SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN AMERICA

Strengths and Weaknesses of Systems and Conflict Theories in the assessment of Social Inequality in America

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Strengths and Weaknesses of Systems and Conflict Theories in the assessment of Social Inequality in America

Introduction

Social sciences give the perspective of social inequalities prevalent in the society through conflict theories. These inequalities refer to the social, political and material discrimination, present in the society. This social discrimination has an adverse effect on them lives of people, their social structure and ultimately on the society at large. Conflict theories nullify the historically developed ideologies of class discrimination and status non-parallelism.

Conflict Theory

Karl Marx gave the concept of the ruling class and the subject class. The ruling class has dominance over the resources of production, legal and political system, and uses them in the manner that ensures their personal gain or material benefit. The subject class is being exploited by the ruling class in the process of material productivity. As a result of these circumstances, there is a difference of interest and opinion between the two classes. He claimed that the society has been developed on concepts like, communism, capitalist, feudal and ancient influences on the structure of modern society. On the other hand, Max Weber considers this social discrimination in terms of economics. He claimed that the classes present in any society are dependent on their economic disparity. He defines classes develop in a society, are actually individuals competing for monetary gain. Therefore, their economic situation is actually their market situation, the only difference of classes is, those who dominate the resources of production, leading to economic prosperity and those who do not. This defines the lifestyle and status of an individual (Piven, F, 2008).

System Theory

System theory represents the overall study of the system and the application of researching goals, over all types of systems and in any field of research. However, the term has not been strictly defined, but it can be used for the generalization of the system science and specialization of the system thinking. This concept originated from General System Theory by Ludwig von Bertalanffy. He presented two types, open system and closed system, open system refers to those elements that have an interaction with the environment, and closed system is isolated. This context represents systems that are self-regulating through feedback. These systems can be found in our natural environment, ecosystems and day to day learning processes.

Now we will analyze the relativity of both systems and their strengths and weaknesses in discussing social inequalities prevalent in the United States.

Social Inequality in America

Wealthy families, individuals and businesses concerns in the United States are shadowing both the middle and lower class in the society. Those with insufficient income are not only experiencing social inequalities but serious poverty issues. The average income of 10% richest people of the country is 16 times more than the poorest 10%. The society has been divided into haves and have-nots, and this trend results in social disparity leading to frustration and class ...