Johnson Chapter 6

In chapter 6, What It All Had to Do With Us, the main thesis that the author Johnson was trying to get across was the idea that individuals are influenced by social groups, but also individual are the ones who can make changes to them. The chapter began with stating the fact that people are uncomfortable with talking about topics dealing with privilege and power. From there, individualism was talked about. This was part of the reading that was most confusing for me. I believe that the main idea regarding individualism was that individuals do not make up the definition or power and privilege, but the individuals make up a social group, which defines them. The graph given in the reading helped to get across the message that individuals make social systems happen/develop and that in return the social systems developed shape us and give a choices to choose from. The idea that social groups produce “paths of least resistance”, which means there are multiple choices we can make daily and that by choosing something that would be more sociable acceptable would result in less negative consequences. Johnson admits “the path of least resistance is far more appealing, which is why it’s the one we’re most likely to choose.”. He gave an example of playing monopoly. He said that he became greedy while playing it. As it ended, the players make the game happen, but the game also produces choices for players to make, which showed how both individuals and social systems are related and interact. The chapter ended with a strong emphasis on the silent onlookers of social systems. Individuals are the ones that can change social systems, but by not saying anything, one is succumbing to the already established social ideas on things like racism, power, and privilege. So by not saying anything is “agreeing” with the other side. I liked the main idea of the chapter, but it was hard to keep my attention. I did like the graph, which made the idea a lot more understandable. I do wish that he would have given examples more related to race and gender issues that we as a society are currently dealing with instead of just talking about the game monopoly. I couldn’t really think of any questions during this reading because I agreed with what Johnson was saying and I understood it.