Sunday, March 29, 2009

Are Human Beings Free?

There is not freedom in the world when so much of what we do is caused by forces that we hardly even understand. I agree on what Charon states in pg.110 when he says: "Freedom is an illusion that people are taught". Freedom means control, understanding and choice. Control is the essence of freedom. For example, if it is a family, society, unconsciousness, emotions, impulse, habit, social class, culture that cause what we do or think, or severely limit our choices, then freedom does not exist (pg.113 from Charon text book, Chapter 5)
Freedom involves thinking. To act without thinking is to act without freedom. Also, to act with thinking that is controlled by others is to act without freedom. Without freedom to think, freedom to act is an empty freeedom because action is guided by ideas, values, and norm given to us by others or by the larger society (pg.116). To ilustrate, a child raised in an educated family may pursuit education no only because he or she wants to but, also due to the enviorement he or she grew on. What we see and learned from our parent usually stay with us. Another example: We do not eat because we just want to put something in our mouth, we do eat because our organism, our body feel for it and send some message to our brain that make us act in accordance to it.
About the way upper class institutions function to keep those at the top and keep others out, I do not agree with this. As Human Beings we all have a chance to decide, go and do whatever we want to. Opportunities "should be equal for everybody".
The only new idea that came to me across this reading is: Thinking is an important aspect of human behavior. If I am in control of what I do, then my thinking is central to that control. We can only be free if we can move without being controlled externally or internally, when only we as a person can control ourselves. Difficult to act like but, no imposible either.

Dumhoff "Who Rules America?"

1. What does the term ‘wealth distribution’ describe?
Has to do with the concentration of ownership of marketable assets, which may include tangibles such as stocks, bonds and copyrights, also insurance polices, houses, cars, and furniture.
2. Look at the chart on p. 197. Has wealth become more concentrated in the wealthy sections of the population of the U.S. since 1983? Has the net worth of the wealthy gone up or down during that time period?
No at all. From 1982-1992 Only 1% of the population has got some wealth, the other 99% has descrease. Comparing results from 1983 to 1992 the net has also decrease. As we can see on the table the net worth has decrease on the 80% of the population, by 1983 it was 18.7 and on 1992 it was 16.3. In other words it has decrease 2.4% But for the wealthy that is only 1% of the population we can see that by 1983-1989 the net worth increase 5.2% (1983 it was 33.8, 1989 39.2) but, by 1992 it went down to 37.2 There was not any significant change.

3. What kinds of schools do they go to?
They receive a distinctive education. This education begins early in life in preschools that frequently are attached to a neighborhood, church or high social status. Schooling continues during the elementary years at a local private school called a day school. During the adolescent years the student may remain at day school, but there is a strong chance that at least one or two years will be spent away from home at a boarding school in a quiet rural setting. Higher education will take place at one of a small number of heavily endowed private colleges and universities.

4. How are their schools different from public schools in terms of language and culture?
For example, in those private schools the principal is a headmaster or rector, the teachers are sometimes called masters, and the students are in forms, not grades. Great emphasis is placed on the building of "character." The role of the school in preparing the future leaders of America is emphasized through the speeches of the headmaster and the frequent mention of successful alumni.
5. What are their jobs?
Their job is to create a feeling of separateness and superiority that comes from having survived a rigorous education. Eving Goffman calls "total institutions," isolating their members from the outside world and providing them with a set of routines and traditions that encompass most of their waking hours.
"At school we were made to feel somewhat better than other people becuase of our class. That existed, and I've always disliked it intensely. Unfortunately, I'm afraid some of these things rub off on one." states a retired business leader.

6. How does their lifestyle become institutionalized, and made into a relatively permanent structure? What is an example of one way that this happens?
A majority of private schools graduates pursue careers in business, finance, or corporate law. For example, a classification of the occupations of a sample of the graduates of four private schools like St.Mark's, Groton, Hotchkiss, and Andover showed that the most frequent occupation for all but the Andover graduates was some facet of finance and banking. Others became presidents of medium-size businesses or were partners in large corporate law firms. A small handful went to work as executives for major national coorporations.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Why are people unequal in society?

Every time we interact with one another, inequality emerges in some form or another. Individual qualities, for example, not only will differentiate us from one another but also often will become the basis for inequality between us. Pg.78 (Charon text book)
Webber writes that we are unequal in three orders, in society: the economic, the social order, and the political order. Which it can be translate into class; race, ocupation, education, gender, and ethnic group membership; and political positon.

It's important to note that almost every sociologist who tries to explain inequality brings in the process called "the division of labor". To Karl Max this is central an it is economic: Economic activities eventually lead to a division of labor in society, where people do increasingly different things from one another. Division of labor inevitably brings advantages to some people over others. Pg.80 (chapter 4 from charon text book) Division of labor can also be found in families, in friendship groups, in school, in churches...wherever there is a social organization.
Immigration. The way some immigrants are treated, the way they live and conditions of work to what they are exposed to, is a good subject to show the inequality that exists in this world.

In the Garza article Pg232-239(addler text book) I could learn more about mexican immigration and I got to respect and appreciate even more those human beings. We are all immigrants and as human beings we should respect one another. We are all equals no matter status, race, gender, religion...we have to love one another. Love to be loved and respect to be respected. It's hard to say it but inequality in this world will never go away.

Inequality in Society

Sociology 100 Professor Wissinger WORKSHEET ON CHAPTER IDEAS
Fill in the blanks based on your reading of Chapter 4 for today:

p. 78: In 1997, the wealthiest 1 percent owned 40 percent of the total wealth.

p. 80 “Social interaction develops _social patterns. Once created, these patterns_hang on. One of these patterns is _social structure, a pattern that is almost always a system of inequality. That is what we need to focus our attention on.”

p. 80: The division of labor refers to the fact that economic activities eventually lead to a division of labor in society, where people do increasingly different things from one another.


p. 80: The main idea is that if someone is able to accumulate economic resources, they will develop an advantage over others.


p. 81: The division of labor, and therefore inequality can be found in

  1. families
  2. friendship groups
  3. schools
  4. politics
  5. churches


p. 81: “Once leadership positions are created, a division of labor is established.”

p. 82-83: An example of an intentional (e.g. one that is created on purpose) division of labor is a form of social organization called a bureaucracy.

p. 83 What are the five goals of forming a bureaucracy?

  1. Get things done as efficiently as possible
  2. Responsabilities and lines of authority are clearly distributed
  3. To ensure that the commands of the few are carried out by the many
  4. Achieve the goals of the organization
  5. Creation of inequality


pp. 80-89
Why does social inequality arise in the first place?
list the phrases the book uses to explain

  1. The economic division of labor and the rise of social inequality_p.80
  2. The organization division of labor _p.81
  3. The intentional division__p.82
  4. Social conflict, the emergence of winners and losers_p.83
  5. Social Institution of private property, the unequal distribution of privilege_p.86
  6. The interplay of power, privilege, and prestige_p.87

Read the quote on p. 86. This quote explains the idea behind which of the above causes of social inequality? #4 Social Conflict, the emergence of winners and losers

p. 89 What are the five mechanisms the work to cause inequality to continue?

1. Efforts of the powerful
2. Social institution
3. Culture
4. Socialization
5. Instruments of force

p. 89 “Social inequality arises from the development of a Social Structure.”

p. 90 Who benefits from a system of social inequality? Those who has power

p. 92 List an example of an institution Charon mentions that helps inequality to continue Saudi Arabias which is a society where almost everything that exists works to maintain the wealth and power of a few families and the dominance of men over women. Also in South Africa, the forced separation of the races for purposes of domination by the whites, was maintained through a complex set of institutions. Another example is china, where government, military, education, and media combine to help ensure the continued dictatorship of a small party.

p. 94 The statement “if you work hard, you can rise to the top” is an example of a set of ideas used in the United States to justify and make people accept social inequality.

p. 95 Another example of a statement of ideas that justify inequality is that upper classes are more superior or more deserving. They are more talented, more hardworking, more educated, more naturally superior.

p. 97 In addition to culture, Socialization causes people to accept the system of social inequality.

p. 98 What is the result of the process you filled into the blank above from p. 97 in terms of how people respond to authority? People feel acceptance to obey people in charge.

p. 99 When normal social forces fail to keep people on board with the current system of inequality, violence and threats is (are) the last resort.

p. 100 Is inequality inevitable? YES/NO NO