Sociology as a Life Or Death Issue 

My initial reaction to Sociology as a life or death issue by Robert Brym was a sense of uncertainty. When I started to read the book I was not sure what to expect, whether the book would be tedious and vague, or whether it would be informational and intriguing. Brym jumps straight into the underlying existence of death, and how “death became a source of anxiety. ” I relate to the introduction to the novel, feeling as if there are two ways in which I can live my life and questioning which one would result in a so-called “better life”. In the first detailed chapter Brym concludes that the culture of Hip-Hop encourages deviant behaviour in society. I neither agree or disagree with this idea because a behaviour is not solely defined by the music you listen to.

The second major chapter explains the techniques that Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I was particularly not as intrigued towards this chapter, I disagree with the constant battle between the groups because as one retaliates the other must, this is not true, other options were available. Continuing on, Brym focuses on the consequences towards less valued members of society when a lack of planning towards natural disasters occurs. This is hard because it is not fair that people suffer because of a lack of planning for safety in their neighbourhood. This fourth major chapter details the risk of cancer, however, ensures that we can prevent it by removing carcinogens.

I agree with this greatly because people can get lung cancer from smoking but have the power to not smoke. The sixth chapter focuses on the risks that women face because of their gender. This chapter will stay with me forever due to the uncertainty women face what will happen during everyday activities. The last major chapter is about the Indigenous genocide that occurred. This hurts me because of my ethnicity and it sickens me to read the conditions that these students had to face. Brym uses these chapters to define the underlying issue of sociology as a life or death issue, in each chapter we gain an understanding about why sociology can result in either life or death moments for some people and depending on what actions they chose. Of course, no one can ever know what is going to happen due to their actions. With these chapters we learn the importance of having a good quality of life, therefore keeping the life expectancy increasing.