Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the 5 types of society.
If given a choice, which society
would you like to be a part of? Why?
It is a known fact that human society did not just arrive where it is now overnight. Society was developed for thousands of years, some would even say that society is still developing and changing. Society keeps on changing because humans strive to become better. If we study the types of societies, we will notice that when societies change, they become better in terms of self- sustainability; from nomadic to sedentary, from agricultural to industrial. Although the societies do become better, this does not mean that they do not evolve without certain disadvantages. The hunting and gathering society is the earliest human society. They are distinguished by the fact that they, as their name implies, hunt and gather for their food. This society has five basic characteristics. The first is that they highly value the concept of family. It is the societys primary institution because it is through the family that they decide how to ration food and how the children are raised and socialized. It is also through the family that they protect one another. One other characteristic of this society is that each group has more or less 50 members. This fact makes it easier for them to leave one place for another when the food supply is exhausted. This is another characteristic of this society, the fact that they are nomadic. Interdependence of members is also an attribute of this society. The last is that the tasks and responsibilities of each member is dictated by their sex. Men are the ones who hunt and women are the ones who gather. Now that the characteristics of the hunting and gathering society have been identified, its advantages and disadvantages can be distinguished. One advantage of living in this society is that its members become close and tight-knit because family is highly important to them. Because of how they value family and their interdependence, there is little room for disputes. Also, because there seems to be no definite leader, and because they are so little in number, it is easier to solve problems. A disadvantage of this society is also rooted in the fact that they are interdependent. When a big part of the group can no longer perform their duties and responsibilities, the others cannot immediately take over because they have to learn how to do it before they can do it. The fact that they move around every time there is no more food supply is also a disadvantage. This is because when the food supply is exhausted in one place, it means they can no longer go back there. They are consuming game and edible plants without replenishing the supply. Two societies developed almost at the same time from the hunting and gathering society. One society is the horticultural society. In this society, the members grow crops using simple hand tools to cultivate different fruits and vegetables. Because they can grow their own food, they can stay in one place until they deplete the resources, such as water and soil, in that particular place. The other society that developed is the pastoral society. This society is similar to horticultural. The members of this society domesticate animals for food. They also stay in one place until the resources are exhausted. Because these two societies are similar, they have the same advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that they create a surplus of food. Because they provide food for themselves, they were able to store food, and because they were able to store food, they were able to support larger populations. Also, because of the way they live, job specialization emerged. Certain people have specific jobs that they do for the betterment of the society. However, this also led to a disadvantage. Because there was a surplus of food, it created a difference in wealth and power. After these two societies, the agricultural society developed. This society is basically a convergence of the pastoral and the horticultural societies. In the agricultural society, crops were cultivated and grown using animals to pull plows. Because of this, there were able to produce more food, which enabled them to stay in one place. A system of rulers was also established. One advantage of the agricultural society is that more jobs were created because fewer people were needed for farming. Because of this, other skills besides farming were developed. Another advantage is that the population increased because of the larger food supply. However, it also had some huge disadvantages. Social stratification became more pronounced. In hunting and gathering societies, women were equal to men because they both took part in providing food for the group. In this society, the role of women became smaller because farming, which is hard physical labor, was done by men. Also, because the population increased and the village expanded, they came in contact with other groups, which paved the way for conflict. The last society that developed after the agricultural society is the industrial society. This is the most technologically advanced among the five societies. This society is characterized by the use of machines to create goods. The society also became more urbanized because fewer people were needed for farming. Plenty of advantages were brought about by the evolution in society. One is that transportation was developed because it was used to transfer goods and products from one place to another. Another is that a lot of people were given jobs because they were needed in factories. The increased productivity of this society also enabled the availability of products and goods to most of the members of the community. This also improved the health of the people in this society. Despite these advantages, there was also a major disadvantage brought about by the changes in this society. Inequality between social classes became bigger because people who owned factories were much wealthier than the people who worked in them. If given a choice, I would probably choose to live in an agricultural society. One reason is that I would be able to stay in one place permanently. Also, the group would be big enough that I would be able to interact with different people but small enough that people do not have to fight over the food supply. Also, in this society, the inequality between classes is not yet so pronounced. Although I dont like that gender inequality developed in this society, I prefer it over the horticultural and pastoral societies because it is more technologically advanced.
Explain this statement: no man is an island.
The phrase no man is an island refers to the fact that man is social by nature. An island can remain the same for thousands of years without any disturbance. However, this is not true for people. This statement means that man is not self-sufficient and cannot survive by himself. Although man himself needs to work and do his part in society, he cannot live without all the other parts that make up the society. This notion is true everywhere. An average student can be used as an example. For students to get good grades, they need to study. Other people cannot study for them; they need to do they studying themselves. However, this does not mean that studying is the only way they can survive school. They cannot survive without the teachers, who explain lessons to them. They also cannot survive without classmates and friends, because it is with these people that they make connections that they will carry with them throughout their lives.