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List The Concept Of Social Stratification
List The Concept Of Social Stratification
List The Concept Of Social Stratification
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Third Reflection Paper Social Stratification, Race/Ethnicity, and Sex/Gender Why, in a country of such wealth and prosperity, do we have such high amounts of misery? The class system in America is based on what type of work done, ownership, and the control of resources. There are mainly two classes which include: capitalist class and the working class. The capitalist class is the class that has most of the wealth and owns most of the production to stay wealthy. The working class consists of the people who work everyday for the capitalist and never they never make enough money to reach the next level on the totem pole because they don’t get the opportunity. Alienation: The feeling of hopelessness and lack of power from yourself and from Men and women are created differently as you see if you compare them. Women have breasts which are used for breastfeeding their children, they have wider hips and a uterus which helps house the fetus until he or she is ready to come into the real world, and they have extra adipose tissue throughout their body. Men on the other hand have enlarged genitals, like a penis and testes which houses the sperm for the female to get pregnant, they develop a deeper voice, more body and facial hair, and a more muscular build. Women should dominate the men over infant care. They do not produce the milk for the child nor do they know why the baby is crying or how to stop the baby from crying. They don’t understand how to take care of a baby because most of them can’t even take care of themselves. Yes, the baby is still the fathers but they have no idea how to take care of it so it is definitely the mothers job because we have to make sure the baby is safe and being watched all the time and not just for a couple minutes. I say this because my dad fell asleep while he was babysitting me when I was little. My mom came home from a shopping day with her sister and I was playing in the middle of the road because I crawled out of the doggy door. My mom and dad definitely had some words when she found me in the America is very wealthy, but most of the wealth is held by a small group of people which is about one percent of the population, the rest of the American’s are working day after day to survive in this expensive world. The working class and everyone lower than the working class are struggling swimming up stream trying to climb the ladder to successfulness when we will never get there because we don’t get an opportunity. It is a constant battle and the working class and poor people, like me, will always fail. We are constantly in misery because we never get anywhere and we do they same thing
According to Gregory Mantsios many American people believed that the classes in the United States were irrelevant, that we equally reside(ed) in a middle class nation, that we were all getting richer, and that everyone has an opportunity to succeed in life. But what many believed, was far from the truth. In reality the middle class of the United States receives a very small amount of the nation's wealth, and sixty percent of America's population receives less than 6 percent of the nation's wealth, while the top 1 percent of the American population receives 34 percent of the total national wealth. In the article Class in America ( 2009), written by Gregory Mantsios informs us that there are some huge differences that exist between the classes of America, especially the wealthy and the poor. After
Growing up in The United States, people are given this idea of an American Dream. Almost every child is raised to believe they can become and do anything they want to do, if one works hard enough. However, a majority of people believe that there is a separation of class in American society. Gregory Mantsios author of “Class in America-2009” believes that Americans do not exchange thoughts about class division, although most of people are placed in their own set cluster of wealth. Also political officials are trying to get followers by trying to try to appeal to the bulk of the population, or the middle class, in order to get more supporters. An interesting myth that Mantsios makes in his essay is how Americans don’t have equal opportunities.
In Mantsios’ “Class in America” he provides us with four myths about the United States. In one of these myths the idea is brought up that the United States is, at its core, a classless society. It is also states that whether rich or poor, everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. The myth also states that health care and education are provided to everyone regardless of their financial stability. This idea about a classless society is exactly what Mantsios claims it to be, a myth. It is untrue to state that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law, and to believe that whatever differences exist in financial standing are insignificant. There are clear distinctions between different groups of people depending on their economic and social standing.
In the “Class Of America” article, the author Gregory Mantsios displays his point of view on what society says class individuals are in and how that affects their lives further than people in America think. Mantsios believes that citizens in the United States prefer not be put in different social categories like higher, middle, or lower class just because of the income value. Mantsios elaborates on his beliefs about class categories in America and disproves them by using statistics for evidence. In example, he claims that the class you are placed in will affect your lifestyle. Mantsios also debates that whatever class you fall under reflects on how well you will prosper in life, just like schools connecting test scores and the level of schooling the student receives. Whatever class a person is categorized in defining their future in life, even, if they choose to not see it that way that’s how it is.
The phrase “The American Dream” is an incredible thing. The promise of that dream has convinced hundreds of millions of people that, as a citizen of this country, you can accomplish anything if you work hard enough. Whether you want to be a doctor, athlete, or even a president, those things should all be within your reach, regardless of your class or race! America is the nation where dreams can come true. Unfortunately, for a large number of people that believe this, this is a concept that does not apply to them. Many Americans find opportunities are denied to them because of their race. Others can be found living in poverty and far from anything that would be considered desirable. Statistics show that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans earned 9 percent of all U.S. income in 1979. Did you know that the same 1 percent earns 24 percent of all U.S. income today? That is a staggering example of the income inequality in America. The American Dream is that if you work hard and have the ability you will succeed, but that has become an impossibility for millions of disadvantaged Americans because the income inequality has been steadily increasing since the 1970s and racism and poverty are constant barriers to their success and financial security.
Even though Black music such as blues did not end oppression, it helped rehabilitate the oppressed by creating a new identity through music such as blues. The Social construction of racial formation categorized racial groups to construct their social identity. A form of this basis is determined from skin color or skin pigment. Black music such as blues were used as a form of arts to escape the oppression that was placed upon them based on their skin color.
All the while innocent people around the world pay the highest of price as they watch loved ones and possessions be destroyed by record breaking weather phenomenon. Again all in pursuit of making some of the wealthiest people in the world even more wealthy. Even after atrocities are committed in pursuit of ever increasing wealth for a small number of people, the American people never care enough to do something about it. Instead they continually vote for politicians who will continue to let atrocities be committed in the name of profit. They do this because secretly and even overtly the American people envy these captain of industries as success stories that the wish to become just like. The most recent example of the culture of greed in America ruining the lives of millions of innocent human beings was the 2008 financial crisis. Bankers, hedge fund managers will the help of friendly politicians, single handedly destroyed the world economy. The did this by first removing regulation of derivatives and the bank 's ability to use leverage. Then the bankers risked their own firms as well as millions of homeowners livelihoods, simply to get a larger bonus for themselves. Then after the
America has always seen as the symbolic ideal country of prosperity and equality. This is the reason why people come to America hoping to become successful, but in matter of fact we all have an equal plan field to be successful is not entirely true. For there are social boundaries that keep use limited based upon our own status. Whether we are born of a low class or of a high class the possibility of economic mobility in a sense are predetermined by two factors of social class and success together they both affecting one’s another opportunity of success. In order to achieve success, we must know that it is made up of two main concepts and they are fortune and position. But when a person is limited by their class prohibiting them to achieve success, the point of trying is meaningless. However, there is a way to break the construct that keep groups stuck in the lower-class and is through education. Education gives more opportunities for success to the individuals and since education is very important, culture and the government should focus more directly upon this to reach economic stability. Class standing directly affects economic success in America by limiting a person’s chance of success however; one can overcome by focusing more upon education and culture.
People Like Us: Social Class in America. Dir. Louis Alvarez and Andy Kolker. Center for
In his essay “Land of Opportunity” James W. Loewen details the ignorance that most American students have towards class structure. He bemoans the fact that most textbooks completely ignore the issue of class, and when it does it is usually only mentions middle class in order to make the point that America is a “middle class country. This is particularly grievous to Loewen because he believes, “Social class is probably the single most important variable in society. From womb to tomb, it correlates with almost all other social characteristics of people that we can measure.” Loewen simply believes that social class usually determine the paths that a person will take in life. (Loewen 203)
Race is easily defined as the idea that biological differences between humans causes different skin pigmentation. Racism is the concept that a person, or people, are inferior as a result of having a certain skin color. Previously, it was speculated that biological differences that result in different skin pigmentation also cause differences in intellectual capabilities. With that being said, race is an intricate topic that can be grossly misinterpreted by humans. The idea of race derives from humankind harboring the compelling urge to objectify everything. This urge to objectify everything has created racist principles that have become ingrained in society. The concept that certain humans are inferior to others on the premise of skin color is irrefutably toxic to society, but common misinterpretations of what race is can
“There is a wide belief that Americans are less class conscious than Europeans” (Vanneman). Because the United States consumes more than any other country, the global economy relies on our consumption. “The middle class is an ambiguous social classification, broadly reflecting the ability to lead a comfortable life” (Kharas). During the industrial revolution, there were aristocrat traditions in royalty, class, and rank in Europe. In America, the industrial revolution was coming of a wealthy nation. The United States is has a two party system, Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats wanted more people in the middle class, mainly blacks and immigrants. The Republicans wanted to protect the people who were already in the middle class, whites, and successful working people. The middle class in America is sometimes threatened by its own success. “The definition of the middle class is the people of generic roots like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Robert Johnson, and Sam Walton can become billionaires” (Hockenberry). Not everyone who is in the middle class can become a billionaire and using their stories as an example is the death of the American
Broadly speaking, race is seen or is assumed to be a biologically driven set of boundaries that group and categorize people according to phenotypical similarities (e.g. skin color) (Pinderhughes, 1989; Root, 1998). The categorical classification of race can be traced back to the 16th century Linnaen system of human “races” where each race was believed to be of a distinct type or subspecies that included separate gene pools (Omi & Winant, 1994; Spickard, 1992; Smedley & Smedley, 2005). Race in the U.S. initially began as a general categorizing term, interchangeable with such terms as “type” or “species”. Over time, race began to morph into a term specifically referring to groups of people living in North America (i.e. European “Whites”, Native American “Indians”, and African “Negroes”). Race represented a new way to illustrate human difference as well as a way to socially structure society (Smedley & Smedley, 2005).
Over the last couple of weeks, all of the readings, lectures, discussions and videos have been very informative. A lot of the information in the readings are what people experience daily or witness with their own eyes. The issues going on with class, gender, and race can be upsetting and hard to grasp because the reality of the matter is we live in a very segregated and divided society. Topics in the lecture that stood out were racial inequality and social movement. When it comes to racial inequality, I witnessed a similar situation while in undergraduate school. A professor at my school displayed hidden racial misconduct towards a black female student in a course.
These classes are based upon the amount of money that the people in those classes make each year. The amount of money people earn each year is strongly determined by the job that they have, and the type of job that someone has is strongly determined by the amount of education they obtain. People in the lower class make about less than $9,000 each year, generally with a part-time job and a high school education. People in the working class make about $15,000- $25,000 in a year with a service job and some college experience, but no college degree. As the salary, education level, and occupation increase, so does the individuals social class. The highest class, the upper class, make more than $200,000 a year are in high corporate jobs, and have a graduate degree. Each of these classes, also comes with a different lifestyle because of how much money they