In Response to Jennifer Johnston (2/5/10)

Q:"Are we really able to live how we want, or do we all just suck it up and go with the flow of society?"

This question is difficult to answer because different people have different ways of how they want to live. Some people feel that as long as they have a chance to better their life every day, they are able to live how they want; these people feel like they can live how they want as long as they have freedom. Most Americans feel as though they can live how they want because America offers the freedom to go after your dreams. This leads to the interesting idea that America’s opportunity may just be an illusion. Dr.j said that we are a country which has statistically, the least amount of people that have changed their socioeconomic status during their lifetime; this means that if your born lower-middle class, you are probably going to die lower-middle class. Even if America’s opportunity may be an illusion, it seems that you could still live how you wanted. I feel that many Americans put too much emphasis on great materialistic achievement instead of just being happy.

The question raises an interesting point on whether we can live how we want all while being in the flow of society. It seems that the question assumes that we cannot live how we want and go with the flow of society; it is difficult to prove that this statement is true because almost everyone goes with the flow of society in someway, and many people still seem to feel that they are able to live how they want. Many people feel that there are too many opportunities within society to feel as though it is impossible to live how you want. Even with that said, there are still groups of people that will argue that we are never truly free while we live within society. They believe that society tells us how to live our lives and it is not fair. It seems that this idea may be true because most of us have similar plans on how we are going to live our lives. Most teenagers who graduate from high school will go to college because society tells them it is the right thing to do. I believe that many young adults are not ready for college once they start. These people should only enter college when they are passionate about it. Most young adults think that once they graduate from college they will get a great job that will pay the money they want. Most of these people will realize that this idea for the future is just an illusion. Illusions like this are one of the major problems with our society today.

Even though I feel that society has problems, I agree with the people that think we can still live how we want within in society. With that said, I believe that people need to stop falling for the illusions that society provides. I believe that students who go to college are able to pursue real futures, but they need to make the right choices. These students need to pursue a dream that they are passionate about, and not just try to set themselves up to make money after college. I feel that we can all live how we want because we have opportunities to achieve whatever we want. There are too many examples of people achieving major things to feel that we cannot live the way we want. Even though success in the material world will not bring happiness, I believe that if a person achieves success with something they feel passionate towards, then they will be happy.

How much control does society have over our lives, and what types of control does it have?