Short quiz
- How do property, power, and prestige affect your personal social class? According to Marx’s conflict perspective in what social class do you belong and why?
Property, power, and prestige affect my personal social class as it is the one that is used in the classification of the cadre where I belong either low class, middle class, or upper class. For instance, when I have more property, more power, and prestige, I will be classified to be among the upper social class. On the other hand, when I have fewer or less of these, I will be classified to be among the low social class. Conversely, according to Marx’s conflict perspective, I belong to the proletariat class. This is because I do not possess any means of production at the moment for me to be classified among the bourgeoisie.
- From your perspective, what are the current shifts in global stratification? How does this affect the economic and political power of the United States?
From my perspective, the current shifts in global stratification is in terms of technology. In the current age of increased technological innovation and invention, new devices are being introduced day in day out. People are now able to get connected to the whole world through the use of technology, thus making the world a global village. For instance, there are a million subscribers to various social networking platforms such as twitter. The increased interconnectedness has affected the economic and political power of the United States as this superpower is now able to control the airways and track any device using advanced technology.
- In the current economic situation in the United States what do you project will happen to social mobility and the American Dream?
In the current economic situation in the United States which is characterized by booming as a result of increased innovations and inventions, I believe that there will be an improvement in social mobility. The rationale behind this claim is that technology has led to increased sharing of ideas. With increased idea sharing, there will be a reduction in the issue of brain drain which forces people to move from one geographical location to another to offer their skills or services. On the other hand, for the case of the American dream, the current economic situation in the United States favors the nation to become great again, and this is because of the increased utilization of the economy.
- Describe the Horatio Alger myth. Based on your own experience discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the myth for both men and women.
According to the Horatio Alger myth, it is outlined that anyone can work hard to get rich. In simpler terms, a poor person can get rich as long as he or she makes effort by working hard. This myth is in line with the quote which goes from rags to riches. Based on my experience, this myth has the strength of making both men and women work hard as no one wants to be poor. The effect of this is that it leads to increased productivity. On the other hand, the weakness of the myth is that some men and women end up working hard while upholding this myth and never get rich thus getting demoralized in the process.