Global Inequality

We should care about global inequality because if affects us all. Everything is becoming more and more connected and interdependent including economies and jobs. Global inequality has both positive and negative implications. One of the many issues when it comes to global inequality is who benefits? Those who benefit from the positive are unlikely to want or work for drastic change. Global inequality can be seen as a positive for big business. They are free to move their factories and other services from one country where the cost of doing business is high to another where the cost is much lower. The businesses bottom lines certainly benefit from this. That trickles down to the management, employees and the shareholders of the company. Consumers also benefit from global inequality because the prices of goods and services can be kept down. These benefits are part of what keeps the system going even though it may have negative implications. The people who now form the labor force may or may not benefit depending on working conditions and wages. The negative implications extend to the people who lost their jobs when the local factory moved. Global inequality is a puzzle with many pieces and won't ever be eliminated. As we become more and more global we need to work at managing the negative implications and keeping them to a minimum.

How much does social class matter in America today?

The class system is based on perceptions with different measures for everyone. In the documentary Joe Queenan expressed that it is criticism that drives us and creates our desire and motivation to get more and have more. And while appearances still matter it is much easier to create your own desired lifestyle today. You may be born in a certain area into a family with a certain bank balance but the opportunity to move beyond that has never been better. While social class still matters in the US, today it is much easier to remove the limitations and blur the lines. Technology has created new opportunities in education, one of the important dimensions social class stratification. Social programs and the internet make education more accessible. You can attend Nova through their distance education programs even though you might not have enough money to move to DC. Things that were once only available to those in the upper class such as learning proper etiquette, attending "knife and fork" school or learning about investing and financial planning are available to anyone with access to an internet connection. The same holds true for material possessions. No longer are designer clothes or the fastest lap top or the biggest screen tv available only to those who live in certain areas or to certain classes of people. If, according to the text, "Modern societies have become consumer societies, and in some respects a consumer society is a "mass society" where class differences are overridden" then in today's society it is much easier to regard yourself as being like most other people. By removing limitations and making more available to everyone the distinctions of the social classes are not as important today as they were 10, 20 or 50 years ago.

Does Technology = Isolation?

Americans are more isolated today due to technology. With text messaging, email and numerous social networking sites you can keep in touch with friends and make new ones without ever having to come in contact with people. Technology allows you to be whoever you want - a new and improved version of yourself, if you desire. You are able to link up, have discussions and play games with people in different states or different countries without ever having to reveal yourself. With busy lives full of work and numerous activities it is easy to lose personal contact. Too much technology is an issue to be concerned about because you are depriving yourself of really being part of a group and functioning effectively in a group dynamic. You lose a sense of belonging and have no close personal ties. While technology allows you to reach out to others who share the same ideas and hobbies it eliminates the personal interaction and meaningful relationships that can only be built through face to face contact and by becoming emotionally invested in someone.

The Criminal Justice System

The text presents some compelling arguments about corporate crime, "the offenses committed by large corporations". The reasons a corporation would not adhere to legal regulations always comes down to money. Corporations, especially CEOs in an effort to keep their jobs, must have favorable bottom lines and must continue to grow profits. At what cost? With corporations having such a global reach and affecting so many people dealing with this type of crime is a very delicate situation. It seems the unsuspecting consumer, investor or low wage worker are always the ones most affected even though they were the ones most removed from the immediate issue. I'm not sure there are any solutions to corporate crime as they will always have the resources to find a way around the rules and regulations. And to date shaming a CEO hasn't proven to be an effective deterrent. Corporations, particularly the people who lead them, need to continually be held liable. But how do you do that without imposing some sort of indirect punishment on the unsuspecting consumer, investor or low wage worker? Eliminating corporate crime all together seems an insurmountable task. Directing and managing the risk seems to be the best option.

In the nature vs nurture debate I land more on the nurture side. While both the environment and biology have an influence, the majority of behavior/actions is due to learning through life’s experiences. Part of the definition of socialization is that no individual is immune from the reactions of others around them, which influences and modifies their behavior at all phases of the life course. Some things attributed to nature can be greatly affected by socialization and choice. So while biology may increase the likelihood that you will behave in a certain way it is the socialization (the shaping and molding from learning as you mature) that makes people do things. Your socialization determines how you act, how you perceive things and the changes you make in your behavior as you develop your identity.

We can look at the behavior differences of children who attend preschool (enter a school setting at age 3) versus those who do not (begin school experience with kindergarten). The child who is taught at an early age that normal school behavior is to sit in their chair and listen to the teacher will put that in to practice. A child who has not had that exposure to the school environment will not know how to act in that environment and can only bring their current experience in to that environment. You can also look at self confidence related to body issues with young girls. Their obsession over not good enough and constant striving for something more ideal is shaped by mass media and the constant barrage of “perfect” bodies and a magazines definition of what is beautiful.

The behavior of the guards and prisoners in Stanford Prison Experiment, on a very basic level, could be used as an example of learned behavior. The subjects were randomly selected to be guards or prisoners. All subjects knew how to play both roles. Their behavior presented in these roles showed how they thought a guard should act or how a prisoner should act. This behavior was learned through socialization shaped by the mass media.