INTRO
Capitalism-An economic system in which major companies that provide for the people are privately owned and run by individual citizens of that country. This kind of economic system supports the idea of one person making profit off of the labors of another. In the case of the U.S., the people making profit off of others form the minority of the population while the laborers form the majority. Capitalism also forms a system of social class so that the laborers, because they have a lower income, are placed in a lower class than the people making more money. This economic system makes the richer
richer by taking resources from the poor.
Government policy-This dictates the way people act through force. Anything the policy is against, the government will reward with punishment such as a sentence in prison or they will force you to pay a fine for a parking ticket. Government Policy is a set of rules we are forced to follow for fear of punishment. It is more acceptable to break social norms than to break government policy, most like because social norms rely less on force.
Social Norms-Specific manners of acting that society, as a whole deems acceptable. If someone does something that is socially unacceptable, there is no real forceful punishment, but that individual will become less accepted by society. This will make it more difficult for that particular individual to live in that society. This is not always the case however. There are many social norms that can be broken without any repercussions of any kind, and the social norms are dependant on where you are.
CAPITALISM
“Capital” is wealth invested to create more wealth. Whenever a business owner sets aside money for something like advertising, a machine that will do work, more property on which to do business, anything that will help create more business (and therefore, more money) is Capital. Using Capital can help a business grow or expand, and this is the idea that capitalism revolves around.
Socialist Karl Marx once stated, “Capitalism profanes all that is holy.” and while the negativity against capitalism can be debated, it can be observed that capitalism affects everything. Everything can be bought or sold; clothing, food, entertainment, power, sex, all perfectly attainable-with the right amount of currency. The unfortunate aspect of capitalism is that not everyone can have the right amount of currency. Class difference can be credited to Capitalism. This feeling of class difference has a tremendous impact on all of our lives and causes different groups of people to have different types of upbringings, types of homes, types of parents, families, etc. This affects people from infancy to death, through all life stages. Capitalism relies on a social pyramid in which the owning class or upper class people (executive class) are at the top, and make up a very small percentage of the population (say, 3%.) The middle section is made up of the managerial class, people who give orders but also take orders from people higher up than them. They make up a larger percentage than the executive class (17%) The remaining mass of people (80%) is made up of the lower class, people who constantly take orders and have to struggle constantly in order just to survive.
Infancy/Childhood- At first, it may seem that capitalism has no real effect on children. They don’t have jobs, they don’t worry about money, and they don’t have a business to take care of. However, one aspect of capitalism, social class, greatly affects children. A child brought up in a rich household will not only have a completely different upbringing, they will also have many more opportunities and benefits than a child brought up in a lower class household will have. Because they have more money, they will be able to attend a much more expensive college, where they receive a “better” education, with which they will be able to receive a higher paying job. In the film, 7 up! children in the UK of age seven were taken from different social classes and interviewed. The upper class children, when asked about what schools they would be going to, seem to have a very clear idea of where they would end up going; they would go to this school for this amount of time and they would have to take this test in order to get into this university etc. Though they were very young, they seemed extremely confident that everything would go according to the plan they had outlined. The lower class children, however, didn’t have such a clear idea of where they were going. One even asked, “What does university mean?”
Teenagers- It is at this stage in life that what you intend to do for a living becomes very important. At this time you start thinking about college and what your major is, or if you don’t intend to go to college, what job you get after high school. Most of the decisions you make at this stage revolve around your career. But, in order to into the college you want, you need money. So, you get a (usually) low paying job at a grocery store or fast food restaurant, something low-paying and uninteresting where you have to take orders from your boss, and the customer. Capitalist business owners easily exploit teenagers so that they can get more labor for less cost. They are not only exploited for their labors, however. Whatever money they make will eventually be spent (most likely) on some merchandise sold by capitalists
Teenagers are still affected by social class at this point. A teenager’s social status is greatly influenced by their social class. Teenagers with the more expensive clothing, or the clothing that is in style will tend to have a higher social status among teens. For teens in the upper class, it is much easier to attain such clothing. Social class also affects the decisions a teenager would make. For example, if a teenager wants to go to a good college, but is lower class, they may have to end up making the decision to go to a lower level school because of the cost of the college.
Adults- At this stage, the working class people are exploited from every angle by the upper class. They are exploited for their labor and for the money they make through their labors. Their lives are pretty much defined by what they do to make a living. Whenever anyone introduces himself or herself, they are identified by their occupation. “Hello, I’m a doctor” or “a teacher” or “a construction worker” It is more often than not that working class people end up with a job they are fully uninterested in and don’t really want. They are forced into this job (whatever it may be) because in capitalism, everything has a price. You have to pay for housing, electricity, plumbing, water, food, entertainment; everything must be paid for with your labor. Working class people have no choice; they must work in order to survive. Their lives revolve around their job, they have to work for long hours for most of the week with little payment, while the few upper class people make money off of the working class’ labors. It is at this stage that the individual must provide for themselves, so when considering things to spend money on, food will be at the top of the list, taking priority over luxury items (i.e., videogames, stylish clothing, make up etc.) that was once at the top of the list during teenage years. Priorities change when one has to provide for ones self, and this is the change that occurs between teenage years and adulthood.
Elderly-Even the elderly up to a certain age are forced to work for a living. When they pass that age, they are considered unable to work, and much like a used battery are toss aside by capitalism. With social security (which is a government policy) in action, the laborers pay for the survival of the elderly while the capitalists still make a profit off of everyone. In this stage of life, more than any other, the individual is greatly concerned with their health. They have to worry about how they’re going to pay for the hospital bills since, through capitalism, medicine has become more of a business than a system for helping people.
SOCIAL NORMS
Social norms are the guidelines and standards set by society to control the way people act. It is socially unacceptable, for example, for someone to pick their nose in public, or to be naked around other people. Social norms greatly affect the way people view you. When people are developing their opinions on you as a person, they take in to account the norms set by society. Is their posture socially acceptable? If it isn’t, does that make them socially unacceptable in a bad way? Or is it in a good way because in breaking the norms you are being unique? While people do not consciously consider these, they are the types of questions coming up in their mind when considering you as a person.
Much like capitalism, there is a social hierarchy set by society. The people who are more socially active, or who dress in a stylish way (a style determined by the society), or who in some way, place themselves in a position where they fit into the basic standards of society, but still somehow stand out, these people will be on a higher level than others on the hierarchy of social norms.
Social norms enforce their rules by ostracizing the individual who breaks the norms and making them feel ashamed. This is different from government policy and capitalism, as both enforce their rules more forcefully. Because of this, social norms are considerably weaker in affecting us as people, but still have a large influence in our lives.
Infancy/Childhood-It is at this stage that, as a person, we develop. At this stage you learn what is socially unacceptable behavior. Your parents tell you not to pick your nose, and they discourage your running around naked. But, you also learn what is socially acceptable. You see the way one of your respected relatives walk and you mimic the same walk in the hopes of getting the same respect. Very little of how we act is not contributed to by the behavior of those raising us. It is at this age that we learn the boundaries by which we can act, and guidelines by which we should act.
One general social norm among children is to express some form of disgust for the opposite sex. This is often done by claiming that the other has “Cooties,” or is “Yucky,” etc. It is also at this age that we try to promote a certain image of ourselves. We want to seem “cool” around our friends, so we act differently around them than we would our family or anyone we aren’t trying to impress. Likewise, around our family or our teachers or higher authority figures, we feel the need to behave in a “civilized” manner. We would not act this way around the people we were trying to impress.
Teenagers-At this stage, the people from whom we are learning how to act have changed to our peers. We start acting like our peers in hopes of upping our social status in the teenage community. This is a way in which we blend in. But generally, people also want to stand out, so they try to do things to distinct themselves from the others. Some examples are trying to buy more fashionable clothing, buying from the popular companies that most teens buy from, but still trying to have a unique look. This is true with music as well. Teens will try to seem cool by listening to the same music most other teens listen to, but they will also try to listen to other music that is different outside the norm, but still accepted by it. It is also worth noting that at this age we become much more defensive about our image. If anyone tries to make us seem anything less than what we have been trying to make of ourselves, usually, we retaliate: we make an attack on their image.
At this age, we are expected to start acting more "mature" or "responsible." Essentially, we are expected to start acting more like adults. Teens may be expected to provide their own income by getting a job, or to start making big decisions that may greatly affect their lives on their own. Of course, it cannot be expected that everybody start acting more like an adult at the same age. It is different for different people; some may mature earlier than others and vice versa. Because of this fact, the distinction between teenager and adult is hard to make.
Adults-At this stage in our lives, our social image becomes more important to ourselves (if possible). In the film, 21 Up, a lower-class male named Tony provides an example of defense against attack on our social image. Tony is a very short man, and when a girls points this out, asking "Hey aren't you short?" Tony retaliates stating "Yeah, well you're ugly." Because someone pointed out a part of his image that he was not particularly proud of, he felt his social image was being attacked, and felt he had to retaliate by attacking the woman's social image in calling her ugly.
As an adult, it is often expected that you get married and start having kids. This is not a particularly strong social norm in society today, as it is very easy to break it and to not get married or have children, but it is still a very popular one. It is instilled in us when we are children that we are expected to get married and have children, so growing up, it is constantly on our minds. Most of what we do as adults is done with part of the reason being that it will help us find someone to get married with. People buy big apartments so more than one person can live there, they'll buy a dog to make themselves seem like a good companion to others, they'll try to get a high paying job so they will appear financially stable, etc.
Elderly-There are some cases in elderly people where social norms almost do not apply. When someone becomes senile, they will not be punished when they break the social norms. Rather, they will feel pity for their condition. This only applies to a certain extent, however. If a senile person started walking around naked, people would be upset, and while they would feel like they could not tell them what they were doing was wrong because of their condition, they would ignore them as if they did not exist in the social world. For those who are not senile, these norms do not apply; they are still expected to act in a way accepted by their society.
The elderly, generally, have a higher status in society than those of a younger age. Children are told to respect their elders, and adults are expected to take care of them when they cannot take care of themselves. At the same time, however, they have some lower place in society since they unable to do as much physically. They are seen almost as less than human for a few different reasons; they may have some sore of mental condition that inhibits them socially, or they may have some physical condition which will inhibit them socially.
GOVERNMENT POLICY
Government policies are the rules set in place and enforced by the government. These rules apply to a much larger population than with social norms. Social norms was more controlling over individual communities, whereas government policies apply to entire regions. An example of government policies would be the first amendment, which provides us with the right to freedom of speech. Whenever an individual's freedom of speech is being threatened or taken away, the government will intervene by punishing the individual(s) threatening another's first amendment right (though this is not always the case). The government usually enforces through punishment; if you break any of the laws that the government has put in place, you will be put in jail for a set period of time determined by a judge and a jury of your peers. This among other methods is used to make sure the people living under that government adhere to their rules.
Infancy/Childhood-There are rules set through government policy to ensure the safety of a child from many things, including their own parents. If a parent becomes abusive of their child and someone reports it, the government will intervene and punish the parents by taking away their child and putting them in a program that will place them with a family the government deems "more suitable" for the child. A program that is part of government policy is welfare. This program provides financial aid for families that are unable to survive on their own. This would prove helpful to children in growing up in lower class households, as it will be ensured that they will not starve to death. Capitalist business owners are also in favor of this program because it keeps the workers from feeling like they're getting a bad deal, and they will continue to work.
Teenagers-A government policy that affects teenagers is that they are required to be in school during the week. If a teenager is found walking around outside of school, a police officer will tell them to get to school. Even though it is part of the social norm to respect the authority of police officers, many teenagers will refuse (as it is also part of the social norm for teenagers to be rebellious and to resist authority) At that point, it is within the police officer's power to take the teenager to a holding cell as punishment. This is one example where one could see the different life forces conflicting; government policy urges teens to respect authority, while the social norms urge teens to fight against authority.
Adults-At this life stage, working class people have access to welfare if they cannot provide for themselves. Adults also have to worry about paying taxes which is part of the government policy; adult have to pay for their housing, electricity, they get taxed on their income, and they pay for building roads etc. Adults depend on the government to protect them because they are taught growing up that that is what the government is for. There are times, however, when the government will take away the very rights that they are meant to "protect" in order to attain whatever goals they may be seeking.
Elderly-Elderly people reap benefits from social security. This is a government policy in which all members of a nation under that government are required to give some amount of their income to the government to be spent on helping elderly people survive.
Conclusion-Among these social forces, Capitalism seems to be the force around which our lives revolve. Even though social norms and government policies greatly influence our lives, capitalism is the strongest.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
snowball essay first draft
INTRO
Capitalism-An economic system in which major companies that provide for the people are privately owned and run by individual citizens of that country. This kind of economic system supports the idea of one person making profit off of the labors of another. In the case of the U.S., the people making profit off of others form the minority of the population while the laborers form the majority. Capitalism also forms a system of social class so that the laborers, because they have a lower income, are placed in a lower class than the people making more money. This economic system makes the richer more rich by taking resources from the poor.
Government policy-This dictates the way people act through force. Anything the policy is against, the government will reward with punishment such as a sentence in prison or they will force you to pay a fine for a parking ticket. Government Policy is a set of rules we are forced to follow for fear of punishment. It is more acceptable to break social norms than to break government policy, most like because social norms rely less on force.
Social Norms-Specific manners of acting that society as a whole deems acceptable. If someone does something that is socially unacceptable, there is no real forceful punishment, but that individual will become less accepted by society. This will make it more difficult for that particular individual to live in that society. This is not always the case however. There are many social norms that can be broken without any repercussions of any kind, and the social norms are dependant on where you are.
CAPITALISM
“Capital” is wealth invested to create more wealth. Whenever a business owner sets aside money for something like advertising, a machine that will do work, more property on which to do business, anything that will help create more business (and therefore, more money) is Capital. Using Capital can help a business grow or expand, and this is the idea that capitalism revolves around.
Socialist Karl Marx once stated, “Capitalism profanes all that is holy.” and while the negativity against capitalism can be debated, it can be observed that capitalism affects everything. Everything can be bought or sold; clothing, food, entertainment, power, sex, all perfectly attainable-with the right amount of currency. The unfortunate aspect of capitalism is that not everyone can have the right amount of currency. Class difference can be credited to Capitalism. This feeling of class difference has a tremendous impact on all of our lives and causes different groups of people to have different types of upbringings, types of homes, types of parents, families, etc. This affects people from infancy to death, through all life stages. Capitalism relies on a social pyramid in which the owning class or upper class people (executive class) are at the top, and make up a very small percentage of the population (say, 3%.) The middle section is made up of the managerial class, people who give orders but also take orders from people higher up than them. They make up a larger percentage than the executive class (17%) The remaining mass of people (80%) are made up of the lower class, people who constantly take orders and have to struggle constantly in order just to survive.
Infancy/Childhood- At first, it may seem that capitalism has no real effect on children. They don’t have jobs, they don’t worry about money, they don’t have a business to take care of. However, one aspect of capitalism, social class, greatly affects children. A child brought up in a rich household will not only have a completely different upbringing, they will also have many more opportunities and benefits than a child brought up in a lower class household will have. Because they have more money, they will be able to attend a much more expensive college, where they receive a “better” education, with which they will be able to receive a higher paying job. In the film, 7 up!, children in the UK of age seven were taken from different social classes and interviewed. The upper class children, when asked about what schools they would be going to, seem to have a very clear idea of where they would end up going; they would go to this school for this amount of time and they would have to take this test in order to get into this university etc. Though they were very young, they seemed extremely confident that everything would go according to the plan they had outlined. The lower class children, however, didn’t have such a clear idea of where they were going. One even asked, “What does university mean?”
Teenagers- It is at this stage in life that what you intend to do for a living becomes very important. At this time you start thinking about college and what your major is, or if you don’t intend to go to college, what job you get after high school. Most of the decisions you make at this stage revolve around your career. But, in order to into the college you want, you need money. So, you get a (usually) low paying job at a grocery store or fast food restaurant, something low-paying and uninteresting where you have to take orders from your boss, and the customer. Teenagers are easily exploited by capitalist business owners so that they can get more labor for less cost. Teenagers are also still affected by social class at this point.
Adults- At this stage, our lives are pretty much defined by what we do to make a living. Whenever anyone introduces themselves, they are identified by their occupation. “Hello, I’m a doctor” or “a teacher” or “a construction worker” It is also apparent at this stage that everything has a price. You have to pay for housing, electricity, plumbing, water, food, entertainment, everything must be paid for with your labor. People’s lives revolve around their job, working class people have to work for long hours for most of the week with little payment, while the few upper class people make money off of the working class’ labors.
Capitalism-An economic system in which major companies that provide for the people are privately owned and run by individual citizens of that country. This kind of economic system supports the idea of one person making profit off of the labors of another. In the case of the U.S., the people making profit off of others form the minority of the population while the laborers form the majority. Capitalism also forms a system of social class so that the laborers, because they have a lower income, are placed in a lower class than the people making more money. This economic system makes the richer more rich by taking resources from the poor.
Government policy-This dictates the way people act through force. Anything the policy is against, the government will reward with punishment such as a sentence in prison or they will force you to pay a fine for a parking ticket. Government Policy is a set of rules we are forced to follow for fear of punishment. It is more acceptable to break social norms than to break government policy, most like because social norms rely less on force.
Social Norms-Specific manners of acting that society as a whole deems acceptable. If someone does something that is socially unacceptable, there is no real forceful punishment, but that individual will become less accepted by society. This will make it more difficult for that particular individual to live in that society. This is not always the case however. There are many social norms that can be broken without any repercussions of any kind, and the social norms are dependant on where you are.
CAPITALISM
“Capital” is wealth invested to create more wealth. Whenever a business owner sets aside money for something like advertising, a machine that will do work, more property on which to do business, anything that will help create more business (and therefore, more money) is Capital. Using Capital can help a business grow or expand, and this is the idea that capitalism revolves around.
Socialist Karl Marx once stated, “Capitalism profanes all that is holy.” and while the negativity against capitalism can be debated, it can be observed that capitalism affects everything. Everything can be bought or sold; clothing, food, entertainment, power, sex, all perfectly attainable-with the right amount of currency. The unfortunate aspect of capitalism is that not everyone can have the right amount of currency. Class difference can be credited to Capitalism. This feeling of class difference has a tremendous impact on all of our lives and causes different groups of people to have different types of upbringings, types of homes, types of parents, families, etc. This affects people from infancy to death, through all life stages. Capitalism relies on a social pyramid in which the owning class or upper class people (executive class) are at the top, and make up a very small percentage of the population (say, 3%.) The middle section is made up of the managerial class, people who give orders but also take orders from people higher up than them. They make up a larger percentage than the executive class (17%) The remaining mass of people (80%) are made up of the lower class, people who constantly take orders and have to struggle constantly in order just to survive.
Infancy/Childhood- At first, it may seem that capitalism has no real effect on children. They don’t have jobs, they don’t worry about money, they don’t have a business to take care of. However, one aspect of capitalism, social class, greatly affects children. A child brought up in a rich household will not only have a completely different upbringing, they will also have many more opportunities and benefits than a child brought up in a lower class household will have. Because they have more money, they will be able to attend a much more expensive college, where they receive a “better” education, with which they will be able to receive a higher paying job. In the film, 7 up!, children in the UK of age seven were taken from different social classes and interviewed. The upper class children, when asked about what schools they would be going to, seem to have a very clear idea of where they would end up going; they would go to this school for this amount of time and they would have to take this test in order to get into this university etc. Though they were very young, they seemed extremely confident that everything would go according to the plan they had outlined. The lower class children, however, didn’t have such a clear idea of where they were going. One even asked, “What does university mean?”
Teenagers- It is at this stage in life that what you intend to do for a living becomes very important. At this time you start thinking about college and what your major is, or if you don’t intend to go to college, what job you get after high school. Most of the decisions you make at this stage revolve around your career. But, in order to into the college you want, you need money. So, you get a (usually) low paying job at a grocery store or fast food restaurant, something low-paying and uninteresting where you have to take orders from your boss, and the customer. Teenagers are easily exploited by capitalist business owners so that they can get more labor for less cost. Teenagers are also still affected by social class at this point.
Adults- At this stage, our lives are pretty much defined by what we do to make a living. Whenever anyone introduces themselves, they are identified by their occupation. “Hello, I’m a doctor” or “a teacher” or “a construction worker” It is also apparent at this stage that everything has a price. You have to pay for housing, electricity, plumbing, water, food, entertainment, everything must be paid for with your labor. People’s lives revolve around their job, working class people have to work for long hours for most of the week with little payment, while the few upper class people make money off of the working class’ labors.
comment on raimi's blog
Hey Raimi, it's very commendable of you to write about social norms when we have been focusing mostly on capitalsm, you pulled it off very well. I don't think I would have been able to do that. All I feel like I can explain thoroughly at this point is capitalism. There were a few sentences that seemed like they could have been worded better, but otherwise, well done.
comment on gabi's blog
Hey Gabi, I enjoyed reading this paper. It seemed very casual which is something I'm not very used to seeing in essays, it was nice to see. You seemed very articulate in your ideas behind capitalism in a general sense. You could use some work on organizing your thoughts more and talk more specifically on how it affects certain age groups, and there were a few grammer mistakes. Aside from that, it was an interesting read.
Monday, February 25, 2008
comment on sabine's blog (2/25/08)
Hey Sabine, thanks for posting, I enjoyed reading it. I liked the part where you were talking about social norms we're faced with as children (can't pick your nose, can't be naked, etc.) It was easily relatable, pretty much everyone has faced such things and it helps the reader understand where you're coming from. I also like that you interviewed someone outside of NY. It gives sort of a better view of U.S. social norms. I had thought about interviewing one of my siblings, but I don't think there would have been as much to work with there as what you got from your interviewee.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Intro to major concepts
Capitalism-An economic system in which major companies that provide for the people are privately owned and run by individual citizens of that country. This kind of economic system supports the idea of one person making profit off of the labors of another. In the case of the U.S., the people making profit off of others form the minority of the population while the laborers form the majority. Capitalism also forms a system of social class so that the laborers, because they have a lower income, are placed in a lower class than the people making more money. This economic system makes the richer more rich by taking resources from the poor.
Government policy-This dictates the way people act through force. Anything the policy is against, the government will reward with punishment such as a sentence in prison or they will force you to pay a fine for a parking ticket. Government Policy is a set of rules we are forced to follow for fear of punishment. It is more acceptable to break social norms than to break government policy, most likely because social norms rely less on force.
Social Norms-Specific manners of acting that society as a whole deems acceptable. If someone does something that is socially unacceptable, there is no real forceful punishment, but that individual will become less accepted by society. This will make it more difficult for that particular individual to live in that society. This is not always the case however. There are many social norms that can be broken without any repercussions of any kind, and the social norms are dependant on where you are.
Government policy-This dictates the way people act through force. Anything the policy is against, the government will reward with punishment such as a sentence in prison or they will force you to pay a fine for a parking ticket. Government Policy is a set of rules we are forced to follow for fear of punishment. It is more acceptable to break social norms than to break government policy, most likely because social norms rely less on force.
Social Norms-Specific manners of acting that society as a whole deems acceptable. If someone does something that is socially unacceptable, there is no real forceful punishment, but that individual will become less accepted by society. This will make it more difficult for that particular individual to live in that society. This is not always the case however. There are many social norms that can be broken without any repercussions of any kind, and the social norms are dependant on where you are.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
rough draft (added to 2/14/08)
Guido Gonzalez
Cradle to Grave
Rough Draft
Capitalism-Class difference can be credited to Capitalism. This feeling of class difference causes different groups of people to have different types of upbringings, types of homes, types of parents, families, etc. This affects people from infancy to death. This part of environment (especially during infancy) helps shape who we become as people. Teenagers are affected by this as well, but in addition, they are affected by the market aspect of Capitalism. Any fast food restaurant you go to in America, you’ll find that the majority of the staff working there are teenagers. This is because they are easily exploited by big businesses for their labor and are paid very low wages. This effect of capitalism stays with people through their adulthood and somewhat into the elderly stage. Though, elderly people who become retired are less affected by capitalism, they no longer have to work for large companies etc.
Government Policy-Infants don’t really seem to be that much affected by government policy outside of laws prohibiting violence against them. Teenagers are more affected by government policy. They have to go to school otherwise police will escort them home or to school. They are not allowed to drink or do drugs. They are treated differently in law, i.e. if a teenager has committed a crime, they will be tried as a minor. Adults must pay taxes and serve jury duty or there will be consequences to face. There are also government policies such as welfare, health care, etc that help adults who, (for whatever reason) cannot support themselves, survive. Elderly people don’t seem to be as affected by government policies as adults. Since they have social security they don’t have to work for money, and they can pretty much live how they want.
Social Norms-It is socially unacceptable for infants to use “adult” language. It is socially unacceptable in teenage society for “nerds” to ever approach or talk to “jocks” This starts placing them into different social classes. It’s somewhat socially unacceptable for them to be sexually active. It’s socially unacceptable for a teenager to not be going to school, it is part of the social norm that everybody has to go to school because we believe if we don’t go to school, it will make it much more difficult for us to succeed or survive. It is part of the social norm for an adult to have a job. If a person doesn’t have a job, they are considered unproductive, and sometimes even worthless. A social norm (or stereotype?) for elderly people is that they are incapable of doing some things we consider simple. Usually people think they need or deserve help to go up stairs, cross the street, etc. People have to give up their seat to an elder person on buses and subways.
Ideas-It seems to me that elderly people are the least affected by all three categories. This is probably because they have the least use; they can’t really benefit to capitalism after retirement so they are cast aside and no longer really cared about. It’s like saying “oh, do whatever you want, we don’t care, you don’t do anything for us anymore. In this sense human beings are very much like batteries; they are cared about until their energy or usefulness has been completely used up, at which point it no longer becomes consequential what happens to them. This is probably mostly pertaining to capitalism; it is what uses the labor of people to maintain itself, and once the person can no longer provide labor, capitalism can no longer use them.
Cradle to Grave
Rough Draft
Capitalism-Class difference can be credited to Capitalism. This feeling of class difference causes different groups of people to have different types of upbringings, types of homes, types of parents, families, etc. This affects people from infancy to death. This part of environment (especially during infancy) helps shape who we become as people. Teenagers are affected by this as well, but in addition, they are affected by the market aspect of Capitalism. Any fast food restaurant you go to in America, you’ll find that the majority of the staff working there are teenagers. This is because they are easily exploited by big businesses for their labor and are paid very low wages. This effect of capitalism stays with people through their adulthood and somewhat into the elderly stage. Though, elderly people who become retired are less affected by capitalism, they no longer have to work for large companies etc.
Government Policy-Infants don’t really seem to be that much affected by government policy outside of laws prohibiting violence against them. Teenagers are more affected by government policy. They have to go to school otherwise police will escort them home or to school. They are not allowed to drink or do drugs. They are treated differently in law, i.e. if a teenager has committed a crime, they will be tried as a minor. Adults must pay taxes and serve jury duty or there will be consequences to face. There are also government policies such as welfare, health care, etc that help adults who, (for whatever reason) cannot support themselves, survive. Elderly people don’t seem to be as affected by government policies as adults. Since they have social security they don’t have to work for money, and they can pretty much live how they want.
Social Norms-It is socially unacceptable for infants to use “adult” language. It is socially unacceptable in teenage society for “nerds” to ever approach or talk to “jocks” This starts placing them into different social classes. It’s somewhat socially unacceptable for them to be sexually active. It’s socially unacceptable for a teenager to not be going to school, it is part of the social norm that everybody has to go to school because we believe if we don’t go to school, it will make it much more difficult for us to succeed or survive. It is part of the social norm for an adult to have a job. If a person doesn’t have a job, they are considered unproductive, and sometimes even worthless. A social norm (or stereotype?) for elderly people is that they are incapable of doing some things we consider simple. Usually people think they need or deserve help to go up stairs, cross the street, etc. People have to give up their seat to an elder person on buses and subways.
Ideas-It seems to me that elderly people are the least affected by all three categories. This is probably because they have the least use; they can’t really benefit to capitalism after retirement so they are cast aside and no longer really cared about. It’s like saying “oh, do whatever you want, we don’t care, you don’t do anything for us anymore. In this sense human beings are very much like batteries; they are cared about until their energy or usefulness has been completely used up, at which point it no longer becomes consequential what happens to them. This is probably mostly pertaining to capitalism; it is what uses the labor of people to maintain itself, and once the person can no longer provide labor, capitalism can no longer use them.
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