Question

Throughout the course we’ve explored the process of Modernity and how its social forces shape and direct our lives. In the readings for Week 12, we see that, according to Barber, some of the most significant current conflicts can be interpreted as being created by the expansion of Modernity and the resistance it encounters. We are all modern individuals (I mean all of us reading these lines). What are the elements of modernity that you value the most? What elements of Modernity do you believe are negative to our society? Why would any group of people resist becoming “Modern?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary. I have included citations in the form of links below.

(Answer) One of the most essential traits of modernism is that each individual’s liberties are valued despite their differences to the conformities of society. Also, the foremost liberties of an individual include the right to not be harmed by another. This means that any force, authoritarian or otherwise, would not be allowed to usurp the liberties or inflict harm on a person living in a modern society. Such elements are the pinnacle of freedom that is to be most valued within a modernist society.

The elements of modernity that are negative are the misconceptions that the liberties of a modern society do not require credibility of information and diplomatic discourse. On the contrary, it is the power of information and the exchange of ideas that are bringing our society to a modernist stage in the first place.

The fourth estate of a society should be more refined with time even in a modernist and free society. Sensationalism and inadequate information are the morbidities that might hinder the progression of modernism. In order to maintain a state of ascension into modernism, it is essential that the press and sources of information would not be controlled by the state or popular opinions but rather by the facts.

If any group might resist a modernist society it would be simply because the powers vested in them by the older systems would be taken away. This is similar to the end of feudalism in early 21^st century where ownership was given to private individuals or the government itself. Similarly, individuals who might lose their elite status through a new system would be the ones to object the redistribution of rights and power in order to create an equilibrium in the society.