Wilkinson and Pickett explore two of the most common assumptions about the social gradient that shows people at the bottom of social hierarchies suffer more problems- circumstances and individual tendencies. The authors, in critiquing the material explanation to societal problems, argue that richer nations should do better than poorer ones. This is a flawed argument, as national wealth does not indicate its distribution. A generally wealthy nation may have poorer diets, less educational opportunities, or worse housing in comparison to a less wealthy nation. Wilkinson and Pickett also give reason as to why everyone in a society should be concerned about inequality, not merely those vulnerable to the problems with which it coincides.
Like offense and bitterness, it grows in layered fashion, often becoming an immobilizing force that sets a limiting factor in the person's life. Insecurity robs by degrees; the degree to which it is entrenched equals the degree of power it has in the person's life. As insecurity can be distressing and feel threatening to the psyche, it can often be accompanied by a controlling personality or avoidance, as psychological defense
There are many social factors that contribute to creating one's identity. One of the most prevalent of the many things is social class. This is a key component for shaping how one may view him or herself. It shapes what a person is supposed to do, stereotypically, which while it does not fully prevent people from doing things outside of their zone of approval it can make it very hard for them to achieve goals that are outside of their standard choices. According to the book, the Ewell family, the poorest people in town, are just a bunch of ill raised, uneducated children and their drunken irresponsible father.
Social position reflects personal talents and abilities in a competitive economy. Unequal rewards boost economic production by encouraging people to work harder and try new ideas. Linking greater rewards to more important work is widely accepted. The social-conflict approach also looks the problem from a macro level of analysis. Stratification is a division of a society’s resources that benefits some people and harms others.
The author of the article titled Arguments for Raising Minimum wage, Sue-Lynn Cathy, addresses poverty and how to fight it. Sue suggests that a minimum wage increase would help individuals that are considered a part of the “near poor” category move out of poverty entirely and to keep it that way permanently. I agree with Sue’s stance on this argument, I think that it would help people who are in poverty, and really would not only be beneficial to us as individuals, but as a nation as well. Supply-side politicians generally argue that a minimum wage is bad for the economy because of the fact that it artificially pushes up income levels, and that in time it is bad for business and will lead to inflation, and also inefficient capital markets. Joyce Hanson, author of Four Arguments for Raising the National Minimum Wage, gives four reasons as to why our national minimum wage should be raised such as the following: 1.
By placing emphasizing a lower-status groups weakness, according to their weaknesses and flaws, they justify those that are in a higher status maintaining the status quo and in doing so allowing the higher status individual to feel secure in their position. Stereotype groups’ people together using what the person knows, or thinks they know from past experiences or outside influences, and utilizes that information to
Coercive Power Coercive power is based on the fear of consequences when the person does not follow instructions of their leader. This type of fear can be a physical or mental pain discomfort based on the frustrations of the unknown. Conceive power can be displayed by threats of loosing job and privileges, being demoted and other types of consequential actions. Coercive power could also be used to conceal key information (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Employee 2 could possibly use conceive power based on how valuable he is his position to get more pay or even better schedule than the one he requested or other job advantages.
If a good or a service has a negative externality, then the cost to society is greater than the cost a consumer is paying for it. Since consumers make a decision under the assumption that their marginal cost equals their marginal benefit, they forget to take into account the cost of the negative externality. This usually results in market inefficiencies or market failures. Cigarette smoking is a prime example of a negative externality. Individual smokers can be harmful not only to themselves but also to the people around them who in turn are coerced to become passive smokers.
The education system in the United States has become one of the major social issues today. The conservative, formal system of education in the United States is being criticized for perpetuating a cycle of inequality in society. The inequalities within society, in general, are creating negative consequences within the educational system in the U.S. Education is presumed by many to be the great equalizer in U.S. society. Education is perceived to be the process by which the disadvantaged get their chance to be upwardly mobile. The idea is that knowledge is power and in order to be successful, financially, you must obtain higher levels of education.
The services provided by welfare states differ from country to country, some have highly developed systems than others (Giddens, 2009). In most societies, poverty and social exclusion at the bottom are alleviated by the welfare states. This essay is therefore going to discuss how these welfare states use ideological state apparatus to secure legitimacy of continued inequalities in capitalist societies. Ideology can be defined as shared ideas or beliefs which serve to justify the interests of dominant groups” Giddens (1997:583). Its relationship to power is that it legitimizes the differential power that groups hold and as such it distorts the real situation that people find themselves in.