Social Class in the US: How much do you think it matters?

Today's world here is the U.S. is all about diversity. People from many different background and ethnicities reside in the U.S. and call it home. The use the open opportunity to seek freedom from oppression from government and societies that affect and cause one to never succeed. But, when we look at out society closely, we can see that we, here in the U.S. have our own class system. Money and income divides everything. People, make groups and look down upon people in the classes below them.


Even though, it is not implied by rules and laws, society still has the social classes which cause people to think differently of people just because of how they are from the way the look, to the things they buy, and to the cars we drive. Their are many things one will look at to differentiate someone and to place barriers between one another. Many things that we look at today are influenced by social classes, once again, which are not implies.


I got the chance to watch a few clips of PBS:People Like Us, and I noticed that in one of the clips, they were telling about how products and restaurants where made just for the upper class, for those who can afford to spend so much. Economically, their are many things that have been differentiated between classes. This has helped the economy progress, because it tends to be that upper class as seen in the PBS:People Like Us documentary don't have the want or the likeness of work and associating with people that are below their class. It is not that fact that they need their special places to eat and dine, or to shop, but the necessity that people with money will buy more and create jobs and allow for people to have employment and for money to move and circulate in the economy. 


Social Class is a brutal issue. We need it, but yet it causes so many problems and diversities from what we call "One Nation." We don't need these classes to run our society, but they are in place for our economy, not because we don't want to associate with one another, their are a few snobs who won't associate and place themselves above all others. Social class only helps the economy to move, by providing luxuries people would buy or not buy depending on income. Transportation is a very big and important example, and a big market. Their are cars like Ferraris and Maybach's which only certain people would buy according to their income, this diversity helps our economy grow and move, otherwise our economy would move very slowly. These classes also provide for specialized jobs which also help our economy. Social class should have a boundary of just maintaining our economy to make sure it works smoothly.   

Conformity: Is it a problem?

Conformity is when people follow the authority of someone with more power and more authority. In some cases this is good. Being able to know that people fear and live under the law and understand order, but in the video we students of Prof. Bobys sociology 200 class saw was about conformity but under the authority of people who cause harm. Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment involving a teacher who would have to give electric shocks to a student (who is involved in the experiment and knows what is going on) whenever the student gets a question wrong. The experiment is a bit eery for those who have to turn the switches for the shocks. The screaming and the yelling of the student who says they are having a bad heart ache and have had been diagnosed for heart problems is all recorded on a playback, and played out loud when the student gives false answers. This test was to see how the teachers reacted and what they did when they were told to press the switches, also remember that the teachers were not forced at all, no harsh treatment was done, but persuasion that they SHOULD continue.

Stanley got the idea for the experiment to see what caused the Nazi soldiers to act in the way they did. He organized the experiment and saw that majority of them kept on going with the experiment until the recording was finished, which they thought was the death of the student. It truly is a good experiment to understand obedience. It is a good and an experiment that didn't break any rules of morality.

Now, in my honest opinion, I think it is an issue that needs to be looked at in today's time and date. If we can see, their are many issues arising where their is an authoritative person missing in charge. Take for example Egypt's power issues. Their is no authoritative figure, the one that was is getting thrown out. In time of struggle, we see issues arising, people can be misled and misused like they were when Hitler came into power. These are situations to be looked at, regardless of how good someone's morals are, they will still act under pressure and take the wrong decision. its support they lack to stand up from the pressure and act smarter and take the better decision.

People need to be able to take their own decisions, and people need to be able to be led by a leader who lets them be moral with their decisions. With the wrong authority, people won't be able to make their decisions, they will have the fear that lurks over the head, and they will choose the wrong. With the right authority, people will be more free to choose what is right and wrong, and good law and government will help ensure that people don't make those wrong decisions.

The Criminal Justice System: Community Policing or Shaming

When we look at crime, we see that the biggest group who has an affect of that crime is our society, the community. Communities look at crimes via media, and they use these crimes to help make themselves learn from other's mistakes. This helps society better themselves from issues such as crime. School and parents will teach their children to avoid this things at young ages and help them go in the right direction with support.

Now, the questions comes to whether or not communities should be able to decide what should be the outcome of a criminal. In my point of view, it shouldn't be. Communities learn from these mistakes, and better themselves with such things as neighborhood watches. Communities shouldn't have the right to decide what to do with a criminal. In many cases, the community is the victim to the criminal's behavior, but if the community was to decide what to do with that criminal, than it would cause the criminal to have a permanent label, which they would never be able to take away, even if they did try to do good and fix themselves and their ways.

Shaming anyone is a disgrace to a community. It's not just shaming the criminal, but the community as a whole. A community should try to better themselves, even if they have a criminal. They should set an example that they were able to perfect their flaws, and help a criminal get on the right track by working a honest living, by supporting his family, and by paying taxes. This is what communities should do rather than embarrassing and mocking someone for their mistakes. The United States is a democracy, the people have the power, the people have the ability to choose and make their decisions, and the people have the responsibility of helping their neighbor, so they can strive to be better community, a better city, a better state, a better nation.

Nature V.S. Nurture

Nature or Nurture. Whats right and whats wrong. It is the way one looks at this debate. How one thinks society is setup, is completely their opinion. When I look at the debate,  I would say everything comes to both nature and nurture.  The way one is raised, and the values they obtain from soaking in while the observe their parents, peers, and their community. We live in a world where things, such as things that happen in the world, the news affect how we look at things, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will react according to the world or to how everyone else they are around reacts. They can have a different nature, where they react and respond to problems differently.

Now, in the 3 minute lecture, they used an example of the equality of women and men. People can say that it us nature that man are dominant, or people can conclude that it is how they are raised and placed in society, but in my point of view it is both. Just because in some societies, they believe that women are naturally supposed to stay at homes and do chores, while men are more dominant, doesn't mean that peoples views can't change. People will see that because society is like that, their views don't have to match. This is what causes changes in societies, and people to think more proactive about issues.