Chapter 8-Social class and Social Stratification

This article talks about the social stratification of america and how or where most Americans see them selves in the class system.  
http://ezinearticles.com/?Social-Stratification-in-America&id=923055



This photo talks about the current problem in america, the rich are getting richer and the poorer are getting poorer.


This video is the simplest i could find on social stratification best watched on mute, poor song choice to go with the video....again. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyX6ICxLv5k


Information on Social Class and Stratification
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/earlycld/ea7lk5.htm - Specifically on Socioeconomic Status
http://www.sociologyguide.com/questions/social-stratification.php - Social Stratification


Quote:
How a man plays a game shows something of his character; how he loses shows all of it.             -Unknown


My thoughts:
This was probably my the hardest chapter for me to understand and thats why i chose to do at least one blog on a chapter i struggled with.  I found it interesting because it did explain all the different classes that there are for different societies.  I did not enjoy reading about the lack of ability to change your class with out money or education.  Those are things we take in the united states for grant.  They are so common for everyone that we dont consider not getting an education a personal choice of disobedience. 


Where in other countries its an honor to have money or education so i guess our class system of owning property or items for a social status does not exist in other countries.  Thats where the book confused me a bit and how the other classes are different in other countries. The estate, caste, and class systems.  Each individual one applies to different societies in the world. I liked reading about stratification when Marx and Weber talked about it.  It made me think about how i am classified and what groups im put into. The stratification of my life has actually helped shape who i am and it is in every "click" because without it there would be no competition or prejudice. Which is how we can tell it exists because you see prejudice and competition all the time. 

Chapter 8 Crossword

Please complete the crossword puzzle below

																												8
											2									10
															3			5
										1
	6																	9
									7
										4

Across: 1. He agreed with Marx that classes were formed around economic interests. 4. He provided a complex and profound analysis of the class system under capitalism. 6. The social structural position groups hold relative to the economic, social, political and cultural resources of society. 7. Derived from certain factors such as income, occupational prestige and education. 9. Refers to belief systems that support the status quo.

Down: 2. Opportunities that people have in common by virtue of belonging to a particular class. 3. The midpoint of all household incomes. 5. The value others assign to people and groups. 8. The perception that a class structure exists along with a feeling of shared identification with others in one's class. 10. The amount of money needed to support the basic needs of a household, as determined by the government.