Social Inequality
Ain't No Makin' It
In this article, the author talks of two different groups of young men who live in an area where they see little chance for advancement and have relatively poor economic and educational opportunities. One group, dubbed the "Hallway Hangers," thinks that they will not be able to get ahead in school or life no matter what they do, so they do not make any effort. They do not care about much, and they will not take classes that could prepare them for college or good jobs when they graduate. Many of them do not attend the classes that they are supposed to, and those that do are failing them. They believe that who they know is what matters, not what they know, and so education will not help them to do anything with their lives, get good jobs, or be anything more than they already are. The other group, the "Brothers," believes that they can work hard and learn much, allowing them to do better in life than they are now, and that their hard work will pay off if only they are patient and wait to see the results. They envision white-collar jobs and nice homes. In the end, though, most of the members of both groups end up poor and working in low-income jobs. Very few manage to make it to anything beyond that, even though some have worked hard.
One of the main points in the article was the hatred that the two groups had for each other. It seems that this hatred was largely what was holding them back. Even though their opportunities might not have been the best, they still could have done more with their lives than they did, at least in most cases. I think that they have to get past that hatred of others, and ultimately of themselves and what they have become, before they will be able to move on and do anything else with their lives other than work in fast-food restaurants and gas stations. Everyone has the chance to make a better life, but the road is often long and difficult, and many people just give up instead of continuing to try.
Social Inequality Cultural Capital, Gender, and School Success This is one of very few articles that discusses the role that habitus plays in who people are and who they become as they grow and change during their school years. It looks at eighth-graders, both male and female, and studies their participation in various aspects of culture, whether something that is attributed to the school or their peers at the school. The author
In the 1830s-1850s, Irish-Americans, simply because they were Catholic and "peasants," were discriminated against at every turn and in every way. They were always placed in the lowest skilled jobs, lived in the worst areas, and were paid less than any other worker. This went on for all of the middle 19th century until attention was turned to the Italians, or Greeks, or Polish immigrants (Doran, 2005, p. 3). And
The lowest-ranking had to jingle a little bell in warning of their polluting approach. In much of India, Dalits were prohibited from entering temple" (India Caste system, ancient India Caste System) There have been indications since 1450 of changes and a questioning of the caste system. For example, in 1469, the guru Nanak, 1st guru of Sikhs, "...refused to accept the caste system and the supremacy of the Brahmanical priests
While war is often a major factor in changing the nature of property ownership, much as major depressions, such as that of 1920 to 1940, another factor can be large increases in competition, such as that in industrial production that has risen in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan since the Vietnam War (Capitalism pp). All such developments "put stresses on the ability of individuals to finance and mange their operations (Capitalism
Those individuals that are at the low end of the spectrum when it comes to earning wages would be happy to see more money in their paychecks as well, and many of the women that were in the workforce during that time were able to perform the jobs just as well as the men could but they were generally not allowed the opportunity (Frager & Patrias, 2006). Even for
'" (Voltair, Ch. 1) This is a perspective which seems increasingly ludicrous in the face of war, carnage, inequality and exploitation, and indeed, encounters with such extreme pessimists as Martin do reveal this to be something of a farce. To the point, we come to view this as something of a template for the complacency which had allowed the inequality of feudalism to persist. The notion that there was some connection between a divine abolutism and
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