Free Essay Sample on Life Change

Introduction

Change is an inevitable concept in life and can assume various forms that may result in new life approaches from the primary ways of living. Charles Duhigg, in his essay "From Civil Rights to Megachurches," attempts to provide a detailed evaluation of the idea of social transformation. Duhigg seeks to evaluate the various mechanisms critical in nurturing community relationships and fundamentally mobilizing social change on a diverse basis. Duhigg strongly emphasizes in his essay that dormant or active relationships, which he referred to as strong and weak connections, can influence a "social habit," which is capable of motivating goal-oriented, organized, and maintainable movements. Duhigg argues that movements are not established because people decide to look in the same direction simultaneously. Instead, they depend on the social patterns that develop as the nature of friendship, and grow through the community habits and are continued by new practices that transform the sense of self of individuals (Duhigg 102). This paper will examine the strengths and weaknesses of Duhigg's essay and discuss social transformation and how relationships influence it.

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Social Transformation

Duhigg examines the process of social transformation by initiating the history of the origin of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Duhigg recounts the occurrence in Montgomery, Alabama, on 1st December 1995 on a dreary winter day when the social rights organization gained power; a woman named Rosa Parks declined to give up her seat to a white man as was legally recommended hence put up an act of insolence. Duhigg applies his diverse historical knowledge to understand why the particular act of insolence by Rosa Park in a commuter bus was the kick-start of the Civil Rights Movement. Other incidents had occurred before the experience of Rosa Park, such as the incident of Claudette Colvin and Mary Louise Smith. Even though they were arrested, their ventures never reconvened the African Americans' community in Montgomery and Alabama under a single umbrella-like the Civil Rights Movement, which was inevitable to enact perceptible transformations in the United States regarding biased laws.

One idea that is evident from the narrative of the origin of the Civil Rights Movement in Duhigg's essay is that of the presence of strong and weak relationships among the people within a society. The narrative of Rosa Park implies that "weak ties," as Duhigg calls them, can influence social movements' overall commencements. The capability of weak ties to inspire social movements is evident in the case of Rosa Park, especially from the friends that she had made across various social levels and the wide range of contact that she had compared to the previous African American revolutionaries (Duhigg 217). The social transformation that results from peer pressure is established in the weak and healthy relationships, which is the desire for individual members of society. Duhigg also provides another apposite example of Rick Warren, who just got out of seminary with an undying determination to establish a church gathering within a community that had a religious dishonorable. Rick Warren used the weak and healthy relationships in his mission to inspire attendance and participation that eventually made his ministry one of the most recognizable churches in America and most parts of the world.

Diverse Circumstances

The central presented in Duhigg's essay is significant because it can be used in diverse circumstances to motivate social changes that are necessary to create a sustainable society. HIV/AIDS was an epidemic that ravaged the world, especially the continent of Africa because that was a place where the aspects of the plague were not well understood. Epistein, in her essay The Invisible Cure, makes a practical observation regarding an issue that bothered most people with expertise, especially the fact that it spread over the African continent within a short time-span (Zuger 44). Epistein combines her scientific knowledge with a journalistic viewpoint to provide an impartial opinion of Africa's social and political setting that contributed to the spread of the dangerous virus disease. Epistein first examines how the epidemic issue was handled and illuminated the situation in South Africa, where there was seemingly high infection (Zuger 45). Even though information on how the illnesses could be prevented, the increasing numbers of infections implied that the available data did not reach the target audience.

However, social change was instituted and enhanced awareness, which reduced the risks when the Kaiser Family Foundation from the United States stepped into the fray in 1999 with the sole purpose of dealing with the threat. LoveLife initiative was established in the country and followed suit in combating the hazard by prioritizing the individuals who were already infected into the program (Zuger 44). The people in the LoveLife initiative would then work collectively to spread information about HIV/AIDS throughout South Africa, particularly to the youth who were much at risk due to people's vulnerability from their demographic groups. Juveniles were more vulnerable because they would be easily enticed into risky sexual habits, especially by individuals who would offer monetary rewards (Zuger 44). The central idea expressed in Duhigg's essay is evident to have been used in the scenario represented by Epistein when the supposed weak links in the society were first exploited to start a movement.

Influence the Lives

Whatever the LoveLife movement did was to change the depressing campaigns that had the potential to influence the lives of most youths in South Africa positively. The campaigns that LoveLife endorsed included language and figures that could be easily interpreted and eased broadcasting information. In South Africa, as narrated by Epistein, the community's vital links were later exploited when people established "lifestyle brand" movements that were intended to bring the population that was threatened to make a transformation and endorse positive behavior. Hence, an air of hip modernity could be collected from the campaigns that were throughout the country on radios, billboards, and televisions. The movements made remarkable success in the expedition because they could examine the social behaviors and evaluate the weak and strong links that existed in the community. The social change that created new self-identities enabled the community to come together and remained motivated to achieve more social transformation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Duhigg emphasizes how relationships can create change by stressing how social relationships led to the Civil Rights Movement's development after the bus boycott at Montgomery and even the massive congressional growth at the church in Saddleback. Therefore, this paper has examined how Duhigg evaluates the significance of strong and weak relationships and how they can influence change. The central idea expressed by Dugigg is significant even in other cases, has been examined from the possibility of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa, as represented by Epistein in her essay. Therefore, change is an essential aspect of society, and as acknowledged by Duhigg in his essay, every relationship in the community is essential and can inspire change. The narrative of Epistein about HIV/AIDS in South Africa is an affirmation of how weak or strong links can influence social habits in society and can eventually inspire movements for social transformation. Accordingly, social habits and social links are essential motivators of changes as they form a pattern of practices that transform the sense of self in individuals.

Works Cited

Duhigg, Charles. "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change by Charles Duhigg (7-Feb-2013) Paperback."

Zuger, Abigail. "Looking Back at the Ethical Tangles of Pediatric AIDS." Hastings Center Report 47.4 (2017): 44-45.