In The Sociological Imagination, by C. Wright Mills, the interconnection of public issues with personal troubles is explored as Mills argues that the personal troubles of an individual are reflected in public issues, and that the formation of society and its public issues may be influenced by the actions of an individual. While personal issues and public issues are different and affect various groups of people, personal issues are often created by the standards, expectations, and values of a society, and as these issues grow to affect multiple people they transcend from being a personal problem to being a public issue. One’s biography serves as a reflection of public issues and the influence they have on the individual, mirroring the influence
…show more content…
Public issues are partially responsible for causing personal troubles as societal problems influence the lives of individuals. Such is shown when Mill’s uses the example of unemployment, suggesting one considers “...unemployment [as an example of the connection between personal troubles and public issues]. When, in a city of 100,000, only one [person] is unemployed, that is his [or her] personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the [person, his or her] skills, and [his or her] immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15 million [people] are unemployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals....”. The societal imagination offers both a “terrible lesson” and a “magnificent one” by connecting public issues and personal troubles because it partially removes some of the blame from the individuals suffering from said problems and places the responsibility for said issues on public issues. In doing so, Mills explains how this means that a terrible lesson is taught by showing how, although “we do not know the limits of [a person’s] capacities for supreme effort of willing degradation, for agony or glee, for pleasurable brutality or the sweetness of reason...the limits of ‘human nature’ are frighteningly broad” (5-6). The societal imagination in turn teaches a magnificent lesson as the explained connection between the formation of society and an individual's biography proves the limitless influence that one can have on society and one’s contribution to history, proving the power of one individual, even
Public issues are partially responsible for causing personal troubles as societal problems influence the lives of individuals. Such is shown when Mill’s uses the example of unemployment, suggesting one considers “...unemployment [as an example of the connection between personal troubles and public issues]. When, in a city of 100,000, only one [person] is unemployed, that is his [or her] personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the [person, his or her] skills, and [his or her] immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15 million [people] are unemployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals....”. The societal imagination offers both a “terrible lesson” and a “magnificent one” by connecting public issues and personal troubles because it partially removes some of the blame from the individuals suffering from said problems and places the responsibility for said issues on public issues. In doing so, Mills explains how this means that a terrible lesson is taught by showing how, although “we do not know the limits of [a person’s] capacities for supreme effort of willing degradation, for agony or glee, for pleasurable brutality or the sweetness of reason...the limits of ‘human nature’ are frighteningly broad” (5-6). The societal imagination in turn teaches a magnificent lesson as the explained connection between the formation of society and an individual's biography proves the limitless influence that one can have on society and one’s contribution to history, proving the power of one individual, even