VOLUME III

Chapter III
The Mirror of Society (社会の鏡)
Shakai no Kagami

We create societies to remove uncertainty in our lives, however we end up in a society with strict structures and rules.

We are brought into the world with strict structures, social systems and traditions already in place. These dictate what we are rewarded for doing, what we are punished for doing and what our interests are protected. This causes us to get used to these structures and confuse what is right with what is necessary. However, if we as humans have created societies, why do they often seem like they are not in our control?

Hobbes used to belive that a strong authority was needed to avoid chaos, while Rousseau questioned if we have become too reliant on institutions meant to protect us while Marx noticed how economic systems help protect inequalities and Ibn Khaldun noticed how societies can become less united when power and luxury kick in. These ideas show that there is a debate on whether societies are primarily a protection from our natures, a barrier to our freedom or a reflection of our inequalities, Perhaps they are all of these things thus making it hard to change

We want to be free, however we give up some of our freedom for security. We wish to be equals, but protect systems that reward inequality based on merit. We do not want injustice, however often we are scared of the instability it could cause, People may protect systems that are unfair to them as they feel it is safer to stick with what they know, they value feeling part of something and the risk of losing what little they have can often outweigh the potential of gaining something better.

However it is also easy to blame society. Social systems will not stay in place without human involvement, While every generation will face some injustices they will also decide which injustices they are willing to accept, make excuses for and pass onto the next generation and Those with more power will simply have more ability to protect/change the situations they are in.

Removing an unjust system does not guarantee justice, Removing one hierarchy can leave a gap for another to arise, often claiming to fix the previous one, Reformists can become protective of their own authorities. Just because you want to change a system does not mean you have the wisdom to do so as well.

Perhaps the biggest paradox of society is that while we wish to live in a better world we do not always want to face the uncertainty that comes alongside it. We want to be free, but not if it puts our own security at risk, We want to be equal, but not if it takes away our advantage over the rest, We want to move forward, but not if it requires us to change more than we wished for.

Therefore the question is, are we willing to see ourselves reflected in parts of society?

Sometimes the unjust system we are in is not because we cannot change it, but because we would have to give up something we have subconsciously come to value