The Sociological Perspective: Culture Shock

The sociologist Peter Berger has come to view sociological discovery to culture shock without the geographical displacement and one would agree with him because it is a fact that the views of individuals tend to change as they mature and undergo active socialisation. When individuals are growing up, many of them tend to perceive the world innocently, not realising that the world is made up of many complexities which are hidden just below the surface. The first perception that individuals tend to have of the world and their societies is always based on their immediate surroundings and these surroundings can be considered to be the starting point of the process of active socialisation as well as the development of the realisation of different sociological perspectives. As individuals continue growing and their social circles expand, and these mostly happen when they go to school, the come to encounter for the first time the different sociological perspectives which they are not prepared for in their domestic social environment (Muller, 53). For example, it is often in school that individuals come to encounter, for the first time in their lives, social conflict and this often comes from instances where they witness such incidents as bullying. In addition, it is in the school environment that individuals also encounter social conflict in the form of racial discrimination, where it is normal to witness the marginalisation of other students who come from minority groups. Such encounters often end up tarnishing the individual perceptions of the world as they end up coming to the realisation that their society is not what it seems in the first place, and this takes place without their experiencing any geographic changes.

It is therefore necessary for a sociologist to take into consideration that the world is not as it seems and that he or she must work towards unravelling the truth concerning the issues which are normally taken for granted. It is the duty of a sociologist, for example, to make a critical study of the society so that he can find out the various underlying conflicts that exist within it and after doing so come up with theories and perspectives concerning how the said society deals with these conflicts. A sociologist should realise that the society is not always what it seems and that while there may be peace within it, this does not necessarily mean that all is well especially when one considers that in every society, there are always class divisions as well as other underlying conflicts which are normally taken for granted by its members and never addressed (Muller, 51). One would take the example of France before the Revolution where the nobility took the peasant suffering for granted believing that it was in the latter’s lot to suffer as well as to serve them. They did not realise that the peasants were at the time becoming tired of the continuous heavy taxation by the nobility as well as their daily suffering. The result of such ignorance was the abrupt beginning of the French Revolution which would eventually change the lives of all the French people at the time from what they had previously known into what was then unexplored social territory in Europe.

It is a fact that most individuals take the various aspects of their lives for granted and this is a failing in the society because of the fact that such ignorance may lead to the development of situations that may be beyond their control. One of the aspects of society that are often taken for granted are its political aspects and this can be seen through the belief that the American political system if the best and that any decision take by political leaders, especially the president, concerning international matters, is done for the good of the American people. This, it has come to be realised, may not necessarily be true because most of the decisions made by the presidents of the United States for the past decade, especially on matters concerning the Middle East have brought more harm than good for the Americans. When the former president George Bush declared war on Iraq a decade ago, it was justified through the belief that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which turned out to be a lie. The righteousness of this decision came into question by the American public which came to the realisation that it had supported military action over false allegations and that this had created an atmosphere of extreme dislike, and even hatred, for the Americans in the Middle East.

The Effectiveness of Security Frameworks in the Modern World

In this age where the use of computers and networks related to them has become commonplace, there has developed problems concerning security framework; security framework is an important factor to be considered if one is to be able to protect oneself from malicious people and software from the internet. Most computer network threats come from the internet and are done intentionally because they are developed by people for malicious intentions. Security framework is, therefore, an endeavor by individuals as well as organizations to protect their information and other digital assets from assaults from the internet. Security framework measures will involve various steps, the most important of these steps being an individual’s understanding of the different forms of cyber-attacks that they are likely to encounter (Ma, Schmidt and Pearson, 58). Once one has knowledge of this, then it is his or her responsibility to ensure that they have put in place the best security system they can get their hands on. There exist diverse types of hazards and these can be regarded as to be of unstable levels and risks to an individual’s personal information in their computers. The higher the possibility of an attack, the more progressive the security system, that is to be put in place to ensure that the threat is minimized.

Security framework activities involve measures to prevent threats ranging from malicious codes, also known as malware and spyware, to computer viruses. Some of these viruses are so serious that they have the ability to erase entire operating systems of computers. These viruses also facilitate hackers to have right of entry to all the data stored in the infected computers, ensuring that they have access to information, which can be used for their own gain. It is necessary for individuals and companies to avoid such invasion into their computer systems by having the best security framework systems (Serrhini and Moussa, 159). Measures taken involve the acquisition of antivirus software that is reliable, frequent checking of software to ensure that they are secure from attacks. The computer software should be updated frequently to assure they are working in full capacity. Thus, it vital for organizations to ensure all departments are conscious of their security framework because it is not known when a threat is likely to be encountered.

Borders have relevance in tackling security framework, and looking at borders, domains of various countries interact because they do not have borders, therefore, the domains of a nation will be related to the nation’s willingness to assert sovereignty in the domains. With the detection of threats at the various nation states, it is possible to retain legitimate response actions by the state and this will be an important actor of the border in ensuring they continue being relevant. In cyber space, the territorial borders broadly define sovereignty of a specific nation irrespective of the domain and ability to locate domains physically. Despite the borders becoming insignificant when carrying out legal commerce, they are highly significant when carrying out policing actions of transnational threats.

In China, there is a severe internet information security because there is a leakage of information and this requires protection of privacy and other personal data should be strengthened because internet abuse has become unscrupulous. Sufficient protection of private data in China is lacking and this is because of the existence of loopholes in the safety of public information because of ineffective management mechanism (Veiga and Eloff, 361). The reasons behind mismanagement of public information are lack of emphasis on information security is incompleteness of the institutions and legal systems. Strategies for information security are insufficient and, therefore, the country should carry out further developments on internet technologies. It is barely satisfactory to carry out general public education but an incorporation of international cooperation is needed.

It is vital for all networks to be concerned with security framework defensive mechanisms through a reactive approach which focuses on vulnerabilities and actual threats. This means one has to wait until happens on the internet and then go for the person who is the bad guy. This is easy to manage although it does not guarantee protection of a government’s infrastructure. For instance, if there is a breach of city’s water supply and the amount of chlorine put on the water becomes excess, the best defensive mechanism has to be put in place to prevent people from succumbing to the poisonous water.

Organizations should carry on with their operational roles while following guidance on response to cyber incidents. Even though this thought may be good, cyber threats are often not kinetic in nature as compared to other threats taking place in the United States. Therefore, the response by the Defense Department of the United States does not work on incidents of cyber arena. The reason behind the threat not working is that there are difficulties of locating the place and the person committing the offense making it difficult to determine the agency that is responsible for various incidents (Trim, 493). If investigations are carried out, lines would be crossed because duplication may occur while information may not be shared, let alone communication, thus there is the need to have clearly defined roles for various government agencies for security framework.

With the presence of 17 infrastructure sectors and each sector with its own federal agency chairs council knowledgeable about its specific sector. Security framework should not be treated as a separate issue; therefore, the agency itself should be left to defend themselves against cyber threats by using the best possible strategy. The benefits of this alternative are scarce and the argument for this is that the organizations are already established hence they can manage security framework internally. There can be strong claims for this argument but what has been put in place is not effective in defending cyber threats, besides this benefits that accrue from continuing with the current infrastructure are few. The setbacks of this alternative are the presence of biasness; lack of coordination, no leadership is present and low security framework prioritization. Most organizations have established their ways which have often not been designed to defend against cyber threats, these organizations have low probability of altering their structures and haw they carry their operations (Nissenbaum, 61). Each and every organization has its own visions and missions and they will protect their networks and not those of other organizations, this shows the lack of coordination between organizations. Security framework leadership within organizations in the United States is missing, there must be leadership accountability in all federal governments, coordination attempts for various agencies has failed due to poor resource management. In conclusion, security framework has not been a priority in many individual agencies because most agencies are created to be able to accomplish their own missions making security framework to be viewed as a back burner; there should be a budget for tackling security threats.

It is, therefore, necessary for individuals and companies to prevent any intrusion into their computer systems by having the best security frameworks. These involve the getting hold of of the best software that is reliable as well as regularly checking this software to ensure that they are thwarting attacks. The software has to be repeatedly updated so that there is an guarantee that it is functioning at its full capacity, and this ensures that there is additional security against attack. It is important to ensure that individuals as well as organizations are conscious of their security frameworks because it is not known when a threat is likely to be encountered. The use of such security frameworks is essential for the development of and preservation of the diverse databases that have come to be heavily relied on all over the world.

Differences between China and the United States

The United States and China are among the most influential countries in the world today and this is because of both the political and economic leverage that they have managed to build over the years. The ability of these two nations to project their influence across the globe is based mainly on the strong cultural backgrounds as well as the work ethic that they both possess, ensuring that they are able to retain their positions against all odds. While these countries may be very influential across the globe, they are very different from one another, with each possessing its own national characteristic that enables them to stand out from the rest of the world.

Among the biggest differences between China and America are their cultural values and these have been cultivated over a long period. China is an extremely conservative nation with most of the cultural practices of its people being influenced to a certain degree by the teachings of the philosopher Confucius. This influence has been paramount in China for over two millennia and has guided the Chinese nation throughout all its incarnations. The culture of the United States, on the other hand, is very liberal with individuals living their lives as they see fit, making Americans very independent people from a young age. Moreover, Chinese culture dictates that younger people be subservient and submissive towards their elders, obeying them without question. Young Chinese people tend to be obliged to take care of their elders until the latter die and in most cases, elderly Chinese are very revered in the society. This is not necessarily the case in America where younger people tend to live their own lives without any consideration to the wishes of their elders (Weston). The elderly people in America tend to be highly independent and often live by themselves; going into homes for the elderly when they can no longer take care of themselves rather than living with their children.

Another difference that arises between America and China is on their systems of education which are in many ways managed diversely. The Chinese system of education tends to be slightly more difficult than that of America because students have to undergo a rigorous system of examinations almost at every level of their education to ensure that they are competent enough to proceed to the next level. The American system, on the other hand, is less rigorous with the number of people whose performance in school is below average being extremely high. In China, parents tend to be very involved in the educational welfare of their children and more often than not, it is the parents rather than the students, who make decisions concerning what the latter should study, especially in the higher levels of education (Chunli 30). This is not the case in America where students have a greater say on what they want to become in life and take those subject which they believe will help them in the course they have set for themselves. The Chinese education system is always focused on the development of the skills and knowledge that are necessary for the benefit of the state. However, the number of Chinese who get into the tertiary level of education tends to be very low in proportion to its massive population. The American system on the other hand, is designed to allow the freedom of choice to its students to pursue their dreams and because of this; a large proportion of the American population is literate and has achieved some form of tertiary education.

The political systems of America and China are very different with the former being highly democratic while the latter is a tightly controlled state. China is a country whose politics is completely dominated by the Communist Party which not only controls the government, but also all the structures within the state (Kagan 90). This is not the case in America where there are strong democratic institutions and where there are regular elections, with the elected individuals being accountable to the people rather than to their political parties. In China, in order for an individual to succeed in the society, he or she should be a member of the Communist Party, because it is membership which allows for one to get the most lucrative jobs in state institutions. The situation in America is different because individuals in this country more often than not get jobs in the public sector and administration based on their qualifications rather than membership in any particular political party. This means that neither of the two dominant political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, have significant influence in employment in the public sector unless it is a political appointment. In China, the economy is often under the tight control of the state with a majority of the big corporations in the country being state owned and in most cases being monopolies. The success of the Chinese economy over the years has been attributed to the involvement of the state, with the latter being a major player within it. The American government does not have the same level of control over its economy as that of China and this is because the former has let its economy grow as it will, supporting growth through favourable policies towards private businesses. It is because of the liberal policies of the American government that it has been able to develop a strong economy that has come to dominate that of the globe.

In conclusion, the discussion above has shown three of the differences between two of the most influential nations in the world. Among these are their cultural values which have been cultivated over a long period. Moreover, the systems of education of these countries are very different from one another because of the styles of management that they have adopted. Finally, the political systems of China and America have been discussed, with the main differences being that the latter is highly democratic while the former is a tightly controlled state. Despite the differences between them, China and America can be counted among the most successful states in the globe, often vying with each other for influence over less powerful nations.