Every morning as I walk to class, I analyze the people passing me as they hurry to start their day. The historic streets of Naperville that I wandered through showed a constant presence of outsiders. I notice that they are often dressed in beautiful clothes, walking with their heads held high and their complexions white. This environment is familiar to me because I always grew up in neighborhoods that mimic this city. Until this year, I never really questioned my observations. Why do all these individuals have such similar characteristics? The complex answer to my question lay in the concept of social stratification and structured social inequality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Now imagine a rock face whose horizontal layers are naturally integrated into its composition. The formation of these layers is known as stratification. The higher layers of the rock are analogous to the people in society who have more resources in the social structure of stratification. As the layers move down, they constitute the groups of people who have fewer resources. In “The American Class Structure in an Age of Growing Inequality” by Dennis L. Gilbert, social stratification is formally referred to as “social ranking based on characteristics such as income, wealth, occupation, or prestige” (17). This social ranking structure then becomes legitimate and accepted within society. The United States suggests that every individual has an equal opportunity to succeed; however, sociologists believe that there are broader social patterns that challenge this theory. While it is possible to succeed in life through personal effort, the system of social stratification makes it extremely difficult to move from one social class to another. In the United States, stratification is based primarily on two elements: wealth and income. Wealth is a person's money, property, and assets, minus debts. Income is the amount of money a person earns in a year. Although being rich or poor is an influence of social status, there are other factors that affect one's position in society. Parents tend to pass on their social class and familiar way of life to their children. This gives children cultural capital and networks through extended family and friends. Another factor are cultural norms towards the professional system which lead to social inequalities. A professor enjoys great prestige and is expected to teach because he loves his job, but he receives relatively little remuneration. Successful CEOs in business are expected to have a driven and aggressive attitude, where profit determines their efforts. Sociologists recognize that social stratification is a society-wide system that is not about individual inequalities, but about discrepancies within the system. Once social differentiation is established, people are perceived in different ways or categories. As Dr. Corsino said in his lecture, people begin to believe that “some boxes are better than others.” Individuals create a mindset that they want to be involved with certain groups in society and create negative opinions towards categories they do not want to be a part of. Over the centuries, this phenomenon has caused the transformation of categories into social inequalities. Structural inequalities arerepetitive and anchored in society for centuries. Institutions within an economy created government policies and laws maintained a system of privileges. This form of inequality is defined as “structural” because regulations established over time have made it more difficult for some groups to obtain resources than others. Benefits are given to certain groups of the population on the basis of a society that honors people with certain characteristics or qualities. This inequality can be seen in particular through the living conditions of people living in poverty. According to Dr. Corsino in our Wealth Distribution lecture, the poorest 60% of the United States must share 25% of overall income. Extremely poor people in a capitalist structure are often homeless and surrounded by violence or a lack of stability. Their position in society makes it more difficult to climb the social ladder when they do not have access to resources. Inequality of opportunity between individuals leads to individuals not having an equal chance in life. The history of workers at “majority white” companies has been negligent toward people of the opposite sex or race. Due to inequality, certain groups of people do not have equal opportunities, as white men have continued to dominate the field. Throughout history, structural inequalities have prevailed, as individuals have been allocated resources and opportunities based on immutable factors. In order to understand how social inequality and social stratification affect society, it is important to examine the framework of influence created by Karl Marx and Max Weber. Both Marx and Weber were theorists who both studied capitalism and socio-economic development. Marx focused on the two classes of industrial society of his time: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. On page 18 of "The American Class Structure in the Age of Growing Inequality", Gilbert mentions how Marx describes "the bourgeoisie as the class which owns the means of production...and the proletariat as the class which must sell its labor to the owners”. ways to earn a salary and stay alive.” Marx's ideology was that every person had to be involved in production or cooperate in order to survive. A person's professional experience shapes their relationships and their place in society. The bourgeoisie of capitalist society becomes richer thanks to surplus value, or the extra money that comes from the low wages of workers. Marx predicted that this inequality would lead to a revolution and that everything would be equally owned. Marx's vision was never realized, but instead the working class became educated, more skilled, and defended by unions and labor laws. Although Max Weber recognized that owning property or obtaining wealth determined an individual's social class, he believed that it was only part of an individual's social class. equation. Weber focused on a multidimensional stratification system including economic structure, prestige, and power. This theory creates an environment in which people can more easily move up and down in their social class. He believed that it was possible to advance in social class if there were political implications or if an individual was respected in their community. In the manual on page To have prestige or power, people must get things that others don't have. Examples of “purchase” status in society would be an earned college degree, a business.