Structural- Functionalism
Structural- functionalism is a theory that sees society as built upon order, interrelation, and balance among parts as a means of maintaining the smooth functioning of the whole. The society can be compared to a biological organism; it has different parts like the digestive system, respiratory system, reproductive system, etc. Each of the systems has a function to keep an organism alive and likewise to the society that has parts like the economy, education, politics, and etc. that functions to keep our society working.
The function of an individual especially those who handle high position in the society has an extraordinary role because what he plans, what he decides and what he ignores has implications to the survival of the society. In the discussion by two structural- functionalists Kingsley Davis and Wilbur Moore regarding social stratification, they refer to the positions these individuals occupy rather than the individuals alone. According to them, it is not individuals who are ranked, but positions that are ranked according to the degree to which they contribute to the survival of society. If you’re the president, you are not extraordinary but your position as a president is the one that is extraordinary because the future of the people residing in your state lies on you and your capability as the head of the state. But president also needs the people around him; they will serve as advisers to the president because although a president is wise, but it does not mean that he can already do all the best decision without help from anybody.
In the film, the U.S president decided to retaliate from the Russians for the things they’ve never did, and that decision is worst decision the president could have ever made from his entire existence in this world. The president should have talked to the Russian president to solve it peacefully but he closed his heart with anger and because of that, the safety of the Americans is compromised. Thanks to Ryan and other people who functioned in order to calm both parties, without Ryan most of all, what people feared that most could have happened. Who would have known that the lowest ranking CIA agent who is Ryan will be the one who will put everything in order, who will saved the Russians as well as the Americans, and the one responsible for the prevention of a massive war that is about to unleash. I am quite doubtful because there are still many who are trying to get high position even how hard the job is, but I am enlightened to what Kingsley and Moore stated that high-ranking positions offer high rewards that make them worth an individual’s time and effort to occupy.