...The American Dream can be defined as every citizen having an equal opportunity to obtain success or security through hard work, determination, climbing the social ladder, and undergoing social mobility. I disagree with the idea of social mobility being achievable for most Americans and The American Dream being attainable. There are different types of social mobility. Intergenerational mobility is the change that family members make in social class from one generation to the next. Upward and downward social mobility which is the movement up the social class ladder or down the social class ladder. Structural mobility, movement up or down the social class ladder that is due to changes in structure of society. Finally exchange mobility, the large number of people moving up the social class ladder, while a large number of people move down. Social class is a large group of people who rank closely to one another in property, power and prestige. People tend to believe that there is the rich, the poor and people who are in the middle. Carl Marx argues that there are two classes, capitalists and workers, while sociologists have denounced this view by arguing that these...
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...the social issue. So, what is Social Mobility? First, let’s go to its technical or dictionary definition. Social mobility is the movement of people from one social class or economic level to another (“Social Mobility”, Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd Edition). This term is widely used both in Sociology and Economics. It usually refers to vertical movement or moving up or down in rank. For example, if a soldier becomes a sergeant from a corporal, that would be vertical movement. However, it may also refer to horizontal movement or moving from one rank to another of the same social level. Example of this would be a principal who resigns from one school to become the principal of another school. With this definition in mind, we can see that Social Mobility is “movement”. The technical definition doesn’t restrict about the direction – whether you move up or down or just within what’s mentioned before as horizontal movement. Social Mobility is a term used in the objective comparison of economic or social states. Looking at the events around us, we can see that people care more about upward movement. When people talk about Social Mobility, they are likely referring to progress or development. Everyone wants to move up. Like what we commonly see in families. Almost everyone gives importance to good education. Parents keep reminding their children to be good in their studies so they can have good jobs. People want the opportunity to move up. People believe that progress is something...
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...SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: INTRODUCTION AND SIGNIFICANCE Social strata are levels of social statuses. Members of a society who possess similar amount of wealth, power, and privileges occupy each social stratum. We can see layers of social statuses occupied by members of society. Organized systems of such strata are conceptualized as social stratification system. Social stratification refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. Four basic principles of stratification: 1. Social stratification is characteristic of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences. Children born into wealth families are more likely than born into poverty to enjoy good health, achieve academically, succeed in their life’s work, and live well into old age. Neither rich nor poor people are responsible for creating social stratification, yet this system shapes the lives of them all. 2. Social stratification persists over generations. In all societies parents pass their social position along to their children, so that patterns of inequality stay much the same from generation to generation. Some individual experience change in their position in the social hierarchy. For most people, social standing remains much the same over a lifetime. 3. Social stratification is universal but variable. Social stratification is found everywhere. At the same time, what is unequal and how unequal people are vary from one society to another. 4. Social stratification involves not...
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...Income Inequality in America: An Analysis of Policies from Reagan to Obama and What Policies Can Help Close the Gap Income inequality in America has been of great importance in recent election cycles. Candidates from both sides of the political aisle have addressed the growing economic and social concern of increasing income and wealth inequality throughout the country. However, policies to address this growing concern are vastly different. This paper seeks to examine policies from Reagan to Obama that contributed to today’s massive income and wealth inequality. Was it tax reform throughout the 1980s and 1990s that contributed to inequality? Did the Federal Reserve perpetuate policies through massive quantitative easing that led to...
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...examines the rate of upward mobility on the lower, middle and upper class. The data suggest that even after controlling for differences between non-college graduates and college graduates —including such factors as age and location— it is far less likely to move up in social class and/or acquire substantial power if a person is not born of parents with said class and/or power. On average, individuals earning 100,000 or more a year, come from homes where their parents or guardian made 100,000 or more per year. The impact of an affluent family was even bigger in occupations where technical skills are more prevalent, such as doctors, lawyers, and chemists. Those individuals who came from an affluent household were 85 percentage more likely to graduate and gain employment making six figures. Those individuals that did not come from an affluent house hold were 75 percent more likely to be involved in criminal activity, underage pregnancy and not make over 30,000 a year. Recent studies propose that there is less economic mobility in the United States than has long been acknowledged. The last twenty years has seen a significant drop-off in median household income growth interrelated to earlier generations. My findings demonstrate that individuals who come from homes netting higher income per year place their offspring in better financial standing, hence better chance of upward mobility than an individual that is from a home netting a lower, middle to average income. The offspring from the...
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...Social Mobility Paper Willie J. Williams Jr. University of Phoenix/Sociology 100 Becky Russell December 14, 2009 “Introduction” Citizens can move up or down the social ladder throughout their existence or from one generation to the next. Everyone is offered the same chance and opportunity at improving their lives socially and the way each generation handles adversity lies behind the idea of equal opportunity and how you utilize your god giving talents. Social Mobility Social Mobility is measure in one by seeing whether rich parents give birth to rich kids and poor parents give birth to poor kids, or see if the incomes of parents and their children are distinct. Can children of poor parents become rich? It looks as though the American Dream is far more likely to remain a mirage for Americans than it is for citizens residing in other countries. A larger disparity of results seems to make it effortless for wealthy parents to leave their advantages. While income differences have expanded in the USA as well as Britain, social mobility has slowed up. Bigger incomes contrasts can make it tougher to attain opportunity fairness because they amplify social class segregation and possibly bigotry. Willie James Williams Sr. Willie James Williams Sr.; born the 3rd child of Frank and Alma Williams on the 4th of July, 1939. He didn’t get to know his father like most sons do, because his father was killed on the train tracks of Sylacauga, Alabama. The cause of death was stated in a report...
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...Cammie Denton Dr. Foster WR 122 April 17, 2016 Rhetorical Analysis of Barack Obama’s Remarks on Economic Mobility On December 4th, 2013 Barack Obama spoke on the subject of income inequality and upward mobility. This speech was delivered to, and hosted by, the Center for American Progress (CAP). The president uses striking language to appeal to the emotion and logic of the audience. Obama executes his appeals in a variety of ways with the express purpose of painting the issue of growing inequality and decreased upward mobility as the “defining challenge of our time.” President Obama describes these issues as what drives everything he does as POTUS. Obama’s speech was quite intellectual and technical, peppered in detail with the numbers and statistics of current social and economic inequalities, appealing to logos. While he builds his argument based on these substantial facts, the overall feeling of his language is that of compassion. This compassion seems to drive his purpose and thus emotionally connecting to his audience. Further, Obama appeals to ethos during his speech as he outlines how current market-caused inequalities are threatening everything that makes America great. Obama masterfully balances his passionate language with solid facts and straight-forward logic in this effectively persuasive speech. Before expanding upon the specifics of the rhetorical methods utilized by the president in this speech, I think it is important to highlight that the audience (CAP)...
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...The Issue of Income Equality in the US By SOC 100: Intro to Sociology April 29, 2012 A major social problem in America today is its inequality of the distribution of income. "Income inequality refers to the gap between the rich and the poor. The United States has the most unequal income distribution in the industrialized world, and it is growing at a faster rate than any other industrialized country" Bernard Sanders (1997). What's really going on with the economy? - Unequal distribution of wealth and income. [ONLINE] Available at: www.usatoday.com. [Last Accessed 04/27/2012]. Society defines this social issue as the disparity between the few at the very top of the income ladder, and the many at the bottom. Recently, the Occupy Movement has defined this problem has fight between the 1% and the 99%. The social classes that are most impacted by this disparity pretty much cover the spectrum as we are all affected. The most latent effects are probably found in the poor, in single-mothers, and in the minority classes. Those are the classes that have the least amount of economic and social power at the onset. A persons clothing, housing and educational opportunities usually depend on their class, but that is a direct reflection of their income. A person does not gain any class or power without their income being taken into consideration. The only problem is, is that there is also class inequality, which further prohibits people to earn an equal...
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...October 29, 2014 IS 206GENDER ANALYSIS AND DEVELOPMENT THE IMPACT OF INEQUALITY Box 1: COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON INEQUALITY AND SOCIAL MOBILITY ACROSS OECD AND LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES Presented by Del Mundo, Maria Naida Box 2: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL COHESION, SOCIAL TOLERANCE OF INEQUALITY Presented by Gutierrez, Cherry Lou THE IMPACT OF INEQUALITY ABSTRACT October 29, 2014 There is growing evidence and recognition on the powerful and corrosive effects of inequality on economic growth, poverty, social mobility and political cohesion. This paper finds that the real and potential impacts of inequality in relation to economic growth, poverty, social mobility, social stability and cohesion. KEYWORDS: Inequality, Economic Growth, Poverty, Social Mobility, Political Cohesion, Gender I. INTRODUCTION In relation to the worldwide gender gap, in so far as inequality also exist in political imbalance in the Philippines distinguished through the partisan move of a party, wherein, such intent, policies and term of their advocacy is their ultimate road map and reluctantly to engage in the opponent’s adherence. Colonial mindset, attributable to the Spanish era wherein their colonial stay in the country portrays the strictness and conservative ways in precluding to whom or to which is one’s belief will end up to, and upon the continuance of the American regime, where westernized ways has gotten in the minds of the Filipinos, that every choice of an American decision draws correct conclusion...
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...The working class are those minimally educated people who engage in “manual labour” with little or no prestige. The middle class are the “sandwich” class. These white collar workers have more money than those below them on the “social ladder,” but less than those above them. The upper class have much money, which leaves them with much leisure time for cultivating a variety of interests. A number of sociologists have attempted to define social class. It is not an easy concept to describe. Marx and Engels (1848) defined social class as being divided into 'The Bourgeoisie' who owned the land and factories. They exploited the lower working masses that were termed, 'The Proletariat'. Marx's (1848) view was that social class was linked to the conflict between the two classes. Marx and Engels (1848) defined social class in relation to the ownership of means of production Weber (1946), on the other hand, divided social class into power, wealth and prestige. Social class was based on social order. Power was distributed according to a set of formal rules. Weber (1946) stated that 'class' was based on individuals' attitudes to others. Today, social class may be defined in a number of different ways. Firstly, in economic terms, for example, occupation, income and wealth. Secondly, in political terms, that is, status and power. Thirdly, in terms of an individual's culture, for example, different beliefs, values, thoughts about what is socially acceptable and educational level. However, there...
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...worker is almost impossible, especially if issues are present that will impact work. For the amount of money earned, a bare bones lifestyle was extremely difficult to meet. Her standard of living, or “the level of wealth available to acquire material goods and comforts to maintain a particular socioeconomic style” (Griffiths et al., 2015, p. 202), decreased notably from her former occupation, especially when she was working with the maids, suffering rashes and pains. In addition, her income, defined as “the money a person earns from work or investments” (Griffiths et al., 2015, p. 201) left her with a strict budget that left her at the brink of disaster. Throughout all of her jobs, she encountered troubles with management, as they often mistreated their employees, especially in Jerry’s through a manager called B.J. and also in The Maids by a manager named Ted. When she completed her investigation, she realized that living costs were becoming too high relative to wages. Also, she found that the economic boom of the 1990s had little effect on the wages of low-wage...
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...keep up with two jobs, she questions how single mothers are able to adapt to such circumstances, with the additional pressure of having a child as well as fulfilling basic human needs of food, shelter and clothing. Many low wage jobs are demanding and require people to work hard and put in a great deal of effort. Despite that, however hard they work, there are several barriers that prevent individuals from moving up the social ladder, thereby making it difficult to to fulfill the American...
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...Student’s name Subject Title Lecturer’s Name Date of submission Income Inequality Introduction The problem of an increase in household income inequality has been a major talk point in political discussion and public policy. According to Winston Churchill, inequality is unavoidable especially in capitalist societies. However, President Barrack Obama views inequality as not only a major problem but as a defining problem of this generation. It cannot be disputed that income inequality in the United States has been rising over the past four decades. The trend is evident when income is measured both before and after taxes. The income inequality in the U.S today can be compared to those of other developed countries. However, the country ranks amongst the worst in inequality especially after taxes and transfers. This means that less income that is received from higher income households trickles down to lower income earners. A recent study in 2011 revealed that the top earners income increased by around 275% after income transfers and federal taxes. Today, there is ongoing debate as to the effects, causes and solutions of the income inequality. Over the years, debates have arisen whether the income inequality gap in America is a social or an ethical problem. Despite businesses breaking profit records, these income gains have been concentrated on the top 1% (Glenn 58). It is often argued that income inequality is a social injustice and that it is unfair. However, social injustice...
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...about Depression was the degree of passivity or docility with which people greeted it. 2. There were tens of millions of people living in poverty even before the great crash of 1929 3. Second, I think, is that we see here, you might say, the flip side of the famous American value of individualism, that if we congratulate ourselves for our success and give ourselves a pat on the back for boot-strapping ourselves up the ladder of social mobility, it follows naturally that if we don’t do that or slip down that ladder, we have nobody but ourselves to blame. 4. There had been an agricultural depression that, by 1929, was already a decade old. 5. Nearly half the American people still live in the countryside in the 1920s, and they lived in the grip of a chronic depression. 6. If you were black, if you were a famer, or if you were a recent immigrant living in America in the 1920’s you did not share, generally speaking, in that so-called 1920s prosperity. 7. From the onset of the American industrial revolution in the early nineteenth century right down to the 1930s, the American economy was essentially on a roller coaster ride, where they’d have these periodic boom and bust cycles-depressions in the 1830s, the 1850s, the 1870s, the 1890s; right after World War I was another one-on a scale that we have not seen for the last half century. 8. Insofar as there is a consensus, it seems to be that the First World War so destabilized the major industrial economies and...
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...Chapter 9 – Global Stratification Learning Objectives • Define social stratification and explain why it is sociologically significant. • Describe and provide examples of the four major systems of social stratification. • Discuss the relationship between gender and social stratification. • Describe the major points of disagreement between Karl Marx and Max Weber regarding the meaning of social class in industrialized societies. • As articulated by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, list the functions that social stratification provides for society. • Discuss Melvin Tumin's rebuttal to Davis and Moore's functionalist view of social stratification. • Explain the conflict perspective's view of social stratification as it relates to class conflict and scarce resources. • Evaluate Gerhard Lenski's attempt to synthesize the functionalist and conflict perspectives' views on social stratification. • Define ideology and understand how elite classes use it to maintain social stratification. • Compare the social stratification system in Great Britain and the former Soviet Union to the social stratification system in the United States. • Identify the major characteristics associated with the Most Industrialized Nations, Industrializing Nations, and Least Industrialized Nations. • Describe and evaluate the major theories pertaining to the origins of and maintenance of global stratification. Chapter Summary Social stratification...
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