Global Stratification and the World Order

Requirement One: “Global Stratification and the World Order”
1.)After reading what John Perkins had to say I really had to second guess my understanding and acceptance of our government. I did not realize how far the government is willing to go to ensure the world order and economic structure is always stacked in our country’s favor. I thought we were the country to help other countries out. The government does this, but makes it so the countries we are assisting are forever in debt to us, giving us what we want. We all seem to want to believe that we have a great government system but does tricking vulnerable countries and making them “slaves” to our economy sound like a caring strategy? I would have to say no. It was interesting to read from John Perkins that they will go through different levels of people until someone does the job and manipulates the other country or people. If those people do not succeed, then young men and women soldiers are brought forward to win the fight like they are doing in Iraq. This is pathetic. The government will put many peoples’ lives on the line just so they can have their way. After this information was brought to my attention, it made me and is making me feel very insecure about the government I live my life by. I love my country but the government is a completely different situation for me now.
2.) American corporations keep our government alive and going. I say this because so many of our corporations look for cheap labor and other costs in different countries around the world that are vulnerable to our power. These American corporations will have their factors in other countries and control their workers. Then they can manipulate them and help out the government. For example, an American corporation like Target has a factory in Mexico. There might be some time of political thing going on in Mexico and a politician may be in favor to giving some control over the Mexico to the U.S. So Target will somehow bribe or persuade their workers to like this certain politician, giving the U.S. government what they want. This might me a dramatic situation but I believe it is happening. When I go to Target and buy a shirt I do not think about where it came from, what kind of environment it was made in, or who the people were who made it. American corporations can use their power against the government. If the government does not allow them to look elsewhere for cheap labor then they will no longer be funded and supported by that corporation along with other disadvantages. That could cause a domino effect with other corporations seeing this. It would simply tear our government apart. The government may be manipulating other countries but American corporations are the ones manipulating them.
I always see commercials on TV, encouraging American citizens to help out others less fortunate in other countries. Sometimes the people that put on these commercials are American corporations. Those corporations have factors in other countries and are making it worse for that they are trying to “help”. It is a big act that the corporations put on to make it look like that they are not at fault; they are trying to fix things…ha. No matter where a corporation goes, labor is labor. Just because they move their factors to a poor country does not mean that the workers deserve less. They make surviving worse on them because they pay them nothing and never change it. Workers will work countless, harsh hours to make a tiny bit causing them to be mentally and physically ill. American corporations will promote help for the people that they are hurting. This is a concept that sadly I just figured out.
3.)No one should ever be murdered just for not agreeing and “going along with the program”. I would just go with it because I know how powerful the government is and I would not want to die. There have been many leaders and people of other countries who have not agreed with what the U.S. was trying to do with their country so they decided to put their foot down. Those people would usually end up dead or somehow their reputation got destroyed so they wished they were dead. It is a cycle that is hard to stop. People get scared of others who have power. That is horrible that power has to be used against people. I understand that this world is survival of the fittest but it is not a game to see who can win. It has been made into a game though and many people and countries lose against our government. The U.S. wins for all the wrong reasons. I understand that murder could be the answer if that person hurts our county in any way but I suppose they were just trying to make a stand in the wrong way. When I think about it I cannot think of how we can get out of this situation. How do I as a citizen of the U.S. make our government stop this? I believe it will take a nation of citizens to realize this and make a change.
4.)The world’s social class order is set up the exact same way as the United States’ social class. The dominant wealthy ones run the world while the rest of us live underneath them. In many social classes in the world the upper class has been distinguished by the possession of largely inherited wealth, while the working class has consisted mostly of manual laborers and semiskilled or unskilled workers, often in service industries, which earn moderate or low wages and have little access to inherited wealth. The middle class includes the middle and upper levels of clerical workers, those engaged in technical and professional occupations, supervisors and managers, and such self-employed workers as small-scale shopkeepers, businesspeople, and farmers. There is also often class permanently jobless and underemployed workers called the underclass. All of these things are related to our social system. I do not think the world has mimicked us but the U.S. has mimicked the world. We are a fairly younger country compared to others who also have had social classes sense their beginning. I do believe that when a nation changes their ways of social class sometimes others do too. The U.S. has much more equality in the social classes so other countries have seen how it works so they will make changes to their social class. The world social class as one has distinct social classes just like ours does. There are some differences though.
The world social class seems to be ran more by the upper very wealthy social classes. These classes are made up of heirs that have lots of money. There are many countries who have families that have lots and lots of money. Our higher social classes do have heirs in them but I think many have made it to success and made lots of money. Social classes in the world have distinct different classes which I think we do to but there is a more mixture in each class. Sometimes people in upper class can also be categorized in the middle class, for example.
5.)Sense our world is getting older, goods and certain things are becoming limited. Each country has something that is known to them. A certain good that is in high demand is oil, for example. World political order has a lot to do with this subject. It is obvious that people who have money and are higher up in social stratification can manipulate each other which mean the average person just goes along with it. The United States has inequality as well as the rest of the world. Sometimes things that bring in money and power is more important to the ones that run each country. They will choose this over getting food to their starving citizens or put more labor into their country than into something else. I mostly am talking about the example given…oil. I think it is a product that holds lot of power and money. The people that have power over others, high social class people, fight over it all the time. Like I said before, countries will choose to put all of their time, energy and money into the production or buying of oil. OPEC nations have this power over the rest of the world and fight against the other OPEC nations. They can easily bargain with the United States and manipulate us to give something, pay a certain amount or even sacrifice something that belongs to the citizens. It seems to me that due to economic sanctions Iran has been completely shut, both in and out. This is due to the United States and the power it has, to make their economy suffer so they can gain control. Other countries have followed along and that is why Iran’s economy has gotten worse.
Requirement Two: “Move over U.S.A.-Our Biggest Economic Threats”
1.)From my research I found that China is one of the two countries that holds the biggest threat to the United States. China is second from the United States in gross domestic product at over $11trillion and gaining on the U.S. according to aneki.com (2012). GDP in the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country 's borders in a specific time period, usually calculated annually. The United States does have a higher GDP put China is growing on us and is determined to make more things and give out more services. This does not have to with economics but China’s education system is far better than the United States. Producing smarter people makes a better economy because those people are the ones that work for the economy making it better. United States is far away from have the same educational level as China, so this also poses a threat to us. China’s defense system is also growing towards our strong defense system. With recent reports of China’s threats to our nation it shows the tension and competition they have with us.
India falls in next after China with the GDP at $4.5 trillion. Their economy thriving. Even though $6.5 trillion dollars from them to us with seems low, it really is not in this sense. Their economy has completely turned around in the past years and they could pass China then us any day. Like China, their education system is also thriving and becoming great. According to americaprogress.org (2013), by 2017 India will graduate 20 million people from high school. That is 5 times more than the United States. I think that India is not only getting richer but making extreme changes. Forty percent of India families survived on only $1.25 a day. They are changing this through their education system by getting more children through school. It shows the drive for success this country has and how it can go from underdog to top dog.
I know I really emphasized the educational success that China and India has been having but I believe that plays a huge factor in the future of our economy and position in the world. More educated people can bring bigger, brighter, and smarter decisions for things that deal with the economy. I am not saying that we as Americans are stupid but we need to push for better education to better ourselves. It may be an awakening for the United States. China and India’s rising GDP also shows that the two countries are making a better economy for themselves but this could cause problem for the United States. This causes a lot of pressure on us because it is coming close to the day when we are not the top dogs anymore. The government has to make careful decisions because knowing that 12% of our debt is owned by foreign countries could cause them to lose even more power. That 12% is a lot and with China and India becoming more powerful, that could become 100%. We could go from the top and powerful country to the slave to many countries. This would be a horrible situation but it could be a learning process for us. We have seen many 2nd rated countries go through some harsh things and somehow survive. Maybe as a nation we need a taste of this especially our government because they often take our society for granted. This may be a bit drastic for me to say but it is how I view it.
References used in Requirement Two:
(2012) http://www.aneki.com/largest_economies.html
Cooper, Donna (2013) http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/report/2012/08/21/11983/the-competition-that-really-matters/

Requirement Three: “Helping Developing Countries”
Out of the theories I researched, I think that the dependency theory offers the best explanation for global stratification. This theory contends that the main reason why low-income countries are poor is because they are controlled by high-income countries. These countries exploit and dominate them. I think this is the perfect theory because it shows how much rich countries, especially the U.S., take control of poor countries and make lives worse for the citizens. This is what this whole assignment is somewhat about…the power and control our nation has. Rich nations have a large amount of power by exporting jobs overseas, manipulating foreign aid, draining less powerful countries of their resources, and persuading or tricking national governments to comply their interests. This is what I have been discussing for part of my paper. Through this theory high-income countries benefit because the poor provide cheap labor and are no powerful enough to protest. I really believe that this shows how are world is ran. The government says they are helping other countries but really hurting them. The government I think wants to help less advantage countries but the thought of power, money, and being scared gets to them so they keep on manipulating other governments. This theory shows how global stratification works in this world and how it needs to change. The U.S. is not the only powerful country who falls under the dependency theory, other ones do and some are even worse. I believe that if we delete this theory and change global stratification, our problem with poverty in this world will stop. Christine Monnier (2011) from globalsociology. com says that dependency theory also shows that the degree of dependency increases as time goes on. Wealthy countries are able to use their wealth to further influence developing nations into adopting policies that increase the wealth of the wealthy nations, even at their own expense. At the same time, they are able to protect themselves from being turned on by the developing nations, making their system more and more secure as time passes. Capital continues to migrate from the developing nations to the developed nations, causing the developing nations to experience a lack of wealth, which forces them to take out larger loans from the developed nations, further indebting them. This theory shows how bad countries manipulate each other and is also a never ending process.
Reference used in Requirement Three:
Christine, Monnier 2011 https://globalsociology.pbworks.com/w/page/14711295/Theories%20of%20Global%20Stratification
Requirement Four: “Open….Yes….,But How Open?”
a.After looking over my matrix when I filled it out I noticed a few things. From my understanding and how I thought my matrix should be done I realized that each class of people is closed. Once a person is in a class, it is hard to be categorized into another by society. A person may go from manager to CEO and that would make them have more money and supposedly change their class. It is harder than that though. It is like what we talked about previously in our book, when society makes a stereotype there is no way to get out of that. I also noticed that I gave each class a certain annual income but after looking at it I think I was too low with each one. I thought that making $35,000 a year is middle class. I thought about it and that is more for the working class. It just shows that the modern society has changed and many people do not realize what “category” they are in. I also realized that while I filled it out I made it look like ever class besides upper and capitalist had no life or leisure time but actually their the happiest ones. Just because a person does not have a lot of money does not mean they are unhappy. Again, the stereotypical thought I had about each class got to me. After revising I would change a few things on my matrix.
b.)The lower social classes are impacted hard by the out society’s stereotypical thought, like I said before. This is a huge obstacle these classes and it is hard for them to pass. It is also obvious to me that when a family is stuck in a lower class it is harder for them to get out of it within the next couple of generations. When a family does not have the means of sending their children to college, then usually that child will have to stay in the lower class because they cannot afford it either. This does not affect the poverty class but the working class and even the middle class as well. Lower class families also face the block of having a steady home. Due to money shortages, they have to move a lot going from house to house or apartment. It seems to me that if you do not make a certain outrageous amount of money each year, then you will never get out and move up from your social class. The wealthy keep it this way by gaining more power while most of our society is trying to survive. I think that the rich have a lot of power in politics. They will sponsor and give money to politicians who agree with the way they think our society should be or keep it where it is at. Most politicians are wealthy anyways so they already know what to do. They are not there for the citizens but only for the wealthy citizens. They want to gain more power and money. It is all one big greedy cycle. Most wealthy people are good at building the people below them up, just to knock them down again. Like when huge corporations make expensive and big factors then higher people, then they turn around and lay off hundreds of workers because they cannot pay them. The wealthy want the best and to be the best so they overlook how much money they should be spending and then the workers are the ones to get damaged from it. Everywhere you go you can see how the wealthy make sure that the lower class people do not move up in class. For example, in the education system if you do not have the name, the money, or the power then you cannot attend some schools like the Ivey League schools. Tuition is pricey and is always going up. Who do you think raises that? Wealthy, greedy people do who have power to do that. Other classes have been created by the wealthy so when people of lesser class make more money they just move up to a little to the next class and are still far away from wealthy. Unless you somehow magically get millions and billions of dollars, it is very hard and usually not even an option to move up in class. The wealthy put us there and will not let us move.
c.)I believe that social mobility plays a huge role in how I can understand the matrix I made. In my previous paragraphs I talked about intergenerational mobility (moving up or down the class hierarchy relative to the position of one’s parents). This is what I see happens a lot in our society. It is all about our last name, the money we hold, and the power we have just by the genes we are made up of. Intragenerational mobility (moving up or down the class hierarchy over one’s lifetime) does happen but from my matrix I think that people move down way more than they move up in class. I do not think it has always been this way but this is the way it is in our modern society. From reading about meritocracy (a belief that individual are rewarded for what they do and how well rather than on the basis of their ascribed status), it should be incorporated into our society and social class system way more than what it is now. This thought is just from my own beliefs and from studying how I filled out my matrix. People should not be punished or get rewarded through their ascribed status. I do not like using the term “ascribed status” because we all are our own individuals and should not be identified by our status. This reminds me of what we learned and wrote about from our first reflection paper. I like the idea that the Davis-Moore thesis (the functionalist view that social stratification benefits a society) has but I do not think it is implemented into our social class at all. From my view, social classes are negative but from this theory it is a positive thing. I believe that the people who need to understand this theory and make it work are the higher class people because they are the ones manipulating everything. After then accept it, we can then take advantage of our social stratification. I also believe that the use of corporate welfare (an array of direct subsidies, tax breaks, and assistance that the government has created for businesses) should be stopped because this is one of the many big parts to keeping lower class people where they are at. Instead of helping them out, the government will help the corporations out so they can keep their power and money. Helping them first makes sure that the government will still be supported and backed up as well. It is a never ending cycle to keep the poor…poor and the rich…richer.
d.)In my life time I would like have social mobility to move me up in class, just like everyone else would like. The first obstacle I cross is of course money. My parents have always helped me to get over this block because they pay for my college and support me with my living. This has helped me to focus on school and get good graded while having a part time job. I believe that getting through college is the first step for me to go up in social class. I also have picked a career in nursing which is a career that holds security and it is easy to advance in. I think that is a probably with today’s society. People choose jobs that they would like to have but most of them are unsteady with not very many openings and the chance of being laid off. Through college I can get my LPN, ADN, and BSN. Each degree can get me more money and more flexibility with the chance to increase my education. When I become a nurse I have to find the best area that can pay me the best and of course I have to like it. Once I am married and have a life I would like to have horizontal mobility (moving from one position to the another at the same class level) because it is not all about the money and class for me, I just want a happy life. This is just the way I would like everything to turn out in my life but after filling out my matrix I realized that this may not happen. As time will go one, society most likely will get worse and it will be even a bigger struggle to have social mobility. All I can do is set goals and try to achieve them but if I end up in a lower social class then I will have to accept that because it is not about my ascribed status with the little power and little money I have but how I live my life. All I can do is hope for the best.
Requirement Five: “Socialism- American Style”
a.)I think that we will not come to terms with what our society is really like. I think that most of us dream and strive to have money and power because that is what America is all about. This is the country where your dreams can become true and you can live happily ever after. This is a great “idea” to have but it is not reality. Most poor people believe do not believe that the rich have put them there. Some do know this and try to fight it though. Rich people will help the poor but behind their backs they are just taking advantage of them. Most of us do not realize what is going on. I understand that this is the way it is because it is hard to know what the truth is…who to believe? Both rich and poor do not realize what truly is going on and how manipulating power and money is for both sides of the fence. It is a problem in a society that should be fixed but it is hard to find the first step to that.
b.)Our nation’s welfare system I think helps the poor out a lot but maybe too much. This is how the rich can keep the poor poor. By allowing the poor to have an easy option to get welfare from the government, it enables them to try to better their lives. I do think that there are many poor people in American who need the help and take it while trying to give them a better life but there is also people who take advantage of it. It should become stricter with routine checks of how they are bettering themselves so they sometime will not have to use welfare. I explained this a little in this past week’s online discussion. By allowing more free money to the poor, this takes toll on the average American because they pay the taxes that fund the welfare system. More money allowed to the poor means more taxes being taken away from hard working people. It is a touchy subject because for some poor people it is hard to get out of poverty due to many factors and as a country we should help one another out. The welfare system does help many poor people but they should be pushed to get out of welfare and strive for better. If there are less people on welfare then this could take some power and control away from wealthy and powerful people.
c.)I think that socialized medicine should be placed in our society. The health of each of us should be important to ourselves and also to our government. Medicine is a growing industry and with new technology and ideas it can help more people. Sadly though, many American cannot afford healthcare because they are not covered. After researching, I found that Obama-care has more pros than cons. I decided that I agree with it. Obama-care has been incorporated into our society for few years now and changes are happening, they are just taking time to be seen. According to Obamacarefacts.com, sense 2010 over 100 million American citizens have benefited from Obama-care. Its goal is to provide affordable health insurance for all US citizens and to reduce the growth in health care spending. Expensive health care means insurance companies are making more money when also means that the wealthy owners are gaining power. Obama-care may be what our nation needs for socialized medicine but it will take some time to figure it out. From my view, I think that we are on the right track and Obama-care has out us there. Being able to access cheaper healthcare or even just being able to get medical needs for everyone takes a lot of stress off of every citizen from rich to poor.
d.)In a perfect world I think that people over the age of 65 should have totally free medical care. I wish this could really happen but I do not think it ever will. I think that there might be a time where they pay very little for their medical care though. As a nation, we should strive to make the rest of their elderly lives comfortable because they have worked hard to get where they are at. Some elderly people have not worked very hard though and those are the people who should be charged for their medical services. I think that when you put in the time you should get rewarded. There somehow needs to be a system where the government can tell how much time and effort that person has put into their jobs. This is kind of a crazy idea because it is hard to determine that we farmers or housewives for example who put countless hours into working and living for their family. Like I said before, I do not think that there will be a day where people older than 65 have free health care but we can aim to decrease their amount of paying as much as possible. I know when I reach that time in my life I will not want to be concerned about how much money I have to pay for healthcare. I would rather be thanked for all of my hard working hours that I gave to my community through cheaper healthcare.
e.)I think that our society should incorporate more socialism because we are one nation so we should live as one. Many people are struggling in our society to survive and I think we need to come together to help one another out through forms of socialism. We should look at it as not being ran by the government but working together to benefit our nation not just ourselves as individual. I think that the education system should be available for all, from elementary through college. We should work as one unit to better educate our children. There also needs to be less power from the government and more power given to the people. It is basically what I have been saying throughout this whole paper. There needs to be equality through money and power going from each social class. I think my whole point of my paper is that socialism should be more incorporated into our society.
Reference used in Requirement Five:
(2010) http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-facts.php

References: used in Requirement Two: (2012) http://www.aneki.com/largest_economies.html Cooper, Donna (2013) http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/report/2012/08/21/11983/the-competition-that-really-matters/ Requirement Three: “Helping Developing Countries” (2010) http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-facts.php