankenberg, 1997)
It is responsibility of all citizen to ensure that they contribute their optimum towards conserving energy and utilizing energy conservation devices and practices at all places of their home and work. He is a votary of renewable energy and is using solar forms of supply for his household needs.
He was quite negatively vocal against Donald Trump because of his narrow policies. He calls him a very ‘dangerous man’ probably because of his anti-equality, anti-union, anti-progress, anti-women and anti-abortion policies (Pager, and Shepherd, 2008). He feels that while Donald Trump has been dependant on his all white vote bank of workers and staff till this time this is only temporary and cannot last for long. However, with time, his support seems to have dwindled because of the middle class. White men who are totally dissatisfied currently are on the verge of protesting (Farrell, 1992).
Since he is anti-union, most of the employed whites who are members of these unions are voting against him. All these people are gradually withdrawing their earlier support and votes. This can put him out of favour if he is not careful. He should work towards the betterment for the society especially the unemployed youth. He should help the youth shed their unemployment and live a life of dignity away from all anxieties, fear, hunger and ill-health.
He has been very vocal about the fact that the biggest problem that assails Australia today is unemployment. The absence of adequate employment opportunities is being further aggravated because of the academic institutions coming up and the larger influence of students from overseas. He laments that the quality of academics is being compromised with despite the fact that the faculty are working very hard. They faculty is always on the grind in trying to fulfill schedules, make appraisals and check examination sheets. They have to devotes extra hours with students having various problems especially when English is not their mother tongue nor language of earlier education (Michelman, 1975). These students of various backgrounds seek better facilities of education and subsequent employment. As their results are not up to the mark the academic facility is further burdened with the task of imparting special coaching sessions and tutorials.
Thus, he was of the strong opinion the best education should be imparted to all children as a mandatory government policy. Then the overall quality of the education given to the Australian children and youth should be of a high quality. Thus, once well-educated and skilled people are available government shall make all out efforts to initiate employment opportunity to accommodate all these people. It is only through such efforts that the situation can improve otherwise it will keep on deteriorating.
Similarly tackling the other issue of domestic violence he says that there are severe cultural barriers to the attained of equality for women. Domestic violence was the bane of society. He highlighted the fact that the Australian situation was worse because of the deteriorating position of women. He does, however, say that socio-cultural barriers have made it quite impossible for understanding the many of the serious manifestations of the problem among various ethnic communities.
He compares the situation with Japan, however, saying that the sexist attitude is worse there because women are seen as commodities. They are seen as possessions with a highly specified role in society. They have to stay at home and tend to the household as well as the children while the husband goes out of the home to earn for the family. He takes out his frustrations at not being able to achieve his goals on the women. This mind set has been perpetuated in several of the ethnic communities settled in Australia. Therefore it is one of the major issues that are confronting the social welfare, legal and health care delivery facilitators in Australia. governmental measures and policies have been constantly adapted to help the situation but somehow the root of the problem remains well entrenched in the society even now.
He expresses his concern at the fact that even though Australia is a well educated and well established country it should be able to do away with the evils that afflict its interventions and the political will to rise above all forms of discrimination are the routes thought to be the best for ameliorating the situation. He recalls that the issues of discrimination, sexism and gender bias have been at the roots of women having to bear scathing attacks despite having the ability to rise above their circumstances and making a movement towards social progress (Sanders, 2002).
He comments on the rising stagnation creeping into the lives of several people who have become frustrated at the inability to sustain themselves and their aspirations. They live uneventful, unfulfilled, frustrated lives because they are unable to obtain adequate sustenance, any form of employment and thus end up losing self-esteem and self confidence. The respondent says that the government attitude is of disdain and disrespect because they feel that these people are lazy and do not want to work. They are an unwanted burden on society.
He counter argues saying that no self respecting person would give up the opportunity to obtain gainful employment. If such opportunities are available then why should the youth be dissatisfied, he queries. He gives the scenario of Those who pass on from their youth to middle age still looking for opportunities to earn a decent living. Their inability to meet their own and their families expectation as well as the generally experienced loss of face makes them frustrated mentally stressed and finally ill (Sellers, et al, 2006).
They experience all forms of disabilities and finally succumb to all forms of anti-social activities. Many a times they reach a point where even social welfare and other interventions cannot help them (Seekings, and Nattrass, 2008). He protests that all these ills can be easily taken care of if only the government were to focus on the provision of two basic necessities of adequate education opportunities as well as ample employment opportunities. Many of the ills assailing the Australian society today can be taken care of by strategy which is totally focused on such planned interventions.
Conclusion
He has aspirations for his children wherein he wants them to have a good education, reasonably successful lives where they are satisfactorily employed. He feels that the maximum achievement he wants for his children is to have happy, normal lives (Douglas, 1978). He wants them to have the ability to be socially interactive and have the tact of making and maintaining fruitful relationship. After having seen a life of discrimination and style he was grateful that he had made the correct decision. He was determined to influence an atmosphere of change in his chosen country.
He recounts his belief in the human ability to influence change in their circumstances environment and lives. He has participated in the movement against apartheid in South Africa. He continues to participate in the movements against various social evils that are afflicting Australian society currently.
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