A Person is Only as Good as His Background

Some suggest that people should control themselves and get past the impediment set up by his or hers background. They should know right from wrong and acceptable from taboo. While this notion may be true in a small percentage of cases, most of the time the person has a hard time contemplating the social norms society as a whole has set up. Therefore, negative or positive actions done by a person relates directly to his or hers upbringing and background.

The family structure of a particular individual has a profound effect on the actions of the individual. If the family of the child is dirty, rude, and irresponsible, then it is no surprise that the child as well is dirty rude and irresponsible. The child was not brought up to treat people with respect or to be responsible and was not taught to distinguish right from wrong. Even if the child did, he or she probably does not care.

Not only does the family of the individual have a profound influence, the literal background also influences him or her. The background creates an influence not easily identified or controlled. The influence is very hard to identify because the background contains many things such as people, speech, and ideas that could affect the individual. Above all the background contains people and the actions or words spoken by the people. The background can provide an idea to the individual of what the world is like, how people are, and most importantly, how to act. For example, the ex-Senate majority leader Trent Lott (R) had a very outdated view on society. The comments he made were not only very racist toward African-Americans, but also very offensive to all minority groups. However, his influences were his friends and family, who friends and family were very racist. He simply was not brought up on the view that all men are created equal.

Arguably, the most influential component of the literal background is the person's friends. Not only do his or hers friends provide insight, support, and