Attributes of the Modern Age - Essay Example

Post-modernity and societal transformations Introduction: Modern views and innovative contemporary ideas are all appreciated in this altered yet swift day and age with all the transitions in our social, political, professional and personal lives which is nothing but a representation of an ideal contemporary society. Twenty first century is a marked period of expanded modernism and the changes that have traveled along with it which now perhaps can be seen in every possible aspect of our lives which is understandable considering the ease and convenience that it has brought along but the demerits of it all is not worth looking through either. It is notable to understand how these alterations bringing about the true essence of modernity has affected the way we think and perceive along with our lifestyle and the core forces that give relationships its animated form. It is believed and witnessed quite apparently that the modern era is all about the fluidity, stabilization and inter-relatedness between individuals, group identities and distinct institutions which has never been this great before. The same attributes of the modern age are the negativities of it which can be seen in the form of failed co-ordination between supposedly united populations which makes it impossible for the people to aim for a collective decision to come up with a solution to resolve numerous problems faced by the contemporary societies. The modernity and the related sources have created the required linkages which were considered as impossible back in time but at the same time and manner it has almost destroyed the strength of linkage between individuals and the basic interaction and problem-solving tactics which were abundantly present and strongly relied upon in the societies back in antiquity. All these notions and perceptions are related to the term 'Post-modernity' which can well define the after math of modernism and advancement introduced in each sphere of life along with an understanding of how it has transformed and shaped our social, political, cultural and personal aspects of life. The modern age with its expansion and advancement in nearly every field has given birth to new ideas and perceptions such as the expansion of capitalism, industrialization, urbanization, distinct notions of state development, political democracy and other political perspectives with the expansion of scientific technology and many other revolutionary changes which has assisted immensely in giving shape to our modernistic perceived society. The changing trends and perceptions: The after affects of extreme modernity and various trends followed by contemporary societies have been able to create an apparent barrier between the projection of the eminence of tradition and customary activities and the people who are too fast to realize the importance of culture and discipline in this swift yet innovative age. The biggest instance in order to understand this situation and perhaps the barrier that has been able to sustain since the time modernity stepped into our lives is that of the 'festival of Britain' which has been a part of Britain's culture since the year 1951 and has been successfully projecting and promoting the natural essence of their nationality. The festival of Britain is a national festival which is exhibited at the South Bank site and London of the River Thames nearby the Waterloo station since its inception. This festival preserves England's architecture, scientific innovations and industrial expansion all in the form of different exhibitions held at different locations giving quite the taste of their national prosperity and talent. This festival was a breakthrough by Gerald Reid Barry and the Labor deputy leader back at that time Herbert Morrison who acknowledged this festive activity as a mollifying step towards recovery of the Great Britain together after the horrifying World War II. This festival is purely dedicated to cherish the national pulchritude and how it brings the Great Britain together while they promote their culture and art. However, with times altering as each second passes by with the modern trends and modern individualistic approach has changed peoples perception and lifestyle. The consequences of these changes can be seen in people when they do not participate in gatherings or festivals that are mainly catering towards the need of projecting national pulchritude, distinct communities in an attempt to unify and assist each other whenever needed and to promote the national progress and prosperity. Another example in order to understand the changes in public reaction towards national celebratory festivals and gatherings is the renowned 'Millenium Dome' which is a building having a Dome shape and it was used for the unified experience of the third Millenium on 31st december, 1999 carried on by a number of exhibitions the next year showcasing different aspects of lives led by the people in Britain and different forms of art. This building is located at Greenwich Peninsula which is towards the south-east of london with its construction acknowledged as one of the most phenomenal landmarks of England. The media and public reactions towards the event was rather cynical because they strongly believed that the money spent on the construction went flat wasted since the actual event was not as glittery as expected. This building has been under a magnifying glass since its inception and the idea of a unified celebration of the third millenium because after the actual festival it was realized that the target of visitorship through out the year 2000 was around 12 million out of which 6.5 million was achieved with a constant downfall in visitorship which gave the management financial troubles and that also marked the lack of interest found in the people of Britain towards national progressive events and that too at a relatively advance scale. The dome after having faced such financial dilemmas was closed down and then redeveloped as an entertainment hub. Moving ahead we have another example used as an exploration of public reaction whether positive or negative towards the importance given to the nation, community and progress. The example of London Olympics is the best way to discuss the public response towards the fulfillment of national duties and responsibilities. The London Olympics have taken place twice back in the year 1908 and 1948 having London the only city in Britain elected as the location of the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games plan to return to the realm of London in the much-anticipated year of 2012 which brings about a great deal of progressive planning within the city of London. With economic recession and unemployment taking its toll globally people have been strained to alter their priorities along with fewer opportunities to spend lavishly on events such as the Olympic Games which can be seen widely broadcasted over the television as an alternative. Mundane dilemmas have transformed the way people used to look forward to these spectacular events and much of it has to do with personal interest and survival taking over national interest and support. It is also a matter of individuality and preferences because it depends if an individual wants to spend and enjoy the national progress which can be seen in the silhouette of the Olympic Games that will take place in the year 2012. Public reaction would matter because the Olympic Games will be hosted by London which will represent the Great Britain as one and the welcoming events will all be marked as an acknowledgment of growth as a nation and coast-to-coast unification which can be a developmental point in favor of future international event hosting opportunities. The dilemmas faced by contemporary societies: The different phases of modernity and extreme advancements have brewed up a rather contradictory situation for the people of modern era who depend a bit too much on the modern inventiveness. The dilemmas faced by the contemporary societies go a bit deeper than expected and unrealized with its merits such as lower infant mortality rate or a some what decreased rate of deaths by starvation and poverty and elimination of many dangerous illnesses with lower attempts of racism and class categorization. With a number of merits witnessed globally with the inception of modern society that consists of modern values and wider mind scope one can instantly fail to identify the negativities that it has brought along which can be pointed in the technological, medical, industrial, agricultural and national defense sphere which particularly marks the lethal atomic bombs which were used by dropping on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the World War II and the post-war period which was a depiction of a horrific facet of modernity. A very eminent part of the negativities of the modern era can be viewed in the silhouette of climatic problems such Global warming which is a phenomenon emerged with the usage of materials and technology which are not at all environment-friendly. It is also believed that human kind will get so much prone to the modern innovativeness which expands the possibilities of psychological problems such as depression and hedonism. On a more social level it is very important to understand the requirement of synchronization between different groups of people with distinct identities and perceptions which can eventually help us in supporting one cause in a unified manner. Such platforms should be introduced within societies where a group of people can come together and take a collective decision by interactive techniques while giving a pathway to great creative ideas. For example a group of people supporting different ideas of how to prevent our planet from the horrors of natural catastrophes which can be in different forms such as donation or human rescue. Individualistic opinions and preferences matter tremendously in supporting a single cause or coming up with a single decision in a unified manner because every individual has different perceptions or a way of looking at different aspects of life. Therefore, to come up with a collective decision while having people with distinct lifestyles, attitudes and preferences seems to be a rather intricate task. However, people with the same beliefs and perceptions can find a way to give a proper channel to their objectives by acting upon them with a formation of a particular group of people supporting a specific cause that may concern any environmental, social, ethical, political issue. Environmental issues should be an obligation to every citizen around the world regardless of what their beliefs are because saving our mother nature should be the first and foremost step towards development and every society should follow the rules of prevention of the environment because at the end of the day to have a clean environment to breathe in should be above any and everything. Another significant question that arises time and time again concerning the consensus of different groups of people is that if we can enjoy having separate identities and the answer to which is a bit vague but can be seen in the form of a margin drawn between social, ethical, cultural responsibilities and individual preferences for instance, an individual who speaks against animal torture as a part of lifestyle cannot necessarily expect another individual standing next to him to support the same cause with the same integrity and passion or might not be supportive of it at all. However, on the contrary speaking against issues as basic as the protection of mother nature does not need any sort of belief or perception which makes it necessary for every individual to support this cause and act upon it to help achieve the required consensus on this issue and to achieve the aimed objective for a healthy and cleaner environment. Conceptual transitions: Another very eminent aspect in order to look and explore the severe changes that have occurred because of the trends of modernity is deep-rooted in the concept of 'Capitalism' which has assisted both in negative and positive manner in shaping up the early western societies since the very seventeenth century. Capitalism is a known concept which is based on an economic system that deals with owned capital goods along with trading activities which are controlled by private individuals, corporations with their motive as achieving maximum profit. A capitalist political notion consists of competition and profit-maximization by any means so much so that the basic necessities of life are also produced for profitable outcome. Capitalism also acknowledges human labor as one of the commodities for sale in the market which makes it difficult to say that a concept having such a school of thought should be accepted or not and most of all acknowledged because it fails to deliberate the natural outcome of any situation but everything seems to be in the power of mankind. The most prominent criticism faced by the concept of Capitalism is the market exchange viewed as a danger to commodity production and as a threat to the traditional and religious values. Hence, Capitalism is a concept that refers to personal interest regardless of any social and ethical values and responsibilities and it can produce nothing but negativities along with a barrier placed in between the well-being of a society. Viable approaches: The present age marks a great deal of different ideas erupting each second within our inquisitive minds since there are so many ways that one can perceive the changes that have occurred in our contemporary societies. From capitalism to political democracy everything has had an impact on our societies and the way we perceive them. For instance, the afore mentioned spectacular national festivals and events have shown a remarkable visiting decline because of the economic instability which seems to be a global dilemma and with all these problems emerging an individual can hardly give it a thought of visiting them because of the presence of economic lack of growth. One way to look at these changes can be to entirely blame the modern aspect of development and scientific technological revolution which has introduced a cultural and social unrest which has even confused us as individuals considering our own identities because of the lack of verbal communication which is the very first step towards resolving major and minor problems occurring within a society. The swiftness of the modern era brings about a great deal of stress in our lives which has created many barriers between people living within a community or perhaps a particular society and the factors responsible for the stress are just inevitable so dealing with your social life has a lot to do with how we can adapt and create a balance between each aspect of our lives. However, the cultural and social life has become so unpredictable and difficult with all the pressures which has even questioned the great power of science, technology and democracy with all the uncertainty and misbalance introduced within our lives. Conclusion: It is mandatory to understand the basic changes that occur as a result of social, economic or political turmoil and how eminent the role of a contemporary society is in shaping our identities and perceptions. Post-modernity and the changes that a society undergoes consists of numerous alterations such as the technological advancement which brings about a great extent of ease in our lives but along with that it also brings about discomfort in our lives with times as swift as never before putting a great extent of pressure on individuals. The public reaction towards nation, community and progress seems to be moderate with patriotism and love for the nation on one side and hopelessness because of the current economic conditions on one distinct side. However, all these conditions whether economic, social or political affect an individual some what in the same manner and these changes eventually shape our societies, institutions and group identities. It is also notable to understand that 'Capitalism' is by far the most severe of contemporary changes that the modern era is facing at the moment and suffering too with the notion of materialism as an integral part of it and nations who have adopted it as a state rule can be seen having two extreme ends within their societies one of which is extreme poverty and the other end is of the rich getting richer. All of the aforementioned aspects do make it easy to conclude that the economic, social and political conditions of a nation make it a lot convenient to identify the public reaction towards nation, community, national progress and prosperity. Bibliography: Peter J. Fowler, the past in contemporary society, Routledge, 1992 Jackson Toby, Contemporary society: social processes and social structure in urban industrial societies, Wiley, 1964 David Lyon, Post-modernity, University of Minnesota press, 1999 Barry Smart, Post-modernity: key ideas, Routledge, 1993 Melanie. K. Smith, the issues in cultural tourism studies, Routledge, 2003 Perry Anderson, the origins of post modernity, Verso, 1998 Bryan S. Turner, theories of modernity and post modernity, Net library Inc, 1990 Read More