Sociological Imagination

When I began my studies in Ateneo, I saw how financially far I was to most of the students were in the social ladder. My weekly allowance, which my parents can only give me, was just worth a day or two for those whom I have met. I come from a family who is not well-off. We derive our daily income from our own jeepney, which my father drives, though what we get is enough only for a day. What we earn does not really provide for all our needs; the tuition fee of my brother and household utilities are some of the things we still need to secure. This often leads us to incur debts from money-lending institutions and from our relatives. Looking from these aspects, the possibility for us to rise from our meager condition is still far; unless miracles
Wright Mills defines Sociological Imagination as “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experiences and the wider society.” (source) It is looking at another perspective and analyzing how various social conditions affect one’s life. This concept then highlights a connection between the experiences of my family with that of others whose income derive from PUVs, jeepneys in particular. There may be some factors in the society that have affected how we are as a family and those whom we share similarities. These can be analyzed using the ideas about private troubles and public issues. The former talks about experiences and problems unique to every individual; whereas, the latter speaks about a collective representation of the individual issues and addresses an issue evident in the society.
Its actions and decisions has been limited by its financial capability; as it plans mainly on a tight budgeting process in order to meet its needs, in one way or another. The concept of sociological imagination perfectly roots down how we came to be at present. Even if we want to expand and find more profitable means of living, we are unable to do so because of the lack of capital. Moreover, this relates to our inability to save at least a sum of our daily income, which is a consequence of our daily expenses which is almost equal to what we earn. If only the government may act upon our concerns, as those who are suffering from additional burden to our pockets, we could at least live in better ways, since we could save and actualize what we would want. Given these, in the lens of sociological imagination, my family then has been characterized in the way it is today because of public issues that have affected how we made our decision-making and how we have lived and made do of what we