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Sunday, April 20, 2014

List of Social Issues

Recently I read a blog that had a list that the blog writer felt are social issues that need solving immediately. These issues cover global and national issues that affect all of society, usually in a negative manner. Let’s face it; if they weren't negative, they probably wouldn't be an issue! The list is quite extensive but lacks a few issues such as anti Christian sentiment discrimination and violence, government corruption, other STD’s besides HIV/Aids, teen suicide, teen substance abuse, gang violence (aka domestic terrorism) the cost of education, and illegal immigration. The writer did mention global terrorism, economic issues, gender issues, and health issues. To read the article, see the link below (Updated for 2018 but essientially the same). Here’s his extensive list.

List of Social Issues in Today's Society

·       Alcoholism
·       Food and Drug Safety
·       Tax Reform
·       Church-State Separation
·       Global Warming
·       Birth Control
·       Abortion
·       Suicide
·       Drug Abuse
·       Capital Punishment
·       Media, Sex and Violence
·       Animal Rights
·       Homosexuality
·       Poverty
·       Women's Rights
·       Anti-Muslim Discrimination and Violence
·       World population
·       Same-sex marriage
·       Organ & body donation
·       Human Rights
·       Environmental Pollution
·       Children's Rights
·       Corporate Downsizing
·       Defense Spending and Preparedness
·       Euthanasia & assisted suicide
·       Eating Disorders
·       Unemployment
·       Homelessness
·       Racial profiling
·       Welfare
·       Recycling and Conservation
·       HIV/AIDS
·       Civil Rights
·       Genetic Engineering
·       Consumer Debt and Bankruptcy
·       Obesity
·       Terrorism
·       Judicial Reform
·       Censorship
·       Violence
·       Academic Freedom
·       Gun Control
·       Gender issues
·       Environmental issues
·       Single Parenting
·       Child Labor
·       Immigration
·       Tobacco
·       Nuclear Proliferation
·       Ageism
·       Stress
·       Cancer
·       Prostitution
·       Gay Marriages
·       Education
·       Health Care Reform
·       Embryonic Stem Cell Research
·       Affirmative Action

I don’t know if this person is a social worker or not, but it doesn’t matter, because the list is fairly accurate. A person does not need a degree in social work in order to have an intelligent assessment of the social issues facing our world. After all, the first social workers did not attend college including a man named Jesus and all his apostles. Jesus a social worker? Yes indeed! He fed the poor, clothed the naked, cured the diseased, provided counseling, encouraged spirituality, loved the prostitutes, loved society’s outcasts of that day, and confronted injustice when necessary. I believe he was more than just a social worker, nevertheless historically,  social work began as a work to care for the poor, (read the “Poor Relief Laws”, aka Elizabethan laws of 1601.)
             Over the coming months, I shall attempt to cover each of these social issues and give my input or viewpoint on the matter. I will approach the subject from a historical, present day, perspective and a future oriented perspective.  Some of these issues will necessarily incorporate moral issues, and there is no other way to approach them. For instance, gang violence is not just an issue of cognitive dysfunction or behavior modification. When people murder, steal, intimidate, or rape others then people are breaking the law and so it will be necessary to address the purpose of laws in a society.
            Indeed some are breaking the law because of deep internal conflicts from abusive childhoods, but we can’t try to fix a person’s internal conflict without teaching them how to be productive members of society. That will necessarily involve teaching them the value of being law-abiding citizens regardless of the economic benefits, or lack of benefits. In short, we teach people to view the laws as tools to respect human life and as a means of playing a role in the perpetuation of our culture, values, society, population and identity as a people. We also teach them how to change unjust laws through peaceful means rather than through violence.
            Frankly, in my humble opinion, most of the social issues today are moral issues, not civil rights issues. I hope to make a case for that assertion over the coming months. For instance, what is the difference between a personal value and a moral issue? A personal value is something that is personally important to us, while a moral value concerns itself with right and wrong. An absolute moral value may not be held as personal value, but every personal value becomes a moral value to that person. The question becomes, “Are a person’s moral values in tune with the majority of society’s moral values?” 
            For instance, racial discrimination is a moral value. Is it right to discriminate, or treat a human being differently, based on race? We are not just talking about discrimination against African Americans, but against European Caucasians, Asians, Mexicans, Middle Eastern, and others. In southern America, after the civil war, blacks were discriminated against solely because of their skin color.  On the other hand, was it just the south that discriminated against African Americans? After the civil war, the government created few laws to protect the freed slaves. Consequently, the southern states enforced the “Black Codes,” a set of laws designed to keep the freedmen under the rule of white aristocrats in the south. The Black Codes listed what blacks could and could not do; they could not assemble, bear arms, or testify against whites in court. They could not vote, were not allowed to become literate (i.e. little to no education) and their freedom of speech was severely limited.
            Is this a personal values issue or a moral issue? To southern whites it was a personal value issue, yet at the same time, it became their moral code; even becoming codified in southern law. These laws eventually led to the complete separation of whites from blacks in restaurants, hotels, and even water fountains. Before northerners become too smug after reading the previous statement consider this. When Martin Luther King Jr. visited Chicago, for a peaceful walk and demonstration, he was met with bricks, spittle, and insults. The animosity was so great in Chicago that Mr. King stated, “I have never been to a more hate filled city than Chicago, Illinois! That’s a startling statement from a man who had been thrown in jail in the south, and lived where blacks were routinely lynched, murdered, and mistreated.
            The reaction in Chicago was an expression of a personal value that had become a personal moral value. To the ones hurling insults, it was wrong for Dr. King to be in Chicago marching for the African
American communities’ constitutional rights to vote, have equal access to work, and so forth. To Dr. King the separation of blacks and whites was not just a personal value but also a deeply held moral value of society at large. African Americans did not ask their ancestors to be kidnapped and enslaved. Nevertheless, they were here and had been freed via a great civil war that divided a nation. If they were now freed and considered Americans, then they had the moral right to the same constitutional freedoms as every other man. Racism is not a values issue, nor a civil rights issue. Racism is a moral issue because at the root of racism reside distrust and hatred.
            This raises another issue. Who determines what is right or wrong, and how do we establish moral laws that are fair to all and not easily changed? If moral laws are easily changed then there can be no security for society, because one day racism may be immoral while the next day moral. For a society to continue in peace and security laws must be established that benefit the whole nation not just a select few. 
When personal values become exalted above moral values then we soon begin experiencing a kind of democratic anarchy. Everyone demands their rights, while society’s moral laws are put on the back burner and everyone does what is right in their eyes.
 “To hell with the laws of nature, to hell with the laws of evolution, to hell with absolute laws, to hell with Gods laws. All that matters is that I get what I have a right to.” We are experiencing this democratic anarchy right now in America. Unless we return to a healthy respect for rule by law versus rule by mob, then the divisive, acrid mistrust will only deepen and our social ills will continue in their downward spiral. 
            Economic freedom is seen as a civil matter, yet is it a deeply moral value?
Is it right or wrong for a person to be forced to redistribute his wealth?  Does a person have the moral right to pursue economic freedom or be subject to the whims of the state? Does a poor person have the right to access to education, and temporary government assistance or is it moral to ignore them and leave them to fend for themselves? Is it morally right to assume that every poor/homeless person is lazy without visiting them and asking how they ended up homeless? I’ve talked to homeless families in which the father was working but simply could not earn enough to pay for rent. That’s life in America in the 21st century. All of our previous assertions have to be reevaluated and in most cases discarded in today’s society. Is it morally right for the government to enact laws that are impractical, economically useless, and actually hurt society rather than helping?  Is it morally right or wrong for those laws to continue because someone in government is too proud or afraid, to admit the law does not work?
            These types of moral questions must be addressed by today's social workers. We can no longer cling to our pet philosophies that have proven to fail. If we are to be true social workers, we must return to the foundation of social work and seek what is best, based on absolute moral values, not personal values that become unstable and changeable moral values, resulting in the present day democratic anarchy. 
            I will begin addressing some of these issues listed, in the coming months ahead, so stay tuned! For further reading: Social Issues in Today's Society.

Dan Dickerson




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