FREE ESSAY ON BALANCE BETWEEN CONFORMITY AND RESISTANCE

BALANCE BETWEEN CONFORMITY AND RESISTANCE

Balance between Conformity and Resistance
According to Leon Mann, conformity means yielding to group pressures. Everyone is a 
a member of one group or another and everyone expects members of these groups to
behave in certain ways. Fear of humiliation can lead to conformity. People agree with
others because they fear being ridiculed, or being isolated from the society. They fear
the idea of not being a part of the whole. Society tries to place many regulations on us
as individuals as to what is admissible and what is not. We must decide for ourselves
whether to conform or not to specific rules and regulation. 
Conformity is an important aspect of life in our society and allows us to live a free
life without 
the pressure of being different and being an outsider. We have to obey rules to have
the good and desirable life we are hoping to achieve. If we did not pay taxes, we would
not
have schools and the education to make a good paycheck for a desirable living. We
would not have all the comforts that make our life so much more relaxed and appealing.
If
we did not have any laws, and everybody did what they think is right, we probably 
would not be alive anymore. Our whole society would crash and we would have killed each
other by now. On the other side, comfort and stability should not stand over the
suffering of others or our own misery. Sometimes we have to stand up for others and we
shout not ignore our own wishes just to keep the freedom. When I came to the United
States, I started working in a factory to make a living. I did not speak much English at
that time and some treated me very badly and others ignored me, like I did not even
exist. For a while, nobody was there to explain or train me for my job and I messed up a
lot, not knowing better. The worst part was that my feelings were very hurt because I
could not understand why I was treated that way, not doing anything wrong to anybody
there. Just when I was ready to quit my job, because I started getting badly depressed, a
lady came up to me asking if I would like to sit next to her at break time. She said she
feels awfully bad for me sitting there all by myself and she apologized for her coworkers
behavior. I still remember how everybody stared at us in the lunch room but she acted
like she did not notice. The same day others came over to me starting a conversation and
soon after I was accepted from most. I will never forget how much difference that lady
made to me, because she stood up for a total stranger. She showed me the importance of
standing up for somebody regardless of other's beliefs. Henry David Thoreau claims in his
writing  He who gives himself entirely to his fellow men appears to them useless and
selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pronounced a benefactor and
philanthropist. (p.217) In order to be satisfied in our lives we have to make sacrifices.
Maybe we are making less money because we cannot conform to a company's rules, but we are
certainly more happy not having to obey rules we cannot fully accept. Often we hear
people complaining about issues, but mostly they are only complaining to their families
and friends. The complainer is not changing his situation with this and stays
dissatisfied and makes their listener feel helpless also. My husband, who is at college
for four years now, keeps complaining since the beginning from college about the
out-of-class groups. Even thoug I always understood his point, he is working full time
and do not have the time for it, there was nothing I could do to change it. I only could
tell him to go to the school board and let them know about his situation and they may be
able to help. I believe that if he is paying for his education he should have a word on
how his education is handled. It is so much more productive to pass the complaint to the
source. We may be not be able to change the issue, but we know we were heard and from
there we can go on to a bigger problem and may change the situation. There would be no
change in our lives if we all just confirmed to rules some human being made for his own
selfish reasons. We still would have slavery, people being suppressed for their religion
or just because they don't fit into society. We have now a much better lifestyle and less
fear of the system because somebody stood up for his beliefs. It often takes great
courage to stand up for a principle, but if it makes a difference to anybody and if it is
only for yourself, it is worth doing so. Henry David Thoreau stated in his writing It is
not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any,
even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him;
but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and if he gives his thought no
longer, not to give it practically his support. (p. 218) 
Conformity can be important, but we should not conform to anything that is hurting or
suppressing another human being. We can keep a balance between conformity and resistance
in doing right where there is wrong. There can be no freedom in conforming against our
own beliefs, we only lose the respect from our self and the respect of others, and there
is no freedom in resisting life's fundamental rules.