Category: Inequality

My current interests encompass the persistent issue of social inequality that we can witness as a routine practice every day. The topic is too multifaceted to study as a whole, thus, I have chosen to commit to the problem of social inequality in education. I have studied two scholarly peer-reviewed articles and two articles from web newspapers that have social inequality in educational institutions as their primary concern.

The first article under consideration sets its goal at drawing a connection between stratification in higher education institutions and social inequality. The author gathers the information from tertiary-education graduates to determine if social background can affect the level of education. The survey involves young people from 11 countries in Europe. It is evidentiated that the social status and education level of the parents correlates with that of children and that social inequalities are more persistent in countries where more people complete a tertiary-education program (Triventi 455-500).

Another scholarly article is concerned with the people of social inequality in schools only. The authors hypothesize that childrens socioeconomic status (SES) serves as an indicator of their academic skills, at least during advanced schooling. Consequently, children with higher socioeconomic status tend to have a better place in the job market after they graduate than children from a low-SES background, thus only increasing the social inequality (Raudenbush and Eschmann 465-469).

Among the non-academic sources I studied is an article concerning the school students opportunities to learn mathematics. The authors message is that unequal opportunities in primary education are not the problem for only low-SES families and minority students to adress. He states how students are segregated by SES and family background and how varied the content they study is. The author puts the blame on state and district standards in teaching math, which are inadequate (Schmidt par. 1-9).

Another article displays a longitudinal study of people from different social background, recorded every seven years since the age of seven. The author dwells upon the necessity of teachers awareness of the SES diversity they have in their classes. She shares that she pays close attention to the students SES while picking class topics and assigning home tasks (White par. 1-11).

I will use the social-conflict paradigm to explain the problem of social inequality in schools. This approach regards society as an unequal entity. Inequalities of different levels lead to conflicts and trigger changes in social structure. I consider social background and economic status in terms of unequal opportunities. Diversity in opportunities does not result in order and stability, quite on the contrary: we may regard inequality in schooling as the high-SES persons struggle to persevere their privilege and supremacy.

The appropriate solutions to the problem of inequality would be almost entirely school-focused. Of course, non-profit organizations in disadvantaged areas can assist children in improving their cognitive skills and academic performance in the long run. However, to address the inequality issues, it is needed to understand the importance educating school staff. The belief that equal education content for children of diverse SES gives an equal academic performance should be eradicated. The staff should also be motivated (probably, by means of performance-related payment) and encouraged to get innovative. The innovations, however, should be employed under the guidance of local governments who are more informed of their local communitys needs than the state.

Works Cited

Raudenbush, Stephen, and Robert Eschmann. Does Schooling Increase or Reduce Social Inequality? Annual Review of Sociology 41 (2015): 443-470. Print.

Schmidt, William. Inequality in the American Education System. Huffpost College. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 2012. Web.

Triventi, Moris. Stratification in Higher Education and Its Relationship with Social Inequality: A Comparative Study of 11 European Countries. European Sociological Review 29.3 (2013): 489-502. Print.

White, Genevieve. Social inequality in schools: how can teachers redress the balance? The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 2015. Web.

Social Inequality Essay: Abstract

Human society is a phenomenon that has its own advantages and disadvantages, and one of the major disadvantages of it is the eternal division of people into classes, whether they are social or racial. People have always tried to find those who are lower, as they considered, than them in a social status and consequently in manner, upbringing and opportunities.

The division of human society into numerous classes which can be reduced to high, middle and low classes, has always existed in the history of mankind and was based on different factors but, nevertheless, its essence always stayed the same  some people consider themselves to be superior over others based on their financial status, belonging to a certain race or sex.

However wrong this social division may seem, it nevertheless exists in the human society and my assignment is to consider it with close attention.

This paper is the reflection of the social inequality exemplified by the experiences of mine and two other people whom I interview. This is the widely accepted truth that the basis for the whole life of a person is made in the early childhood when first impressions about the main phenomena of the world are obtained.

These impressions and experiences form the background which, in its turn, predetermines the social attitudes towards this or that person and his or her self-evaluation. Thus, the interviews with the people disclose details of their lives and growing up in the atmosphere of social inequality.

The first person that I interview in this paper is a white female who has never known what a family is and had to make her way to the upper social classes on her own. The second person interviewed is the African-American male whose family was considered to be a middle class, but it changed after his fathers death.

He suddenly faced the necessity to keep to the class he belonged to and to take care of his family. It was quite problematic for a person with no idea about hardships of social inequality, but he took this challenge with dignity. He managed to preserve a position in the middle class and became a confident breadwinner.

Social Inequality Essay: Dimensions of Social Inequality

Dimensions of social inequality are rather interesting topic for discussion as they are quite numerous and various. People tend to refer a person to this or that social class according to his or her financial opportunities, level of education, upbringing, manner, etc. These factors are quite relative as there arte numerous examples of mistaken perception of a person as belonging to a higher class than he or she really belongs to.

That is why to identify the class belonging of a person it is important to consider the attitude of the person him/herself. Self-esteem and confidence in ones own abilities are much more important than social prejudice and can help people overcome them and this is the main topic of the paper (Mazur, 1994, pp. 37  43).

To start with myself, I am a middle class African American woman, and currently I am studying at College on the full time basis and I am also employed. However, I am studying and working exactly to be able to call myself completely successful and to achieve the major purposes of my life.

I have come across a lot of cases of inequality based on my sex, race and age and had to struggle with them so that to thank my parents for their hard attempts to raise me and my sisters and brothers. I will discuss all this further in this paper. Moreover, I aim at introducing the two other persons whom I will interview and present their life stories as the reflection of the issue of social inequality.

I had no idea growing up that my family fit into the category of poor and low-income. I didnt know where we lived was considered the projects and we received government assistance. The neighborhood was extremely well kept, children had manners, received spankings and the term It takes a village to raise a child fit my neighborhood to a tee.

My home was full of love, me along with my brothers and sisters were well dressed, had plenty to eat, Christmass-we just knew we were rich-we had every toy imaginable, we honestly were the envy of the neighborhood. It wasnt until we moved further north; reflecting, visits to my birth place, conversations with my parents and childhood friends that I realize that yes were in-deed poor.

My mother, dropped out of school in the tenth grade, was married at fourteen and had my oldest sister at fifteen; by twenty she had four children. My father had the mindset woman should be barefoot and pregnant but did not believe that for his daughters.

My mother had other ideas and dreams. Her and my biological father divorced when I was five; however he remained a prominent fixture in my life until his death when I was ten years old. My mother remarried and had a son; bringing a total of five children.

Both of my fathers, (I detest the term step) are older than my mother and both grew up doing Jim Crow. My mother and father like many other parents were extremely hard working and though both had little greatly valued education and installed that value in their children.

We all graduated high school; I am the only one attending college. Nonetheless we are all successful in our own right, all credit due to our parents many, many, sacrifices and hard core determination to give us a better life. When I was seven we moved to Northern VA, that move, moved us into the category of working middle class.

My mother received her GED and got a job with Verizon, shes currently retired. My father worked for Washington Gas Company until he retired. My current life status I think would be middle class.

I guess the difference between my parents as working middle class and me as middle class would basically be income. I make more today than my parents jointly when they were working but for some reason I can not accomplish the monetary feats.

To this day, I am sure that the modern world, and the American society in particular, are full of inequality based on social factors. This statement concerns all spheres of social life, and education is not an exception: All social institutions in U.S. society, including schools, contain inherent contradictions between the values of capitalism and democracy.

The community college illustrates this contradiction because it is an expression of the democratic ideal of education as the great social equalizer, a mission that is impeded by capitalisms structured inequalities.

Community colleges are praised as the open door, democracys college, the statue of liberty and the peoples college, yet in the same breath, they are denigrated as the middleman in higher education, second best, and the deferrer of dreams. (Herideen, 1998, p. 1)

I faced a lot of inequality in education and in other aspects of my life and I am strongly convinced that this is a result of the widely spread stereotype about a woman as a housekeeper who has no need in career development.

Racial factor is also very significant these days despite the struggle carried out by activists of feminist movement, Civil Rights movement and others. Needless to say that this inequality is a result of the wrongful ideas about money and occupation as signs of belonging to a higher class, and the examples of the two people I will interview are sure to prove this very point of view.

Social Stratification and Inequality: Interviews

The first person whom I planned to interview was a white female of 22 years. When you see her for the first time, you would never understand that she represents the layer of the society which is considered to be the lowest. This females home was the asylum where she grew up and obtained basic knowledge and life principles.

When I saw her I would say that she represented the upper middle class because she was well-dressed and displayed high standards of communication skills and good upbringing. For the first several minutes of our talk she managed to make an impression on me of a young lady with completed University education and with respective knowledge.

The living principles that she disclosed to me were not typical of such a young age but the story of her life persuaded me that she knew what she talked about. Sociology was not in the sphere of her educational interests but she was very well aware of all the social processes that took place in the society and touched her this or that way.

This female was well aware of the issues of children upbringing and problem families. The issues of poverty and social inequality were also familiar to her. She told me about the difficulties one had with getting a social insurance if he or she had n o background and could not provide governmental offices with information about his/her birthplace, date and parents.

She actually never knew who her parents were as she lived all her adolescent life from birth in an asylum in Detroit, MI. The life in the asylum was not what a lot of people can imagine it to have been. The care taken of poor children who have no parents is only a slight knowledge that people have about asylums.

The reality in those places is much harsher than one can imagine  children from the youngest age have to struggle for attention and for such material things as food and clothes. And only in a small number of cases this struggle is carried out by honest means. The female had to prove her right for existence in the asylum as far as living there is always connected with juvenile crime and other social and criminal problems.

At the age of 12 she had a negative experience of being affiliated by a family that wanted to have children but was physically unable to do it. The life in that family turned out to be too difficult to her, probably to a large extent due to the adjustment of the girl to the living in an asylum.

The neighbors accused the female of a theft from their house and her family, although having justified her, had to return her to the asylum. Since that time the girl understood that she would have to reach her goals in this life only by herself and put all her energy into getting considerable basis for future education in a Medical University.

All she could afford to do was reading the respective literature and hoping to get a governmental grant for education in the University of her dream. Fortunately, her hard work, and considerable luck as well, helped her to achieve the goal of her life, as she understood that only the proper education will allow her to survive and hope for good life in future.

Nowadays, she is a top student in her group in the Medical University and is enjoying her study. Her aim is to become a successful veterinarian, and she does everything depending on her to achieve this aim.

Her example demonstrates best of all how a person from the lowest layer of the society can change his/her position and enter middle or upper middle class and dismantle all the prejudice and stereotypes. What struck me the most in the talk with this white female was that she never doubted her chance to become successful.

Her life was full of negative experiences but they did not make her angry at the world and only formulated her aims in life better. Her example is the best illustration of the idea that choice, if it is present, misleads people: Choice will always be a recipe for inequality (Class War, 2006, p. 11). She had no choice but to be successful and she reached this goal.

The second person whom I interviewed was the African-American male of 27 years. The story of this male differs a lot from the previous one but also possesses good examples of that how people face social inequality and do everything to overcome it.

This male grew up in the family that represented middle class of the society, but the death of his father changed the situation and the man had to enter the working middle class with the transition through the lower class of the society.

Thus, the features of the middle class representative are combined in this male with the features of lower and working class. In other words, this person displays considerable education but at the same time is not afraid of any kind of work. He had to adjust to the conditions when to feed his family he could not choose the job he liked that is why now he displays deep understanding of social inequality.

The family of this male of the African-American origin consisted of the people who worked as engineers. His mother, firstly, worked as a teacher in the elementary school but then obtained a proposition that increased the family income and took the family to the middle class of the society.

His mother took up the profession of engineer at chemical plant, while his father was working at car building factory at the position of the production engineer. The family lived and developed plans as for future when the accident happened at the car building factory where the father of my respondent worked.

It was a terrible explosion of a tank with oil and as its result 23 employees of the factory were killed. The father of the male was among the victims of the explosion. This male was finishing the tenth grade of the school in that time, but the accident made him drop his study. At first he tried to combined the study and work but it was too hard.

The attitude towards working class was not the best one, and it was impossible not to ask the question again: A working class kid already feeling excluded from a good school? Or is it just a case of children being children? (Kahlenberg, R. D., & Teixeira, R., 2001, p. 15) Furthermore, his mother could not afford feeding the whole family and he had to take up any work that he could find at that moment so that not to starve.

This was the moment when the sharp social inequality became a usual thing for this male. Growing up in the wealthy middle class family he had never thought about the possible ways of earning money to feed the family because he was sure that parents would do everything for him. After the accident with his father, this male had to understand that in the difficult situation a class to which one belonged did not mean anything.

No one wanted to offer high and well paid position to this male and he had to start working as a loader at various industrial companies in his city. This was not what he wanted to do but this was the only accessible job that brought enough money to feed the family.

Nevertheless, after certain period of time spent as a loader, about a year and a half, the male understood that such work has no perspective and started looking for development opportunities. As he had always had talent and desire for painting, his first ideas was to study this subject and get a diploma to receive better job with the higher salary.

Experience in his work allowed the male to save time for study and in 2 years a diploma was in his possession. The occupation he obtained was the designer of accommodation and advertising production.

In other words, his education allowed the male to get the position of a person who created ideas about the décor of a flat or a house and is busy with the practical implementation of these ideas.

Advertising production, such as printed advertisements, prospects, leaflets, as well as TV advertising design also became the sphere of his work, and nowadays he is a manager of design projects in one of the most successful companies in Northern VA.

The interview with this male of African-American origin impressed me to a great extent. The story that this male told me is the brightest example of the courage that this person had to start from the lowest level of the society and rise to the higher levels with the only aim  feeding his family and himself.

This story exemplifies also the fact that social inequality can be overcome, and people are those who decide it, not some circumstances or events. Of course, one can say that a male has advantages in the society of the present day but African-Americans are still discriminated in many spheres of social life, so the success of this male was absolutely his achievement.

The same can be said about me and the female that I interviewed. Discrimination of women together with social inequality and class-related stereotypes did not give us any advantage but we managed to succeed to some extent, and hope to develop this success.

Social Stratification and Inequality: The Future

To begin the outlook in the future, I should say that the white female whom I interviewed stated that her plans are to finish her study in the University and to become a successful veterinarian that will allow her to leave the lower class of the society and enter at least the working middle class.

The experiences of her childhood made her treat the issues of family with special attention and she will never leave her children because she experienced what it feels like to be left alone and how difficult it is to overcome social stereotypes in this case. She has plans of making a family and is currently dating with a man who does not pay attention to social inequalities and the fact that they belong to different social classes.

The Africa-American male whom I interviewed has other plans. His career can already be considered successful and he does not seek anything else but a stable work and happy family life. His experience in becoming successful after being at the very bottom of the society, as it is accepted to think, gave him so much that he will never be at a loss in any difficult or problematic situation.

As for me, in the future I want to complete my study in the college and start a life of a person who will be able to open her own boutique and travel, or not to work at all. But the greatest plan of mine is to build my own house in Florida.

As for the overall situation with the social inequality, I am strongly convinced that it will take considerable time to eliminate it. Inequality has existed from times immemorial and certain scholars even suppose that its level has increased recently: Since the 1970s, the much-noted stagnation of most incomes (in inflation-adjusted dollars) has helped to produce substantially more inequality today than we have had for generations.

Wealth distributionan important factor in determining the personal contribution one can make to retirementis even more skewed. (Leone, 2000, p. 17) But the current events in the American politics, as well as in social life, leave hope that they will continue the work started by preceding generations and remove the class borders so that people would not experience inequality.

Social Inequality Essay: Final Analysis

To conclude the current paper, let me say that inequalities among people have always existed and are considered to be a norm of the capitalist society. Feminist movement and other movements for equality of rights of all people can not change the situation drastically and only create the illusion of equality. Nevertheless, there is the hope that some day people will be equal, will enjoy equal opportunities and have equal obligations.

The examples of people whom I interviewed prove that it is possible and a person is able to resist social stereotypes and break them down. This paper is the reflection of peoples experiences in the issue of social inequality and class borders that are artificially created by certain classes to reserve their dominant positions in the society (Mazur, 1994, pp. 37  43).

In this work I managed to find out the main reasons of social inequality and of the most effective means to resist and overcome them.

Talking with these people I came across the racial and sexual stereotypes of the society once again and their actions in the situations when they faced such stereotypes filled with inspiration and hope that social inequality and class struggle are not eternal and human beings will find certain means to eliminate them.

If not at the present moment, then in the future, but it will happen. In this paper I managed to discuss with my respondents their experiences of social and class inequality.

References

Class War; A Recent Report Suggests Leading Comprehensives Are Discriminating against Children from Poor Backgrounds. Education Correspondent Shahid Naqvi Looks at the Inequality of Our Education System. (2006). The Birmingham Post (England), p. 11.

Herideen, P. E. (1998). Policy, Pedagogy, and Social Inequality: Community College Student Realities in Post-Industrial America. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

Kahlenberg, R. D., & Teixeira, R. (2001). A Better Third Way : ITS TIME FOR A LIBERAL PHILOSOPHY FOCUSING ON SOCIAL JUSTICE AND INEQUALITY. The Nation, 272, 15.

Leone, R. C. (2000). Inequality and Social Security. The American Prospect, 11, 17.

Mazur, A. (1994). 3: A Neurohormonal Model of Social Stratification among Humans: A Microsocial Perspective. In Social Stratification and Socioeconomic Inequality, Ellis, L. (Ed.) (Vol. 2, pp. 37-43). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

Inequality can be manifested in different dimensions, ranging from racial prejudices to judgment of personal life partner choices. Whereas any kind of unfair treatment is primarily wrong, there are some types the lack of logic behind which is truly baffling. The so-called pink tax, which involves higher prices for female products, is one of such instances. Many consumer goods and services designed for women cost more than those designed for men, although there is no difference in material or quality. Therefore, the pink tax should be outlawed because it is gender-based price discrimination making women pay more than men.

The primary reason for banning the pink taxs spread is that women do not ask for any special colors to mark their products. As Lafferty argues, many products are considered as appealing and feminine and, thus, charged more than mens products (57). However, the problem is that no one requests such special offers, and too many customers are not aware of the prices being higher for female products.

One more problem with the pink tax is that discrimination in economics is the consequence of cultural discrimination that has persisted throughout history. Cultural expectations of marketing further develop the pink tax, which is a rather negative phenomenon (Lafferty 56). Hence, since females do not expect or request any special labels or colors, and the latter are imposed by businesses, the pink tax should be outlawed.

Another issue in favor of reconsidering the pink tax is that it is discriminatory not only on a cultural level but at the very basic gender level. As Jacobsen puts it, the pink tax cannot be explained by anything else than unfairness based solely on gender (242). In this day and age, it seems shocking that someone should pay more just because they want a specific fragrance or color of packaging. Moreover, due to the existence of a pay gender gap, it appears that women pay some kind of double pink tax. Since females both receive less and spend more than men do on the same items, the pink tax should be seriously reviewed by the governments.

Despite the seeming evidence of the pink taxs existence in society, some argue that it works both ways and, thus, should not be focused only on womens discrimination. For instance, research indicates that while women pay more for some items (such as lotions or deodorants), men pay more for others (such as gels or shaving creams) (Guittar et al. 1). However, unlike women, men are not forced by society to purchase certain products. Due to societal pressures and gender expectations projected on females of all ages, women feel obliged to purchase some items in order to avoid being unworthy of success (Lafferty 57). Since there are no such expectations from males, it is not valid to speak of two-sided discrimination, the pink tax being clearly directed toward womens inequality.

Although the pink tax is not officially a documented legislation act, efforts must be made to outlaw it. This discriminatory policy, aimed at making one gender pay more for the same products, is both unjustified and humiliating. Especially since too many consumers are not aware of the elevated prices for female products, one cannot view the pink tax as an admissible prospect. In the era of fighting for equality on all levels, it is egregious to support or tolerate such a notion as the pink tax.

Works Cited

Guittar, Stephanie Gonzalez, et al. Beyond the Pink Tax: Gender-Based Pricing and Differentiation of Personal Care Products. Gender Issues, vol. 39, 2022, pp. 1-23.

Jacobsen, Kenneth A. Rolling Back the Pink Tax: Dim Prospects for Eliminating Gender-Based Price Discrimination in the Sale of Consumer Goods and Services. California Western Law Review, vol. 54, no. 2, 2018, pp. 241-266.

Lafferty, Mackenzi. The Pink Tax: The Persistence of Gender Price Disparity. Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research, no. 11, 2019, pp. 56-72.

Every society has categories and classes that determine how people live. Social stratification is a term that describes the social standing system. Factors like race, money, power, and education form the social status that people see, which differs one group of people from others. Even though countries mostly do not understand the concept of Indian castes, everything came to the fact that this system is the worlds reality.

Social stratification creates a gap in understanding and connecting between different layers of society. I believe discrimination and social stratification are related and feed one another. Since discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of people based on their gender, ethnicity, age, or sexual orientation. People in America tend to believe that their success depends only on them. However, sociological studies show that the structure of a society affects a persons social inequalities (Griffiths et al., 2015). Most of the time, parents pass their social roles to their sons and daughters.

One of the standard inequalities caused by social stratification is the resort countries like Jamaica, Turkey, Egypt, etc. People fly there to rest in a luxury hotel where, only several kilometers from there, people live impoverished lives. Most of the time, they even work in those hotels and provide rest for wealthier people. However, every country struggles to support the lower classes (Tonja et al., 2021). That demonstrates the problem of inequality and race because it implies the mindset that some nations are there to serve. To solve this problem, people could encourage resorts and hotels in their home countries to develop by resting there and investing their money. Another thing that could change that situation is for people in business to invest in other companies like sports or the sales market to develop and enrich these countries.

References

Conerly, T. R., Holmes, K. & Tamang, A. L. (2021). Introduction to sociology 3e. OpenStax.

Griffiths, H., Keirns, N., Strayer, E., Cody-Rydzewski, S., Scaramuzzo, G., Sadler, T., Vyain, S., Bry, J. & Jones, F. (2015). Introduction to sociology 2e. OpenStax.

Social institutions are essential to any society because they govern, guide, and serve the people. Therefore, the life of an individual is strongly influenced by diverse institutions while it is not always noticed or evident. Institutions can be defined as social organizations that are characterized by established behavior patterns arranged to serve particular purposes. The social institutions that have the most significant impact on society include education, work and economy, the state and public policy, and the media.

All of them are integral to the functioning of society and play different roles. For example, these institutions are involved in both maintenance and enforcement of the oppression and privilege system as well as have an impact on access to resources. The paper investigates the aspects of influence that the mentioned social institutions have on oppression and privilege as well on access to resources.

The life of society is greatly stereotyped in some intersecting categories such as race and ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, age, class, and ability. Disparities among individuals in society are found in inequality and privilege that are influenced by institutions. Social institutions in the context of this work include education, work and economy, state and public policy, and the media. Despite their different tasks and goals, they share a common function of supporting systems of inequality and privilege.

The example can be found in the work of any of the systems under consideration. Thus, in the aspect of education, inequality as well as privilege, is mainly related to such categories as race and ethnicity as well as social class, while both categories are interrelated because representatives of certain population groups stereotypically belong to a lower social class compared to other populations. Thus, people of color frequently have lower income and cannot afford prestigious schools, which remain the prerogative of the privileged students whose parents have a higher status and income.

At the same time, even in contemporary schools, there is a problem of gender segregation that still exists despite numerous attempts to fight inequality and boys frequently dominate over girls in a classroom. Speaking about work and economy, the institution can involve inequality due to discrimination because of gender, race, or age. For example, a middle-aged Latino woman has fewer chances to get a well-paid or prestigious job than a white young man.

Moreover, an institution of the state and public policy, which is expected to be unbiased and fair, is also involved in discrimination and inequality. Thus, immigration politics provided by some countries do not treat people of color equally. Moreover, the representation of these policies in the media makes them sound fair thus influencing public opinion. There are more examples of the role that social institutions have in the maintenance and enforcement of oppression and privilege systems, but these few cases provide enough evidence of their negative impact.

On the one hand, certain inequality and privilege are a demand of society, which is supported by social institutions. People of higher income and social class want a particular attitude in education or other services they receive as well as a place of living or position at work. Institutions, in turn, maintain and enforce the oppression of some social groups and at the same time provide privilege to the other ones. This approach leads to segregated neighborhoods and schools, the wage gap, discrimination in employment, unfair treatment by police or other legal services, and prejudice about people of another race or religion in diverse aspects of life.

On the other hand, institutions within a certain country are expected to serve the citizens providing high-quality service according to their tasks. Still, this approach is not likely to be implemented because maintenance and enforcement of privilege and oppression by the mentioned institutions has become a system and the privileged part of society is not interested in any change.

Another issue to consider in the context of institutions and their influence on society is the way these institutions impact access to resources. In this context, any service provided by an institution can be treated as a resource important for a certain group of people. In education, high-quality knowledge is a valuable resource since it allows getting a more prestigious and better-paid job; work and economy as an institution possess employment and money as resources and the privileged individuals have better access to them. In-state and public policy, power is the resource, which is accessed unequally by people, and in media, information can be considered a resource.

The distribution of resources is related to privileges provided by organizations. Thus, privileged people have better access to most of the resources while the oppressed populations have a minimum of the necessary resources.

To summarizing, it can be said that the impact of institutions on the maintenance of inequality systems is a fact that cannot be denied. Also, it should be kept in mind that maintenance and enforcement of systems of oppression and privilege together with the impact on access to resources are caused by a complex of factors. Moreover, all the institutions and their impacts are interrelated and influence each other together with providing an impact on society. Thus, a well-educated person has a better chance to be hired on a well-paid job and become successful in life, which involves the connection between such institutions as education and work and economy.

Also, media is an institution that has the power to influence minds and form opinions, which has an impact on state and public policies. For example, African Americans are frequently presented as criminals in the media, and the attitude of society on the whole and legal authorities such as police, in particular, is frequently negative. Another example is the negative image of Muslim people created by media after the terroristic acts of 9/11 and other similar events, which makes Muslims unwanted immigrants in many countries and undesired neighbors in communities.

On the whole, the role of institutions in society is great and their influence on diverse aspects of life is inevitable. Nevertheless, while social institutions are created to serve people and provide them with certain benefits, frequently these institutions become the source of inequality due to enforcement of oppression and privilege. It becomes a global problem that does not have an immediate solution because the privileged part of society is satisfied with the situation and the oppressed one does not have enough weight and power to stimulate change.

Therefore, as long as there is a demand for segregation in society, institutions will follow this pattern of maintenance of inequality and enforcement of oppression together with unfair access to resources. Any alteration of impact provided by social institutions is possible in case a greater part of society initiates it.

Contemporary people live in the world of social inequalities which are brought by differences in income, status, and occupations. For instance, while some individuals have an opportunity to live in mansions with swimming pools and personal gyms, others cannot afford to buy a whole apartment and live in small rented rooms. A number of people also experience social pressure and cannot find a normal job just because of their black skin color while white-skinned individuals receive all the privileges and benefits. Thus, inequalities are everywhere, and it seems vital to take action and do something about this problem. The following paper will discuss why it is important to deal with social inequalities.

The first and extremely important reason why it is essential to manage the discussed issue is that it can bring significant complications to the life of every single person. Even though many individuals believe that they will not be affected by this problem and will not receive any pressure from society, it is always possible to find a way to hurt someone. For instance, a successful and career-oriented woman can be judged because, according to societal expectations, she is supposed to be a housewife and care for her children. As a result, her feelings will be hurt and she might lose motivation to continue her career path and achieve her goals. Thus, because every person can become a victim of social inequality it is crucial to take action against it.

In addition, social inequalities and their rising influence on the modern world can leave many people without a right to vote, express their opinion, receive education or healthcare, get adequate housing and transportation. Individuals and communities should not forget that all human beings have equal rights and freedoms and, despite their social status or wealth, they have to be respected and supported. In case this rule is not followed, a number of ethical questions will begin to arise, and society will live in constant chaos because of misunderstandings, conflicts, and indifference. Everyone wants to live and work in a peaceful and happy world; hence, social inequalities have to be diminished.

Despite the arguments provided, some readers might challenge the view that people have to take action against social inequalities. They can claim that without the existence of these elements, it would be impossible to establish order in modern society. At the moment, individuals make sense of their roles by taking into account their social status, gender, skin color, and income. If everyone is the same and people do not feel the differences, it will be much harder to achieve balance. Nevertheless, the order will still be possible without social inequalities because it is in human nature to have distinct interests and life goals. The point of managing inequalities is in achieving respect and morality.

To summarize, social inequalities definitely bring serious problems to the lives of many people all around the world. Even though millions of individuals think that their life will never be influenced by that, everyone faces this issue at some point ofinheir life. It is important to deal with social inequalities because they bring chaos and misunderstanding to the world and prevent people from living a normal life. Consequently, the presented essay proved why it is important to manage the problem of inequality.

There are still disparities in the globe based on opportunity, income, sex, age, handicap, sexual orientation, color, class, and ethnicity. A sense of fulfillment and self-worth are destroyed by inequality, which also damages long-term social and economic development and the fight against poverty. As a result, there may be an increase in crime, sickness, and environmental damage. Daily, people without access to healthcare pass away from preventable illnesses like measles and tuberculosis or give birth.

The lack of opportunities and discrimination experienced by older people, migrants, and refugees is a global problem. One in five people reported experiencing at least one type of discrimination that is against the law under international human rights legislation. 3 out of 10 people with disabilities reported having personally experienced discrimination, with higher rates among disabled women (Çubucku, 2019). This discrimination included that based on a persons religion, ethnicity, or gender, and it is clear that urgent action is required to combat its various and intertwining forms.

In the modern world, everyone is connected. Poverty, climate change, migration, and economic crises are all unjust problems and difficulties. If people are denied the opportunity for a better life, we cannot accomplish sustainable development and improve the earth for everyone (Varoufakis, 2003). And despite some encouraging trends, inequality is rising for more than 70% of the worlds population, escalating the dangers of division and impeding social and economic progress (Raposo, 2019). The most vulnerable individuals are also the ones that are most negatively impacted by COVID-19, and these same groups are frequently the targets of increased prejudice. To ensure that everyone lives with dignity, it can and should be accomplished. The needs of underprivileged and minority people must be taken into consideration in all political, economic, and social initiatives.

Transformative transformation is required to reduce inequality. Greater efforts are required to end extreme hunger and extreme poverty as well as to increase spending on social safety, health care, education, and decent employment, in particular for young people, immigrants, refugees, and other vulnerable populations. Empowering people and fostering inclusive social and economic prosperity are crucial inside nations. Eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices will guarantee equal opportunity and lessen income disparities. In order for solutions to international problems to be more efficient, credible, and responsible, it is important to guarantee that developing nations are properly represented in decision-making processes. For the millions of people who have fled their homes in search of better lives due to conflict, discrimination, poverty, a lack of opportunity, and other migration-related factors, governments and other stakeholders can also promote safe, regular, and responsible migration, including through planned and well-managed policies.

The eradication of extreme poverty is hampered by inequality, which is a problem in and of itself. Since peoples relative standing in society is thought to be a crucial component of their welfare, inequality is relevant to poverty (Potthast, 2019). The question of whether or not efforts to eliminate poverty can be successful without tackling inequality or if they only treat the symptoms rather than the source has generated many debates. In a recent GSDRC Topic Guide on inclusive growth, for instance, it is noted that country-specific case studies indicate a substantial and nuanced relationship between growth and inequality, which might be hidden by cross-country studies.

There is a shaky consensus in the research that inequality tends to slow growths pace and durability. According to research by the World Bank, when markets are inefficient in credit, insurance, land, and human capital, disparities in power and income translate into unequal opportunities, which wastes potential for productivity and results in an inefficient distribution of resources (Ebert, 2020). It has been discovered that unequal power breeds institutions that maintain disparities in status, money, and power. These institutions are often detrimental to long-term growth through investment, innovation, and risk-taking. According to research, there is a higher likelihood of violent conflict when there are significant horizontal disparities, or differences in economic, social, political, and cultural standing among important identification groups (Raposo, 2019). Therefore, inequality can exacerbate political and social tensions while also preventing the elimination of poverty.

As a result of interrelated inequities, some groups constantly experience inferior opportunities than their fellow citizens, undermining social fairness and human rights. Gender, color, caste, ethnicity, religion, geography, and handicap status are some of the group identifiers that lead to exclusion most frequently, though additional research is needed (Keown, 2018). Due to disparities, the poorest segments of the global population, which include many women, young people, seniors, people with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and rural populations, have made less progress toward the MDGs. Even those at the highest end of the income scale can be subject to political persecution or prejudice because of their age, gender, sexual orientation, or handicap.

These groups exclusion has come at significant social, political, and financial expense to them as well as to society at large. The impoverished frequently experience prejudice, stigma, and unfavorable social stereotypes that limit their prospects for social interaction and employment as well as political support for focused interventions. Large disparities exist between households with varying degrees of wealth within countries in terms of education, health, and nutrition. Classes, which are large-scale groupings of people classified according to economic factors, have become more unequal within and between nations. Poverty and inequality are exacerbated by the intersections of class, gender, ethnicity, and other identities (Varoufakis, 2003). More and more research show that there are disparities in many aspects of life for people with impairments that is comparatively lower educational attainment, higher unemployment rates, worse living conditions, and higher poverty rates (Elbert, 2020). High rates of physical and sexual abuse, as well as limitations on their ability to access rights, resources, and employment, are all issues that people with mental health difficulties must deal with.

Evidence demonstrates that many women still have poorer access to livelihoods despite great improvements in education and in some countries, boys average years of schooling and secondary enrolment rates are currently slipping below those of females. Girls and women who are impoverished, reside in distant locations, have disabilities, or are members of minority groups are the most marginalized. Violence and discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are sometimes caused by prejudice, unfavorable preconceptions, and intolerance (Çubucku, 2019). Disparity frequently intersects with one another; for instance, the social inequality that disadvantaged people endure can result in economic inequality. Those negatively impacted by inequality and poverty share many common characteristics (Lynch, 2017). These disparities may both result from and be caused by a lack of political authority. These group disparities must be acknowledged and addressed because they contribute significantly to overall and enduring disparities within nations. Almost everyone in society may suffer from inequalities. Social and environmental issues are more prevalent throughout the population in more unequal societies than in more equal ones.

Keeping economic inequality in check is a difficult task, while approaches vary by nation. Changes in demographics, institutions, or policy seem to have mediated, moderated, accelerated, or possibly even replaced general drivers. Political effects such as legitimacy appear to be more significant, which supports strong worries about how the wealthys political clout feeds into policies that worsen inequality. Low-income individuals experience repercussions on their health, living circumstances, social ties, and child development. It is essential to redistribute income in order to reduce poverty and advance equality of opportunity.

References

Çubucku, A. (2019). Thinking against humanity. London Review of International Law, 5(2), 251-267.

Ebert, R. (2020). Are Humans More Equal Than Other Animals? An Evolutionary Argument Against Exclusively Human Dignity. Philosophia, 48(5), 1807-1823.

Keown, J. (2018). Euthanasia, ethics and public policy: an argument against legalisation. Cambridge University Press.

Lynch, J. M. (2017). The greening of criminology: A perspective on the 1990s. In Green criminology (pp. 165-170). Routledge.

Potthast, A. (2019). Alien attacks, hell gerbils, and assisted dying: Arguments against saving mere humanity. Futures, 110, 41-43.

Raposo, V. L. (2019). Gene editing, the mystic threat to human dignity. Journal of bioethical inquiry, 16(2), 249-257.

Varoufakis, Y. (2003). Against equality. Science & Society, 66(4), 448-472.

As an influential policymaker, my efforts to reduce inequality would be implementing a free education policy at the primary, secondary, and higher levels. The implementation of this policy is an adherence to the human rights legislation that necessitates that primary education is obligatory and accessible. My policy further makes secondary and post-secondary education free. I consider that free education may contest the laws that maintain economic inequality in larger societies and provide young and educated people with the means to develop more balanced communities. Further, quality free education has a significant capacity to promote gender equality.

Free education is crucial since it ensures every individual receives some education at all stages. This policy indicates that every learner has an equivalent chance to attain this level of knowledge. Since secondary and post-secondary tuition costs are a huge concern for so many individuals, the power balance of education acquisition is not even. Many of the worlds best brains originate from low-income families, and this policy ensures they can finish their education (Rose et al. 128). Under this approach, every person has an equal opportunity to attend school, and free education is a significant tool for achieving egalitarianism.

The free education policy targets the primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels. At the primary level, free elementary education has helped some communities abandon practices detrimental to contemporary society, like teenage pregnancies, crime, and drug abuse. Free education is gender-equal in that it empowers girls and boys and encourages the acquisition of life skills such as self-management, language skills, conflict resolution, and critical reasoning skills that are essential for the success of children and youth. Free education at the secondary level is crucial because, after primary school, students have not acquired any survival skills and are at a delicate stage of engaging in illegal activities.

Females with secondary education are significantly less likely to get pregnant or use drugs than primary school dropouts. A free education policy in all cultures helps females be viewed as individuals capable of obtaining an education and making their own choices, as opposed to only potential wives and mothers (Rose et al. 141). Free secondary education also allows students to explore their sports strengths. At this level, most are absorbed by talent scouts or even getting enrolled in the military. The policy also provides free education to post-secondary education. Economies with higher rates of college and university graduates have better economic stability, lower rates of crime, and equal opportunities. Education gives everyone a feeling of power, the notion that they can alter their lives and select their chosen route. Educated women make better decisions and are more inclined to take responsibility for their livelihoods. A college degree is a requirement for an increasing number of occupations, which translates to better pay.

The policy of free education has a direct impact on reducing income and wealth inequality by enabling social mobility, allowing an originally uneducated person the chance to improve their social rank by earning more than their parents. Education facilitates the acquisition of new skills, increases work and personal productivity, and facilitates the transition to well-paying careers. Schools would be venues whereby children from wealthy and poor families interact and become peers, thereby breaking down barriers of inequalities.

The policy has various secondary impacts on free education at all levels. In order for the state to offer free education, all citizens must pay greater taxes. Individuals who do not take advantage of the policy will be required to pay for being overburdened with tax and for services they will not directly profit from. Additionally, under this policy, the possibility of inequity exists indirectly, and this is because many children come from diverse social and economic backgrounds. Even when schooling has been equalized, these childrens diverse family lives will still be evident. Except if the government is stringent, other students may experience demoralization or bullying based on their social rank and socioeconomic class. Finally, there is a possibility for unemployment under the implementation of this policy (Rose et al. 126). Although the policys intention is exemplary, this might ultimately result in many educated persons entering the labor market, leading to an immediate saturation that causes unemployment.

One of the approaches to assess the effectiveness of the policy is through data. An increase in the number of new students and ones who have resumed after dropping out of school because of financial restraints indicates a rise in equality. Some of the data to consider are new enrolments, rates of teenage pregnancies, juvenile crimes, and the need for extra teachers and educational resources (Rose et al. 134). The absence of classrooms, rising teacher work amongst secondary school instructors, scarcity of schools, and absence of teaching resources should be factors that measure the effectiveness of free education, and this policy should not lead to a decline in education quality.

Data on teacher productivity and motivation, a high teacher-student proportion, and inadequate instructional resources should be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy quality of education. Whenever some parents are compelled to transfer their children to private instructions, the policy has established equality (Rose et al. 140). Education policy is a powerful catalyst for change over the long term, and there ought to be evidence that it improves health and incomes, helps social stability, and supports long-term economic progress.

Work Cited

Rose, Pauline, et al. Reforming Education and Challenging Inequalities in Southern Contexts: Research and Policy in International Development. Routledge, 2022.

Many social problems today have to do with ones inability to accept and understand the characteristics of other people and society as a whole. I find it strange and unclear why people fundamentally choose to hate other people, seeking to humiliate them in some way. Our particularities are a demonstration of the diversity of the worlds communities, yet they are not fully valued. The most critical social problem is discrimination and inequality based on race, gender, and orientation.

The distinction between communities and individuals begins with external characteristics, including face shapes, body shapes, and skin color. While I see a significant quantity of discrimination against people who are too thin or too big, I want to focus on discrimination based on race. Race is not an option and cannot be chosen: there is no way a person can affect the color of their skin, the size of their lips and nose, or the shape of their eyes unless they resort to surgery. Society nevertheless believes that people should be discriminated against for race. Racism has been around for years, and since slavery, society has rarely appreciated dark-skinned persons, considering them inferior in status. The forced segregation of black people in the United States has led to an artificially stratified society. Despite movements such as Black Lives Matter or movements to preserve the national identity of indigenous peoples, discrimination on social, medical, and everyday levels continues to be a problem.

Existing discrimination based on gender affects women of all skin colors and all physiques. No proven and reliable evidence points to the superiority of men as a social group. The continuing persecution of women and their discrimination in sports, schools, and universities lives on and blossoms because it is challenging to bridge the gap of many years of un-freedom. In addition, girls are often humiliated for lack of success, unlike boys; they are more often scolded and forced to do daily chores; there are demands almost everywhere. As a consequence, girls and women themselves value their worth less, and even their relationships with each other can be strained. In one way or another, white men remain the most privileged group with enough power to sustain discrimination against women, reinforcing the stratification of communities.

Finally, there are specific problems with society freely recognizing someone elses orientation and attraction to a particular person. Along with homosexual orientation, conservatives mention bestiality or pedophilia, shifting the focus and essentially misrepresenting reality. Many teenagers are discriminated against, not accepted by their parents, or seen by their classmates as a cause for ridicule. Their relationships are not taken seriously, and society denies the reality of the LGBT+ community, believing it can be corrected or restored to normal. Harassment of teens is often brutal, and even as adults, not all people feel free. In addition, pressure from conservatives at the state level is worrisome because there is a possibility that non-traditional attitudes will not be available in states without liberal advocates. Harassment based on orientation destroys society by confining it to a framework and ridding it of deviant norms.

To conclude, I would like to express my concern about the lack of full implementation of anti-discrimination measures in the United States. We need people with different identities in politics, media, sports, and public life. This will help convince society that discrimination based on race, gender, or orientation is unacceptable. Each of us must strive for a tolerant view of the world for society to function organically.

Poverty and wealth inequality have been concerning society for a very long time. The latter has sparked a debate regarding justice and wealth inequality. In the section How Liberty Upsets Patterns, Robert Nozick depicts how a person can benefit from the distribution of the second party. However, I will explain why I think that Nozicks perspective lacks certain factors in his example. In my opinion, the soccer player mentioned in it is not as fortunate as one may think. I will review Roberts points regarding the preservation of the two principles. Finally, I intend to explain why I agree with his final opinions and why some of them require extra details.

The first factor related to the situation depicted in that chapter is that the soccer player, in case of a million people attending the season will have 250 000 USD. This sum is larger than the average income in the country and larger than the salaries the attendees have (Nozick, 2013). Nozick debates whether this distribution is fair and whether he has the right to have so much money.

The second one depicted by the philosopher is that while the player obtains more money than the average visitor of his sporting events, they pay for the tickets deliberately. The guests want to see him play, and they want to witness the sportsperson doing his best (Nozick, 2013). Nobody was forcing the people to spend their money on the tickets, this decision was consensual. This is why Robert thinks that it is hard to refer to such a distribution as unfair.

The third factor states that the attendees could have spent their money on another activity. They could have paid for a subscription to a newspaper, a ticket to a foreign country or a collectible item. But, as Nozick repeatedly mentions, the guests decided to spend their money (Nozick, 2013). Robert wonders if the alternative scenario (D2) would have been just as fair, as the case in which the people paying for the tickets were a distribution (D1). The philosopher wonders if the visitors of the game were just as entitled to exchange part of their share with Chamberlain and if anyone could call it unjust.

Nonetheless, he acknowledges that regardless of the guests decision, the third party still would have financially benefitted from it. Robert states that no one has any claims of justice against the depicted scenario (Nozick, 2013). In spite of all three sides consenting to the given event, the philosopher wonders if there could have been a process that would have lead to a valid claim of distributive justice. However, the third party would have had no such claim regarding the holding of others before the transfer.

To explain his example and conclude the chapter, Robert states that a principle of justice or a no end-state principle cannot become a reality without interference into peoples lives. Said principle would have rendered any desirable pattern as an undesirable one, with people performing various actions, such as paying for specific goods (Nozick, 2013). To preserve the principle, one needs to either prevent such transfers or interfere with the process to receive a part of the share.

I agree with most of the points the philosopher has made, so I would like to provide explanations. In my opinion, I believe that the wealth inequality mentioned in this scenario is a very complicated issue that requires a detailed review. However, the opinions depicted regarding the visitors consent to paying for the tickets to see Chamberlain play are valid (Nozick, 2013). I also intend on reviewing the role the third party may play in this situation.

I have chosen to debate this specific issue, for I find the conflict between ones consent, financial transactions, wealth inequality and the benefit of the third party to be quite interesting. As mentioned earlier, the first two sides do not have any complaints regarding the situation (Nozick, 2013). However, it is debatable whether the third party can address this event as a negative issue or not.

In my opinion, the problem of the wealth inequality depicted in this scenario (the probability of Chamberlain earning 250 000 USD if one million visitors attend the soccer season) is even more complex than Nozick believes. There are some factors that he has not mentioned in his imaginary scenario. They could have provided more details and insight on the role of all three parties and distributive justice in this situation.

First of all, what Robert failed to mention is that, in this scenario, Chamberlains earnings are rather unstable and depend almost entirely on the guests attendance. In case of a financial crisis or downfall in the country, people will not be able to attend soccer games and will spend money on more important things. Thus, he will not receive the aforementioned 250 000 USD in such a situation.

Second, the depicted situation implies that the guests are in a more stable financial position than Chamberlain. They may be working in jobs that have a fixed salary, which puts them in a safer scenario. The soccer player, as depicted earlier, is constricted by the 25 cents he earns from each ticket bought by the attendees.In conclusion, Chamberlain is not as fortunate as he may seem at first glance.

Third, being a soccer player is a very short term job. Chamberlain will eventually have to retire. This will force him to look for a new job and put him in a financially fragile position. Chamberlains future will then depend on his qualifications that are not related to sports. If he does not have any higher education in such fields, he will experience quite severe struggles.

However, the role played by the third party is also very unusual. Regardless of the outcome, their financial situation does not change at all. I believe that Robert was not specific enough in his depiction of the third partys financial situation, because he focused onthe other two parties (Nozick, 2013). It is not stated if their earnings are average or not. Nonetheless, the third party happens to be the only group that can address a complaint of distributive justice, thus, they have more legal options in this situation.

I agree with Roberts statement on the visitors not having to file a complaint of distributive justice. As mentioned earlier, their decision to pay for the tickets is consensual (Nozick, 2013). The only scenario when they can express their negative opinion about the transfer is if they are not informed about the expenses included and if the event gets cancelled, without the organizer returning the money. Nozicks depiction implies that the attendees are either aware of it or have neutral sentiments regarding this situation.

It is hard to say whether the outcomes of an alternative transfer would be positive or negative (the visitors deciding to spend their money on another activity) for two reasons. First, they are not the focus of the event being depicted (Nozick, 2013). It is less significant to the research, although it does provide extra context. Second, it is assumed that the people will most likely pay for the tickets to see Chamberlains soccer event. This is why I find the briefly mentioned alternative scenario to be simultaneously relevant and irrelevant.

By the end of the section, Nozick states that neither of the two principles (no end-state and distributional patterned principle of justice) can become a reality without interfering in peoples lives. In my opinion, the reason why the favored patterns may easily become unfavored is because the position of two of the three sides is rather fragile in this situation. In a way, the soccer player and the guests depend on each other, thus contributing to the complicated nature of the issue. This proves Roberts final point: to preserve a pattern, one must either prevent the transferring of the resources or interfere by taking a part of said resources.

In conclusion, I find the topic of distributive justice to be rather complicated in Roberts chapter on Anarchy, State and Utopia. Although Chamberlain seems to be financially fortunate, this position is very fragile and depends on the attendance of the event and his age at the moment. Given the philosophers depictions, I think that the guests are most likely satisfied with the outcome of the transfer or have a neutral opinion. While the third party has the opportunity to file a complaint about distributive justice after the transfer, there are not enough details in the example. This, in turn, is why I think that the role of third parties should be researched more thoroughly.

Reference

Nozick, R. (2013). Anarchy, State and Utopia. Basic Books, pp (609-615).