The sociologists by the name Wright Mills identified a number of ways through which some of the sociological aspects that occurred could directly influence or shape up the thinking of an individual. For instance, Miller believed that the sociological context in which people live in could easily shape their thinking and so does their biography. He emphasised the importance of sociological factors such as historical event, a cultural trend, a feature of the economy and political events among others in shaping up the biography of individuals.
In order to find out the relationship between social events and how they influence the thinking of individuals, sociologists look at the social location. Social location is the corner in life which is occupied by an individual. Sociologists look at how different things shape up the lives of individuals. For instance, sociologists usually try to find out the relationship between incomes, education, gender, age among other things shape up the thinking of an individual. For example an individual can consider how being educated shaped his/her ideas.
Miller believed that sociological perspective enables an individual to understand the connection between history and biography. This paper therefore will critically and coherently identify two major events that shaped up the thinking or the biography of the author. The two major events which shall be discussed in this paper include the 2008 global financial crisis and the Egyptian revolution.
Global financial crisis of 2008 and how it shaped my life
The term global financial crisis can be defined as a period of economic difficulty as a result of the breaking down of the financial sectors. The 2007/2008 financial crisis was one of the major events in my life. I had never experienced such events before neither had I imagined of such event happening during my life time. The financial crisis was experienced both by the markets and the consumers. The event created a difficult environment both for the consumers and the market. Actually, as a consumer, I had to reduce my purchasing power in order to meet my needs. The financial markets were in turmoil, the prices of goods increased rapidly over a short period of time.
Before the global financial crisis, I had not known the consequences of the global financial crisis. I was not aware that a problem in one financial sector in the economy could lead to global financial crisis. For instance, it is believed that the financial crisis commenced in U.S.A and then trickled down to other nations across the globe. Initially I had no idea about how a financial crisis in a given nation could lead to global financial crisis. However, the 2007/2008 financial crisis shaped up my thinking about this. For instance, it enabled me to understand that regions all over the world are interconnected. Therefore, a problem in one system could easily cause a crisis to the other systems because it causes disharmony among the systems.
The crisis also shaped my thinking on the line of purchasing power. For instance, initially I had no idea about rapid inflation which could quickly raise the prices of goods and services within a short period of time. The financial crisis led to doubling of the prices of goods and services. This made life extremely difficult especially to the low income earners. This is because despite the prices of goods and services doubling, their income remained the same. Therefore, it is prudent to note that the global financial crisis equipped me with the knowledge about the causes of the global financial crisis and the implications it had to the common citizens such as reducing their purchasing power. Initially, I had no idea about the consequences that could result following the global financial crisis. However, the event unfolded for me these consequences.
Egyptian Revolution
In January 25th 2011, it was not business as usual as mass protest filled the streets of Egypt against the then president Hosni Mubarak who had kept the country under dictatorial rule for about 30years. Despite the fact that social media played a major role in the revolution, it is prudent to note that there were other factors that contributed to the use of social media to promote revolution. There were pertinent issues that led to revolution. The citizens of Egypt protested against dictatorial rule that had been promoted by President Hosni Mubarak for a period of thirty years. Under Mubarak’s rule, the socio-political and economic climate did not only stifle but also was depressing. There was no transparency in parliamentary elections. January 25th 2011 marked the fall of the long serving president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak.
However, what shaped my thinking from this event was the way social media and in particular face-book played a critical role in ensuring that the Egyptian revolution was successful. The way people were using face book to mobilise and incite people and also to encourage them to continue with the fight was just amazing. I had never imagined that people could use social sites to that extent.
The event in Egypt shaped my thinking on the new role of the social media and in particular face book. Before, I knew face book as a social site where people could interact and exchange ideas. However, the Egyptian revolution updated my thinking on the new and another crucial role which face book could play and that was making a revolution to be successful. During the event, I realise that the citizens of the country had the power to turn down the government especially if they feel that they were being dictated. It was that day that I realise that the citizens are very powerful despite the fact that they are not allowed to poses guns.
Work cited
Mills, Wright. “The Sociological Imagination”. U.S.A: Oxford University Press, 2000.
