Social Order

Definition: As used herein, Social Order refers to the complex of all that is deemed "normal" in human behavior and relationships at a given time and place. It is that which is expected. Placeholder

As used herein, Social Order refers to the complex of all that is deemed "normal" in human behavior and relationships at a given time and place. It is that which is expected.

Commentary

In Great Britain, for example, it is “normal” to drive on the left side of the road. In the United States, it is “normal” to drive on the right.

Our modern term for a society having a "social order" emerged explicitly among intellectuals in the 19th century. It was a new term for an old reality. Socrates, for example, was put to death in 399 B.C. for corrupting the youth of Athens and for impiety towards the Athenian gods. He had, in other words, offended the social order of Athens.

The Social Order is a type of social influence that affects a Person's personal Habits and the Traditions he or she shares with others. Over time in a certain Place, the Social Order creates, changes, or destroys a Culture. Culture is a subset of the Social Order.

Aspects of the Social Order include the following:

(1) Neutral

The Social Order is not necessarily morally good, aesthetically beautiful, scientifically sound, physically and emotionally healthy, economically productive, and so on. It simply is that which is expected in human behavior and relationships at a given time and place. In Las Vegas, for example, gambling is a significant Aspect of the local Social Order. It is expected behavior, at least for the tourists.

(2) Not uniform

The Social Order is not uniform. It may vary across geographic areas even from one Neighborhood to the next. In rural counties of Missouri, for example, puppy mills are an important part of the local Social Order. Dog-breeding owners employ lobbyists in the state capital of Jefferson City to protect their economic interests. In the Missouri cities of St. Louis and Kansas City, however, puppy mills are frowned upon, to say the least. They are not acceptable.

(3) Affects Consciousness-Unconsciousness

The Social Order affects people Consciously and Unconsciously. It does so through our Sensoria, penetrating deep into our Consciousness-Unconsciousness continuum.  For example, imagine society as one Household of two parents and several children, and the father, let's say, is an alcoholic. It may be "normal" in the Social Order of this Household for the mother to be in Denial about her husband's alcoholism and so perpetuate on the children a Social Order of False Beliefs.  "Daddy is just tired from work. He is taking a nap," she explains. The children learn that getting drunk and passing out on the kitchen floor is "normal." It is to be expected. That's the Conscious part of this Household's Social Order. Children growing up in an alcoholic family typically feel uncomfortable with the Reality of the alcoholism that their Sensoria is experiencing. Their Consciences tell them something is amiss. However, since they are told day-after-day that everything is "normal," they commonly conclude that their uncomfortable feelings indicate something is wrong with them. Their consciences become malformed. A Social Order that perpetuates significant False Beliefs as in this hypothetical example about the children tends to produce significant Undesirable effects.

The Social Order is powerful and subtle for good or ill. It works not just overtly or Consciously on the mind of a Person, but also Unconsciously.

(4) Powerful

The Social Order is powerful. It affects people forcefully whether their behavior and relationships conform to it or not. However, it is never all powerful or dictatorships such as those founded by Stalin and Hitler would never have changed and collapsed.

(5) Groups vs. Society

It is commonplace in literature and Hollywood movies for the heroic Individual to stand up against malevolent forces in Society and somehow prevail.  In real life, such episodes typically end in with the Individual being marginalized or killed by larger forces in Society. The point being made here is that if the Social Order is to be changed, it takes considerable doing.  Creating Groups as defined herein is one way of gathering the necessary Critical Mass to Countervail whatever it is that is deemed Undesirable in the Social Order. Another way of changing the Social Order in more Desirable ways is to be General Motors or Proctor & Gamble or nowadays, Facebook or Amazon.com. Then you have the mass where you can throw your weight around.

(6) Organizations affect it

Organizations of all types routinely strive to influence the Social Order by reinforcing or changing Aspects of it. One famous example of an Organization influencing the Social Order is the Torches of Freedom public relations and advertising campaign launched by the American Tobacco Company during the 1929 New York City Easter Sunday Parade. Prior to 1929, it was against the Social Order for a woman to smoke in public. A lady simply did not do that. It would be seen as scandalous. For profit-seeking reasons, the American Tobacco Company executives decided to change that specific Aspect of the Social Order. Through their campaign, they created the idea in the Consciousness of millions of Americans and eventually around the world that a woman smoking in public was not only behaving properly. She was demonstrating her political and sexual liberation.

The Torches of Freedom campaign was fabulously successful. With regard to female smoking, variations of it continue to this day in developing parts of the world where government sanctions against cigarette smoking have yet to curb it.

More broadly, from 1929 onward, the notion of consuming products - such as cigarettes, sporty automobiles, cosmetics, alluring clothing, and so on - underwritten by artificial contraception and abortion services - as ways of becoming and maintaining one's political and sexual liberation has been widely adopted in the consumer marketplace of the entire Modern World. None of it has been caused by inexplicable accidents. It has been caused intentionally by identifiable Organizations.

The Social Order is always "normal." People going against the "normal" typically pay a price. The price may range from mild embarrassment upon discovery to incarceration or worse. On the other hand, the potential of a price being paid might be experienced as a thrill. The point is that if there were no Social Order, there would be no price or thrill.