Okay, so week 1 went by pretty fast. You all posted some rather helpful and interesting links that we should be able to use. This week, the idea is to come up with opinions and insights related to the assignment topic. You can still post links, but do so in places besides this post.
So, here is a list of the links that were posted. Feel free to browse them and then form opinions about their information, or simply write a summary or whatever. Act like you are writing a paragraph or two of the essay. These will be put together to make the actual essay, so lets get going!
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/inequality-is-holding-back-the-recovery/
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-sociology-of-poverty.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Wright_Mills
http://www.poverties.org/effects-of-poverty.html]
Also, please make sure to check back to the blog rather often. Someone's idea might give you another idea, and ALL ideas are useful at the moment.
I think that there is some beauty in the existence of inequality. Each group formed because of inequality creates its own culture, which makes the world a more interesting and exciting place. If it weren't for racial inequality, there would not be the music that came from New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Without poverty, there would be no people who know how important it is to save money. If there was no gender inequality, there would not be the feminist movement and so many different changes in fashion and such that came out of it.
ReplyDeleteI chose to work on part two out of the three parts assigned.
ReplyDeleteWhen one lives in a unequal poor community every obstacle imaginable is placed in their way, and no one is spared from the sad outcomes that start from living in poverty stricken communities, women children and men alike are all affected. It is a vicious cycle that is almost impossible to break, because it is passed down to the new generations. Most all of the problems these people are experiencing are cause, and effect problems. For example, because the water is unsanitary and there is very little food this leads to health problems, but insurance or money for a doctor is not in their reach, so dieses are spread and lives are lost. Physical and mental handicaps are born out of paucity stricken countries and communities as well. There are little opportunities for education, and if education is made possible, children find education a useless tool, because they see their parent’s hard work, and effort make little difference in bettering their lives. This type of attitude eventually leads to alcohol or substance abuse to be used as a coping method. It is rare for most children to obtain an education, it is just not in their future, because they are forced into child labor by the age of six just to help the family maintain, and stay afloat. There are even some lifelong impacts on children associated with living in inequality. They can become antisocial, because of the wall they are forced to put up as protection against their harsh environments. It is also possible for victims of social inequality to become angry, and violent, and it is considered to be an irreversible issue. Women are also a growing victim of poverty and great inequality. Many women have to raise children their children as a single parent and women have a hard time obtaining jobs, because of little or no education. It has been said that empowering women in our societies will help to eliminate inequality, and in turn help reduce poverty, but in some societies because of political, religious, or social reasons it has been made difficult or even taboo for women to rise above their current positions. Poverty is its own evil, it causes handicaps on the minorities that can be permanent, and leave lifelong scars that some may not ever fully recover from.
(I may be rambling or off topic in some parts, but at least I tried)
ReplyDeletePart 3:
The sociological explanation for inequalities among people would be the fact that since there are differences between people, humans naturally find a way to amplify these differences.
Humans naturally want to fit things into categories, hence the existence of scientific names for organisms and "cultures" and "subcultures". This becomes a problem when they try to categorize other humans though, because humans are too complicated to fit into just one category. They see that people make different amounts of money or live differently and decide to shun them for doing so. There arises the problem of inequalities of any kind.
Theoretically, the only way to get rid of inequalities would either be to change the global human mindset or to eliminate differences and make everyone the same. In reality, neither of these things are possible. When you get rid of the poor by giving them houses and more money, others become the poor. The poor may have a better lifestyle and more money than the Poor" did before, but they are still considered lower because they cannot meet the standards of living that those above them have.
According to Social Conflict Theory, the reason for inequality is that those with more money or power abuse it in order to work against those who have less. This is human nature. A real Eutopia can only be reached if the human element is removed, since humans are power hungry and greedy by nature.
Sturctural functionalism states that everyone in a society plays an important role, as the parts of a body working together. In such case, removing the poor from society as a whole would undo everything that man has worked so long to achieve. Such can be illustrated in how communism and socialism work out in the end. People get tired of not being different, and they either rebel or stop being productive altogether.
Sources in order:
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_conflict_theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_functionalism
I am currently working on part 1. My goal is to have it up by tonight or tomorrow. So far what yall have written sounds great! It looks like we will have the project done soon!
ReplyDeleteTheresa McKee
Here is Part 1. I decided I will post what I have so far, there is still some work that needs to be done to it but its almost done.
DeletePart 1
Society plays a big role on opinions about certain groups like poverty. The macro social structure focuses on the big picture; where as micro social structure is more involved in the interaction. Micro-level views are close up so the whole picture is observed rather then viewing from afar. For this reasoning, an individual person in society will develop their views on poverty based on a macro-level structure. Viewing the big picture sets a stage for looking deeper into the situation and forming opinions.
Poverty is becoming an important topic in society today. Reason being because more and more people are falling under this line and it is becoming a big concern for our country. The economy has hit the United States hard and a lot of people where found with no jobs, which lead to not being able to provide a roof over their families head or even put food on the table. Sociologists have decided to become more involved in why poverty exists. They are focusing on two theories: situational and structural theory. Situational theory is focused on the lack of recourses that the poor has available to them, which can be a cause of why these people are where they are at today. Structural theory is focused on how society is responsible for poverty (wiseGEEK).
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-sociology-of-poverty.htm
DeleteThe end of this part (wiseGEEK) it should say (Farrer) this person is the author of the article. I just noticed it when working on the works cited page.
DeleteGreat job everybody! We are certainly getting somewhere. Currently, when each typed section of these paragraphs are pasted into microsoft word and formatted as the instructor requires, they come out to be a little more than 3 pages. That means that we have about two pages or so to go. Hopefully we can add a little more than that because one of us will be reading through and re-wording and re-phrasing and combining in order to make the final product for us to turn in. Keep up the good work! We're almost there!
ReplyDeleteWithout warning, Jiosvel has disappeared from the lonestar system. I cannot contact him, and I assume he is just not in the class anymore. So, Keep working and posting. I don't know if I should try and get another group member or not. I messaged the teacher, so I should have more news on that shortly. We still need about 2 pages before we will have all of the essay, ready to be put together. Keep working!
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you all can edit your posts and put citations of some kind in them, that would be great. I just need to know the source, and I can go back and make it MLA format when everything is put together in the end. We only have 13 days!
DeleteThe Professor said to just forget about him and finish the project on our own. I think that if we each contributed a paragraph or two more, we should be good. Try and get your stuff posted to next week I can try and assemble the essay and send it to you both for evaluation. 12 DAYS!
DeleteAnother thing to add to part 2:
ReplyDeleteA major contributor to social inequality and poverty is a lack of sufficient education. When people attend college and get a degree, they can then try and get a job that will pay more and their families will be better off. However, those who are born into poverty are less likely to be able to afford college. This creates a kind of cycle that keeps the poor and their decendants in the lower class in society. Even if the students do find a way to take out loans and go to college, the debts that they will aquire outweigh the benifits in most cases, and they spend most of their life in near-poverty anyway because they are trying to pay back the money that they borrowed to get an education.
(http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/inequality-is-holding-back-the-recovery/)
For the first part I have a little bit more to do. I am having a hard time finding a sociologist to write about in the second part of the question. Figures that I had some windows open on my internet browser and the computer decided to restart.... We will get there! I did add citations to my section but I know not properly.
ReplyDeleteMore to part 1
ReplyDeleteMany researchers have been studying this topic. It is something that we have to face in society today because of changes in today’s economy. Poverty level has risen along with the amount of people who fall under this line. Samuel Bowles, Steven Durlauf, and Karla Hoff wrote a book about poverty. Their beliefs are that poverty is not based on one particular thing; war, disease, or natural disasters can be factors (Poverty Traps 32). Along with disasters and current events going on around the world these researchers look into depth on where poverty really started. They go back to the beginning of the New World, when colonies were forming. The New World would have not had the same obstacles as today, but they had factors that could cause poverty; some examples are wealth, human capital, and political influences (Poverty Traps 46). There are different factors because of how the New World and other countries have developed and grown.
MLA Citation, I believe this is correct and I have attached the link to the book if you want to double check.
http://books.google.com/books?id=MO33yNKH3PoC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Bowles, Samuel, Steven N. Durlauf, and Karla Hoff. Poverty Traps. New Jersey:Princeton University Press, 2006. Print.
Part 1 Cont.
ReplyDeleteTim Worstall from Forbes has been studding inequality on poverty. He compares the United States with other countries such as Europe, Italy or France. Comparing poverty over the years to today will give you different numbers. There are more people in the world today then in the past which can increase poverty, just like comparing temperatures during summer over the last 100 years. What Worstall is stating is yes we are studding these changes over the last 100 years, but what about the years beyond that? With the population increasing numbers will become greater and there will be more people in poverty and it is hard to compare poverty in the United States versus other countries because of the population and factor differences. It just shows that society uses these factors to view inequality and shape what is seen today.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/09/22/the-amazing-thing-about-american-inequality-how-equal-the-country-is/
What if we did this paragraph that you wrote as a closure? I think it will help with the start of it? If we use this paragraph I think we will be at 4.5 pages. So there isn't to much left.
ReplyDeletelizardbreathwalkerFebruary 22, 2013 at 8:11 AM
I think that there is some beauty in the existence of inequality. Each group formed because of inequality creates its own culture, which makes the world a more interesting and exciting place. If it weren't for racial inequality, there would not be the music that came from New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Without poverty, there would be no people who know how important it is to save money. If there was no gender inequality, there would not be the feminist movement and so many different changes in fashion and such that came out of it.
“For two decades, the Census Bureau has reported almost yearly that more than 35 million Americans live in "poverty." Last fall, census official’s grabbed headlines by saying 43.5 million persons were poor. That's one in seven Americans.”( "Understanding Poverty in America." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.) The dictionary defines poverty as “the state of being poor: the state of not having enough money to take care of basic needs such as food, clothing, and housing” but how do Americans define poverty? Research shows that Americans agree with the dictionary’s definition of poverty. “A Poverty Pulse poll taken by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, for example, asked: "How would you describe being poor in the U.S.?" The vast majority of responses focused on homelessness, hunger or inability to eat properly, and failure to meet basic needs.” ("A Poor Definition of Poverty." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.) While this is certainly the case in some parts of our country it is not the complete reality for all. Most Americans considered “poor” actually have decent living conditions. “The government's own survey data shows that in 2005, the average poor household lived in a house or apartment equipped with air conditioning and cable television. The family had a car -- and a third of the poor have at least two cars.” ("A Poor Definition of Poverty." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.) Armed with this knowledge a poll was taken asking if a family that lives that way should be considered poor. The astonishing answer from the public was no. This in no way means that we have a dropping number of Americans living in poverty. What it does mean is that for some, things have improved, and that is great. but others that are truly in need are going unnoticed because of the progress made by some. Even those considered to be living well by others Americans are living pay check to pay check, are more often than not overweight for various reasons associated with living a poverous life, and have little interest or no ability to receive an education. Until we can find a way as a country and acknowledge the injustices and inequality that are still among us instead of dismissing them, we will continue to have people living in great poverty and sadness.
ReplyDeleteCitations- "Understanding Poverty in America." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.
"A Poor Definition of Poverty." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.
I just did a little extra not really too sure where we would put it. It almost makes a full page double spaced. I cited it and put the citations at the bottom. Let me know what else needs to be done so I can get on that.
ReplyDeleteI think just getting it to flow together. I can work on citing all the links that we have used. I'll get that done by the end of the night.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHere is the Works Cited page. If there are any links used that was not put in all the previous posts let me know and I can go ahead and add them.
ReplyDelete"A Poor Definition of Poverty." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.
Bowles, Samuel, Steven N. Durlauf, and Karla Hoff. Poverty Traps. New Jersey. Princeton University Press, 2006. Print.
Farrer, Angela. “What Is Sociology of Poverty?” WiseGEEK. N.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2013.
“Social Conflict Theory.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. “Inequality Is Holding Back the Recovery.” The New York Times. 19 Jan. 2013. Web. 5 Mar. 2013.
“Structural Functionalism.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
"Understanding Poverty in America." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.
Worstall, Tim. “The Amazing Thing About American Inequality: How Equal The Country Is.” Forbes. 22 Sept. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.
Thank you Theresa for making the citations. That puts us so much closer to being done. I have put everything together and I am working on the last few adjustments. I should be able to send the final draft to everyone tonight. PLEASE look over is immediately and tell me what you think might need to be changed.
ReplyDelete