An ideal society is the beacon of social change and conversely, social change comes from society. The availability to reason, the flexibility to accept discussions and arguments with a critical approach to public reasoning in the public domain, which forms the basic structure of an ideal society. What about a society which allows the criticism to be accepted and the people have the ambiguity towards building the idea of a society, which represents the democratic ethos of the country?
Amartya Sen in his book The Argumentative Indian emphasised the importance of the need for discussions and arguments for enhancing democracy and the spirit of public reasoning within the idea of a nation. To quote Sen, “Discussions and arguments are critically important for democracy and public reasoning.”
Society is recognised by its active participation in the social change, social change becomes obligatory when a society turns ignorant towards the growth and the social injustice in the lives of citizens. Therefore, to understand society, who shall pave the way towards social change?
We have to critically understand the people’s lives, address the basic needs in the civil society, and raise questions. What does an ideal society stand for? Why does social justice infer in social change? What are the threats to society and social change?
To address these issues and revolutionise change in the social dichotomy of people, one needs to be at the perusal of the needs of the citizens to participate in political discussions and influence public reasoning because silence is the powerful enemy of social justice.
This gets even clearer in the words of John Rawls, “Public reasoning includes the opportunity for citizens to participate in political discussions and influence public reasoning.” The demands of justice in a society are also the demands for more use of voice in the pursuit of equality. This brings a society towards acclamation. Rawls further says, “Justice is the first virtue of social institutions.”
It means we have to be just when we talk social, political, and economic change in an ideal society. We cannot be deaf here as Thomas Grey said, “Where ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise.” But we can admit what Washington Irving said, “Everyone is trying to change the world but nobody is trying to change himself.”
Social change and the changing dimensions of the 21st century in society has become more constant and possible when societies collectively in unison believe, in a society where freedom, equality and fraternity have its own significance. As society accepts it, social change is a journey with many potholes on its way towards changing the dimensions of the 21st century. To make the journey easy and comfortable, each individual is accountable for these potholes.
The individuals from civil society should introspect. Should society be race-free? Is there inequality? Social injustice? And all those crucial questions that put a hindrance in changing the society towards building one society for every human that upholds the idea of fraternity, freedom and indeed equality.
Ambedkar asserted in Annihilation of Caste, “If you ask me; about my ideal society? My ideal society would be a society based on liberty, equality and fraternity.” The formation of an ideal society and the social change is impossible till the people’s lives are full of social, economic and political injustices and the bondage towards the use of public resources. The indifference in a society is the worst kind of disease that can affect people. People’s powers depend upon the three basics belongings of their lives:
- Physical hereditary,
- Social inheritance or endowment in the form of parental care, education, and accumulation of scientific knowledge,
- And everything which enables him to be more efficient than the savage.
In all these three aspects humans are undoubtedly unequal. Shall we treat them as unequal? This is a question which needs a sheer pondering by the civil society.
The 21st century is witnessing a gigantic change in the history of humankind; the globe has witnessed the changes related to technologies, human power, biotechnology, and lot more. Consequently, that resulted in the revolutionisation of change in societies.
The most noteworthy evolution of change in the 21st century is the magnificent takeover of education by societies that became the central cause of the change being seen. People started to seek education in all ways that they can afford, they tried to scan things beyond the box, thoughts exchanged, questions arose and then there was the change in the society. Malala Yousufzai in her Nobel Prize speech once said, “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.”
One might forget, the emergence of AI or artificial intelligence in the 21st century that is fetching the splendid amount of luxury in the lives of people, AI has taken over many technologies that are used by the humans. Moreover, AI is dominating the activities of humans right from their basic to major needs.
It has also become more of a threat than a boon for the youngsters of the 21st century. The worst way to corrupt a society is to take away its respect for fair play. So, collective accountability will respond to the smooth welfare of the society, analyzing threats all over, and working on those effectively and efficiently are the most crucial steps that will ensure a beautiful pathway towards gender, economic, social, and political justice in the society.
Change is the law of nature, change tends to become the most evergreen part of one’s life in civil society, however, taking the first place and acquiring change manifolds the competition. The 21st century without much precaution has rapidly changed without noticing the major threats coming from the various corner of the globe.
The reckoning of the havoc distraction by the advanced and most whipping revolution in the advancement of technologies is that it has started ignoring the human capital, which is being replaced by the AI featured machines. This will create the unimaginable consequences of poverty and lack of employment, the globe will notice chaos all over the human sphere. The coming generation will find economic, social, political injustices around and this is the most ignorant and hidden defeat of the advancement of the technological world and the 21st century is mastering it.
What is the use of machines that counter threats in the future? There are ways to create and innovate things, but that shall need a different perspective on knowledge.
Henceforth, 21st century has also delivered justice to the humankind, offered rays of hope that nothing is impossible. Technology can revolutionise the needs of the situation and bring the preferable actions towards a new era of enlightenment. It has worked upon the betterment of human existence in the globe, finding its rarest history that gives the evidence of its existence. Education played its most crucial part in establishing hope and enlightening in the 21st century.
The way forward, society and social change will go hand in hand when the citizens will take accountability of reformation of justice and equality towards the very foundation of an ideal society and social change. Every individual has to be deemed as equal in the affairs and welfare of the state. As the globe is seeing change but not monitoring the havoc danger, the threats have to be monitored and the solutions to omit those have to be the priority of different departments.
Education is empowering the generation, in order to make innovation more affordable and reliable amongst the common public, education has to be made cheaper and the best. Crony capitalism is the next gigantic threat alarming the 21st century that needs prompt action. Thoughts and ideas have to be left free and opinions expressed under the impression of society and social change should always be praised.
The idea of a well-established society flourishes when there is compatibility of thoughts in the public domain and that leads to intellectualism. It must welcome diverse views, invite critical voices, inculcate the habit of patience to cope with differences and opposition to one’s belief, and help one develop the ability to scrutinize all axioms. This builds an ideal society and brings about rapid social change, paving the most important way towards the 21st century.
We, in a successful society, should walk with the idea of equality, fraternity and freedom. One must ensure the emancipation of the ideas of all genders and identities in the society, as they can contribute much towards building a strong foundation of just and equitable share in the formation of the society in the 21st century. One must stand strong averse to a stratification of society. There should be mutuality in sharing the idea of development, growth, and accountability in addressing the issues of social change.
It is the rationales and intellectuals that society relies on, so to accept and discuss the words of wisdom will lead to the happiness and satisfaction of society towards peacemaking in people’s lives. Finally, individuals’ productivity will counter the menaces of society.
Wrapping up in the lines of Noam Chomsky, “Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.”