The relationship between a society and an Individual are relatively close to one another. Essentially, a society is a group of individuals living in an organized community and does not solely exist without the presence of the individuals. The main goal of the society is to serve the people, and those people have the ability to live freely within their environment of the community as they please. For a society to survive effectively rely's on the actions of the people. A good society is accomplished by the people working together to clean up their environment, well suited jobs for everyone, and a well education system for those to flourish and grow, but as seen in many cases, a well sought-after society is harder to achieve in recent years.
To see this instance more in depth, the novel: "Amazing Grace" by Jonathan Kozol, showcases the hardships of those living in a ghetto-type, low-income society. When Kozol asked the children of the neighborhood what they thought of their lives in the Bronx, Maria replied: " Let's figure out a way to kill some more... if you weave enough bad things into the fibers of a person's life-sickness and filth, old mattresses and other junk thrown in the streets and other ugly ruined things, and ruined people, a prison here, sewage there, drug dealers here, the homeless people over there, then give us the very worst schools anyone could think of, hospitals that keep you waiting for ten hours, police that don't show when someone's dying..." (Amazing Grace 44). This is the type of conditions that people are living in Bronx, New York. Maria, the young girl, was only 16 years old when her answer was recorded. At the age of 16 I never even had to think about these types of problems because I was lucky enough to have been raised in a well situated neighborhood along with going to a school where my teachers cared about my education. At only 16 years old, Maria and the rest of the children have witnessed more crimes and unlawful events than anyone could imagine. Sadly, a lot of the kids in her neighborhood have to go through these sorts of things without the help from anyone at all. Her response is dull like this is an everyday situation but for an underage kid, no one should have to go through that at all. According to Montefiore research, .68% more people living in the Bronx alone compared to the rest of New York have been diagnosed with the HIV virus(AIDS in the Bronx). But because their hospitals are seen as some of the nation, many people wait hours on end and some not even cared for leaving those to just die without receiving any treatment and left to die.
Within the community the region of the Bronx, the people with the higher status often try to assimulate to those who are less fortunate, but more often then not, their words mean nothing when they decide to take even more away from the poor and add to their wealth. "Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, intends to cut back sanitation services and programs for children and teenagers, the early stages in what soon will prove to be wide-sweeping cuts in a variety of services relied on by the poor people... subsequent announcement warn the public to expect reductions in drug-rehabilitation programs... as well as reductions in lead-poisoning prevention programs and in the control of rats, elimination of programs that help hungry families obtain food stamps, the cancellation of AIDS services to 600 children and 16,000 adults... to cut services, which would hurt the poor residents, which would help the city's richest"(Amazing Grace 111). The people who live in the wealthier parts of the neighborhood do not realize that these cutbacks are what is left to help the poor in the slightest. This shows that they understand that the less fortunate are indeed struggling but do not seem to care in the slightest because by doing so they become 10 times richer than they even need. I guess it's like 'taking candy from a baby' except in this instance your killing the baby and you don't even care.
This novel has truly made me realize that there are so many people who have it way worse than I could have ever imagined. Everyday people go through the struggle of surviving one more day, not knowing what is in-store for their or their children's future. The people in the Bronx, as read from "Amazing Grace," live in a broken society that has been lift to die by the people who were lucky enough to be born out of harms way and into a safe environment. In the Bronx, their society really reflects on their people. Because the government has squash all of their efforts just for themselves, these people are trapped in a never ending cycle of poverty and disease. Its not that they want to live this way, it that they were forced to live this way.
To see this instance more in depth, the novel: "Amazing Grace" by Jonathan Kozol, showcases the hardships of those living in a ghetto-type, low-income society. When Kozol asked the children of the neighborhood what they thought of their lives in the Bronx, Maria replied: " Let's figure out a way to kill some more... if you weave enough bad things into the fibers of a person's life-sickness and filth, old mattresses and other junk thrown in the streets and other ugly ruined things, and ruined people, a prison here, sewage there, drug dealers here, the homeless people over there, then give us the very worst schools anyone could think of, hospitals that keep you waiting for ten hours, police that don't show when someone's dying..." (Amazing Grace 44). This is the type of conditions that people are living in Bronx, New York. Maria, the young girl, was only 16 years old when her answer was recorded. At the age of 16 I never even had to think about these types of problems because I was lucky enough to have been raised in a well situated neighborhood along with going to a school where my teachers cared about my education. At only 16 years old, Maria and the rest of the children have witnessed more crimes and unlawful events than anyone could imagine. Sadly, a lot of the kids in her neighborhood have to go through these sorts of things without the help from anyone at all. Her response is dull like this is an everyday situation but for an underage kid, no one should have to go through that at all. According to Montefiore research, .68% more people living in the Bronx alone compared to the rest of New York have been diagnosed with the HIV virus(AIDS in the Bronx). But because their hospitals are seen as some of the nation, many people wait hours on end and some not even cared for leaving those to just die without receiving any treatment and left to die.
Within the community the region of the Bronx, the people with the higher status often try to assimulate to those who are less fortunate, but more often then not, their words mean nothing when they decide to take even more away from the poor and add to their wealth. "Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, intends to cut back sanitation services and programs for children and teenagers, the early stages in what soon will prove to be wide-sweeping cuts in a variety of services relied on by the poor people... subsequent announcement warn the public to expect reductions in drug-rehabilitation programs... as well as reductions in lead-poisoning prevention programs and in the control of rats, elimination of programs that help hungry families obtain food stamps, the cancellation of AIDS services to 600 children and 16,000 adults... to cut services, which would hurt the poor residents, which would help the city's richest"(Amazing Grace 111). The people who live in the wealthier parts of the neighborhood do not realize that these cutbacks are what is left to help the poor in the slightest. This shows that they understand that the less fortunate are indeed struggling but do not seem to care in the slightest because by doing so they become 10 times richer than they even need. I guess it's like 'taking candy from a baby' except in this instance your killing the baby and you don't even care.
This novel has truly made me realize that there are so many people who have it way worse than I could have ever imagined. Everyday people go through the struggle of surviving one more day, not knowing what is in-store for their or their children's future. The people in the Bronx, as read from "Amazing Grace," live in a broken society that has been lift to die by the people who were lucky enough to be born out of harms way and into a safe environment. In the Bronx, their society really reflects on their people. Because the government has squash all of their efforts just for themselves, these people are trapped in a never ending cycle of poverty and disease. Its not that they want to live this way, it that they were forced to live this way.
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