This week we focused on issues of status, roles in society, types of society, and social structure. Based on the films we atched this week and your research, reflect on the following concepts:
What makes American society work?
What is the glue that holds America together?
What is the importance of status?
Which roles are vital for the maintenance of American society?
Refer to our lessons on:
Social structure is the interaction between people of different status and the roles that they perform.
Americans assign more status to people with more money.
A society can be understood by how its people make a living.
Societies generally into three categories: pre-industrial, post-industrial, industrial.
The films we watched were:
30 Days: Minimum Wage
Now on PBS: Taxing the Poor
Now on PBS: College Summit
Respond to the blog by Sunday evening 11:59 p.m.
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6 comments:
What makes American society work?
What is the glue that holds America together?
What is the importance of status?
Which roles are vital for the maintenance of American society?
the thing that i think makes american society work is money. i beleive that money makes the world go round and in our soceity with out money you have nothing. if our ecnomy did not have all the money it did, then it would fall apart. the importance of status is major in our socitey becasue its like the higher status you have the more you get and the more you are respected and known. if you are lower in status then its like you are nobody and you have nothing. in our society we need people who are in charge..people with money who are respected becasue it gives americans a vision of what greatness is and what everybody should be like.
What makes American society work?
What is the glue that holds America together?
What is the importance of status?
Which roles are vital for the maintenance of American society?
Money makes American society work. Money is the foundation for thriving businesses that help to bring stability to society, even the government.
On the other hand it could be the lack of money that glues America and its society together. For example, on the 30 days: minimum wage episode, the couple were poor and barely living on what little they had. But they found a charity run by the church that gave furniture and clothing ect away to the unfortunate. Since, many have some connection with church, they can also donate and feel much more interconnected.
The importance of status in America is high. Lower and middle class look up to the 'high and mighty' because they have wealth and the recognition of others. They also strive to try and become wealthy too, so they can later have a high status in life and in society.
The roles that are vital for the maintenance of american society, are those who are in the middle class. There are many jobs within the middle class such as office work in a large corporation. The corporation relies heavily on the productivity of these middle class people. In contrast, the wealthy corporations like McDonalds heavily relies on the productivity of the lower class people. (How many middle class will you find working at mcdonalds?)
It could also depend on the consumers. So, the most vital roles for the maintenance of American society are both the middle/lowerclass workers and the consumers.
- Jesse D'Amato
I think that money makes American Society. In our society you need money in order to maintain a certain life style. People who have a higher status ill maintain a higher comfort level in society. Since they have more money people who are lower or middle class will look up to them more. In order for the citizens of America to have a comfortable life style the government is in charge. Without the government society's economy will shift.
I believe that business is what makes American society work. That is because without big business American society would beway different than it is now. Business is the driving force behind American culture. The gule that holds America together is money. Without money, this country would not be considered a world power without money. Status is a very important, that is because it dictates who leads. The people with more money have the greatest impact on how society functions. The poor people, do not have as much of a impact on society than the rich people have. The roles that are vital for the maintenace of American society are people that do argicultural work. That is because people that farm create food for us to eat.
-Rohan Wilson Jr
What makes American society work?
What is the glue that holds America together?
What is the importance of status?
Which roles are vital for the maintenance of American society?
I believe that social status and being able to transition from a preindustrial society into an industrial society makes the American society work. Those with higher status are the ones making more money and are the ones investing more of that money into business which helps the society keep up with the new things in the world. America categorizes many people into different status. those who may be "at the bottom" are not looked at as very important to making the American society work but without the people who are considered to have a lower status, the people with the higher status can not perform their jobs well. Everyone is important but Americans only highlight people and businesses with more money more often than those with less money. Going back to one of the films, people who have minimum wage jobs struggle more than those with high paying jobs. Unfortunately, since we only recognize the people with high status most people do not realize that people withing their society do not have it easy. Money seems to be the glue that keeps our society together. Businesses interact with each other with money and who can out buy the other. Without money American society would not survive. Many Americans grow very dependent on money and all the material items that you can get. In 30 Days, they took two people out of their natural environment and placed them into an environment opposite of what they were accustomed to. It shows how dependent people are on money and shows that people who may have a higher status than others look down on those who do not have all that they have or are used to. No matter which social status a person has no one will be completely happy about it. In the newspaper there was a article saying how doctors are not happy with their jobs; doctors are known to be the upper class in a society. Where as people who are within the middle or lower class would look up to them and wonder why they were unhappy. In my opinion I think that middle/lower class workers are the most important of American society because they are the foundation before again can fully grow. You have people working on the farms to produce something as simple as milk to ship to big companies so they can slap their name on it and sell it to consumers. Most consumers who spend more are the middle class as seen in the 30 Days film, and in order for American society to survive this cycle will always continue.
the thing that makes an american society work is the fact that we are a diverse nation. If we were not open to new cultures or ideas we would not be able to function insync as the way we do today. The economy is what holds america together because it basically ells us how much money we spend the better it is the less we spend, the worst it is the more we spend. Your status in the American society is not as important as in other societies, but make no mistake that the higher u are in society the easier it is for you to make a living and support a family such as the people in the 30 days experiment, and those from the news report eho live in those slum like areas. We need to be more open and try to figure out how we can make living comfortable for everyone no matter what your economic standard is. People also need to step up...respected figures money should spend their money wisely.
Navi P.
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