Anthropology Chapter 8
Chapter 8 Assignment
In our society we do have practices that can be considered leveling mechanisms. These are fundamental in the everyday functions of a culture. Without leveling mechanisms, cultures can develop large gaps between the citizens. You would see the upper class citizens holding all of the power positions within the society and there most likely would be no middle class. In turn, the ones with power, the upper class, would make all of the decisions.
One big example that you will see in our society today is public education. Public education is funded in through state and local taxes. This acts as a leveling mechanism that allows all of the tax monies to be collected into an education fund that is spread throughout the entire education system within state. The predominantly upper class areas do not get higher percentages just because they are wealthier. This allows the funds that are collected from the rich as well as the poor to be evenly distributed to the educational systems of a society. This then allows the state officials to allocate certain funds where they see fit. Again this keeps the funding fair and allows all members of the society to reap the benefits, which in turn is public education.
I believe that public education is a great example of what a leveling mechanism is and it shows us how important they are for a c=society to function properly. If there were not public education, the only other option would be private education. Once you let that be the only option, you can then start to pick and choose who can attend since all the funding is private. The rich would stay rich and the poor would stay poor.
I was able to find and interesting article regarding the switch of production to motorcycles instead of scooters in India. The article stated that the middle class population was increasing to roughly 50 million people and some estimates even believe that it can be a large as 250 million or a quarter of the
In our society we do have practices that can be considered leveling mechanisms. These are fundamental in the everyday functions of a culture. Without leveling mechanisms, cultures can develop large gaps between the citizens. You would see the upper class citizens holding all of the power positions within the society and there most likely would be no middle class. In turn, the ones with power, the upper class, would make all of the decisions.
One big example that you will see in our society today is public education. Public education is funded in through state and local taxes. This acts as a leveling mechanism that allows all of the tax monies to be collected into an education fund that is spread throughout the entire education system within state. The predominantly upper class areas do not get higher percentages just because they are wealthier. This allows the funds that are collected from the rich as well as the poor to be evenly distributed to the educational systems of a society. This then allows the state officials to allocate certain funds where they see fit. Again this keeps the funding fair and allows all members of the society to reap the benefits, which in turn is public education.
I believe that public education is a great example of what a leveling mechanism is and it shows us how important they are for a c=society to function properly. If there were not public education, the only other option would be private education. Once you let that be the only option, you can then start to pick and choose who can attend since all the funding is private. The rich would stay rich and the poor would stay poor.
I was able to find and interesting article regarding the switch of production to motorcycles instead of scooters in India. The article stated that the middle class population was increasing to roughly 50 million people and some estimates even believe that it can be a large as 250 million or a quarter of the