The roads of our fair city are not only witnessing a revamp as a result of the huge public investment being put into them by the statist ruling elite, but also by the beeping horns of fleets of cars celebrating the marriage of numerous couples. As our fair nation has no strong regulator of noise pollution, the cheers of the crowd often disturb the environment vehemently.
What remains amazing to me is the meaning of the beeping cars, the shouting bride’s women and the ululation of the best men. It seems that all of them want society to give social recognition to the married couple they are celebrating. Their action, however, seems to ignore the very nature of social recognition.
Social recognition is all the value that members of a society attach to a given individual action, thought, status or relationship. As a typical social construct that changes with shifts in society, therefore, social recognition is never a static concept. Rather, it dynamically shifts with the changing fundamentals of societal life.
Thus, anyone who is looking for recognition from society ought to understand the dynamics of the values of the society in which they live. Without it, no beeping would be able to buy it. It would rather be an expensive and illusive asset to seek.
This incongruence can be seen from what the crowd often try to display and what people say about them. Even if the married couple and their colleagues are keen to attract attention as possible, pedestrians and drivers alike are seen complaining about their overreaction, showbiz, meaningless ululation and shouting. It rightly shows that there is no recognition involved in the process.
There could be nothing more than this incongruence to display that the effort of the crowd is worthless. It instead creates a disturbance for the environment. It is a meaningless prattle by a crowd of people who fail to understand the very society in which they live.
It is worrisome that individuals spend hundreds of thousands of Birr on an effort that fails to obtain them the essential objective they seek from it. It is nothing but saddening that weeding ceremonies designed to bring recognition from society end up being hubs of incongruence, backbiting, blame and even infighting.
We seem to have reduced ourselves, willingly of course, to a generation with no sensitivity to our external life. We are getting so busy with our ideals and values that we forget the dynamics of our surroundings. We are often seen living in our individual empires, to the extent that we spend no time in understanding the bigger picture.
Whether we like it or not, the current state of social recognition requires going beyond organising expensive celebrations. It needs an essential analysis of the dynamics of the surrounding environment and look for innovative ways to obtain attention.
A good example is posting a wedding picture on Facebook. This strategy is seen being used by wise individuals who seem to have sensitivity to their environment. At least, it shows that the individuals have a sense of the shift that has taken place within the social sphere.
Of course, Facebook, as a platform, might not involve all members of our society. Hence, the recognition one gets from it will be limited to his or her peers. But using a combination of similar platforms to earn as much social coverage as possible would be wise.
Economically speaking, the investment made on weddings could be justified only if the social return stays positive. Anything less than that will not be rationally justifiable. As much as the investment made on Facebook updates, tweets, Instagram comments and announcements on Linkedin is small, the economic rational of disclosures through these platforms remains justified.
But our discussion on weddings is far detached from the purpose. We often deliberate over the social status the ceremonies bring and whether they are affordable. We seem to prefer to ignore the concept of measuring our investments against the very objective they are intended to meet.
Hence, we are seen involved in flashy weddings that witness long fleets of cars, the disturbing beeping of horns and shouting crowds. It all simply sidelines the purpose.
We need get back to ourselves and reflect on our actions. It is only then that we can see the incongruence within our daily lives. By then, we should be able to put our scarce resources where our mouths are.
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