Dear Editor,

I am thankful for the good doctor’s letter (Eva N Hodgson, February 5) on the two-tiered society.

There is a line of thought in sociology that states that whereas cultural structures, attitudes and behaviours are relatively stable over time and appear to be impermeable and unchangeable; society is more dynamic and open to change than many realise.

It is postulated that people more often than not are unwitting partners in the worlds they inherit and maintain. Societies are far more permeable than most people realise and much of the status quo, the society we inherit, is largely maintained by unchallenged agreement.

Social worlds are constructed and inhabited by all of us. This is the theory of Symbolic Interaction, which stands over and contrasted to the Theory of Structural Functionalism, the most used social lens for viewing and explaining society.

Without going into a long intellectual discourse on this approach to the social construction of social life, let just hit a few highlights which may further contribute to Dr Hodgson’s position.

Social structures over time are maintained and sustained by agreement. Therefore, at the core of social order is our collective belief and compliance with the worlds we inhabit.

We believe the structures are more real than they actually are and, therefore, the impacts of those structures are “real” in their consequences on our behaviour.

Ironically, the history of civilisation has largely been predicated on individuals challenging the status quo and seeking better alternatives to how we live our lives or how we look at the world. Let me give a few examples for your consideration:

What would happen if we gave individuals a stake in the governments that rule them? This is the question at the heart of social democracy ushered in by the Greeks.

What if the earth is not at the centre of the universe and theology is not the queen of sciences? Gave rise to the age of reason and rationalism.

What if 100 million people choose not to be governed by 100 thousand people? Gave birth to the nation of India and the birth of non-violence movement.

There are many “what ifs” I can marshal in support of the position that social order is constructed and subsequently inhabited by individuals who live in those constructed worlds.

I have chosen a few examples that were facilitated by individuals and groups of people. We can change our world by how we see ourselves in the world.

If we see ourselves as victims in our world, than we are victims.

Let me encourage all of us to live our best lives here and now governed by the iron law of reciprocity which requires us to do to others what we would want done to us — now that’s a start along the path to change and renewal of ourselves and the worlds we inhabit.

Maybe the Man in the Mirror song contains more than just musical entertainment.

Neville E Darrell