Week 16: Shift Happens Video

This video, although a little outdated, shows just how quickly the world around us can change. In the last decade or so, there have been enormous technological advances and populations all over the world have continued growing. The increasing availability of technology to everyday people is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it allows for people to have access to lots of information quickly, so that they can make more efficient and well-informed decisions about anything; their health, investments, their personal beliefs, etc. However it can also allow for people with destructive goals to develop advanced weapons and harm others. Overall the incredible advances in technology seem to be beneficial for most people. Diseases that used to be death sentences such as cancer and AIDS are now manageable, and many scientists say that cures are within sight. I believe this technology can also connect people of different cultures and countries in a way we never were able to before. Of course, whenever any kind of shift happens, there are dangers and uncertainties. But just like the video points out, shift will always be happening, and it is our responsibility to learn to adapt well and confront new challenges as they present themselves.

Week 15: Urbanization

Growing up, I moved a few times so I had an opportunity to experience living in urban, rural, and suburban areas. This gave me a chance to see the differences between living in those three types of places, and the pros and cons of each. Sociologists believe that urbanization has been occurring and continues today in society. This is a shift where people move away from rural areas to live in cities, consequentially also resulting in an increase in suburban populations. I did notice when I lived in a rural town in Maryland that, just as the textbook suggested, most young people were desperate to leave, unless they felt compelled for some reason to stay. This meant that many of these younger people were leaving their town to go to college, find a job closer to the city, and start a family there. This contributes to the declining population in rural areas as there are not enough young people staying to raise families and maintain the population. I can understand why so many younger people wanted to move to cities since there are more opportunities, better jobs, and just more things to do in general. I have known some people living in the city, however, who wish they could move to a more rural area with more open spaces and a slow placed way of life. Often though, these people choose to stay in the city, or move to a suburb as a sort of compromise. In many ways, a suburb can offer the best of both worlds; there are more parks and less congestion, but with easy access to a nearby city. According to the textbook, there has been a shift from cities to suburbs in the past few decades which could be in part due to the higher cost of living in a city as opposed to just outside of it. I have lived in a suburb most of my life and I find that it tends to be the best option for families who are trying to save money on housing while still enjoying the benefits of living near a major city.

Week 14: Power in our Democracy

    There are a few theories as to who holds the power in our democracy. I mostly agree with the theory of democratic elitism, which states that in a large scale society like ours, bureaucratic officials are used to make decisions for the public. These officials are elected through a representative multiparty democratic election, so that their interpretation of what is important for citizens can be shown by what party they associate with. This theory holds that for a democratic system to be effective there must be two or more parties that have differing opinions, and that there must be leaders within the bureaucracy that can represent societies interests in an insightful way. I also believe that the pluralist theory can explain where power lies in our democracy. It holds that power is with interest groups that hold enormous influence over government leaders. Members of society can contribute to these interest groups and they can elect politicians that seem to favor these interests.

    Both of these theories contribute in attempting to explain where the power truly lies in our democracy. Ultimately, both of these theories give substantial power to the people. The public is able to elect the members of these bureaucratic systems, so really they choose who they are placing the power with. We use a multiparty system that includes the Democrat party, the Republican party, the Green Party, the Tea Party, Independents, and others. This ensures that people can identify with certain values and belief systems when they are campaigning to become elected. Congressmen and other officials are elected based on their perceived ability to make insightful decisions about what the public needs and wants so while they have power, it has only been given so long as they make decisions that benefit the people who elected them. 

Week 13: Walmart

   To say whether Walmart is actually good for America or not is a question that does not really have a straight answer. Depending on a person’s perspective, you could argue both sides. From a sociological perspective, you would have to look at this issue considering the company from the perspectives of several different groups, recognizing that the answer is complex, and society is generally not in agreement on this issue. 

   Walmart has been called a huge corporation that receives its profits by providing low wages, and putting other businesses- and people- out of work. It has also been honored with the title of ‘most admired company’, and is considered to have one of the best business models ever developed, with regards to highest profit gain. In the early 1990s, the company suffered a severe drop in sales and stock prices. They made enormous changes in management and had to make important drastic decisions to save the company. They were able to pull themselves out of the financial hole and become what it is today- one the of single most successful companies in the world. Walmart found a way to make their business successful, and today it employs millions of people offering low cost products and a ‘one-stop-shop’ for busy people who want to complete all of their errands in one place. These things had to come at a cost however. For workers, especially in foreign countries like China, wages are very low. Small businesses are often bankrupted when a Walmart store is built in the same town. Many production jobs that could be being performed by unemployed Americans are being outsources to foreign countries to lower costs and raise profits. Walmart has also been known to refuse to compromise on prices, such as the example of Rubbermaid. In this case since the developer could not see their products at the same low rate Walmart demanded, they could no longer sell to them. No attempt at compromise was made and Rubbermaid consequentially went out of business. On the one hand, this kind of ruthless bottom line thinking is what makes the company so successful, and consumers so happy. However their actions resulted in a well loved and respected American company to go out of business eliminating jobs and ending careers. 

    A lot of negative press has recently come out on Walmart and yet it is still an extremely successful, powerful company, and I cannot even begin to count the number of times I’ve heard someone say, “I love Walmart”. To say whether or not it is definitively good or bad for American is probably not possible at this point; but may be down the road when we see the long term effects the company has had on our country.

Week 12: Family

When filling out the chart and reflecting on the way my family divided roles and responsibilities, I found that most things listed were done by both of my parents, with some of the chores being taken over by the kids. Before their divorce, my parents generally split the workload very evenly. The one thing I would say as an exception is that my mom decided to take some time off of her career when my brother and I were very young, which would indicate that she took over more of the household duties during that time. However, after my parents divorced when I was 9, all of the sudden everything became both parent’s individual responsibility. Both my mom and my dad took care of their own cleaning and cooking, took time off work to pick us up from school, paid the bills, etc. We were very fortunate to have both parents actively engaged in our lives. Many families I know have a mom who does more of the child rearing and household work. In addition, many of the women in these families are also trying to develop careers or working part time jobs. This would be what the textbook describes as a second shift, where the woman comes home from work and basically has a second job of doing most of the cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. Even though I did not see this occur in my family when I was growing up, I do tend to see it happening in many other families I know. 

Week 11: Is society becoming more secular?

          I do not believe that society as a whole is becoming more secular, however it is possible to argue that there has been a slight decrease in people's strict adherence to organized religion. Many people throughout the world practice their chosen religion and adhere to its values. There are also many people, however, who chose to make religion more individualized and consider themselves more spiritual than religious. Even though there is a significant percentage of people who are non religious or secular, this number does not seem to be growing. As the textbook states, even though regular church attendance is decreasing in European countries, in developing countries, the number of religious people seems to be growing. These countries also tend to have higher birthrates which contribute to a growing number of religious people worldwide. Historically and today in the United States, many immigrants have considered themselves religious. They also tend to have larger families which again contributes to a trend away from secularization. Another way to determine whether society is becoming more secular is to examine the amount of political influence religion carries today. There may be less political influence held by organized religion in certain aspects. For example, many countries have adopted a policy of separation between church and state. No one can deny, however, the enormous amount of influence religion still has on politics throughout the world. In some areas of the Middle East, the laws in place reflect a strict adherence to the religion of Islam. In the United States, the textbook mentioned the Christian right and their influence over election outcomes and the passage of laws. It seems that worldwide trends show that society is not becoming more secular, and that perhaps even the opposite is more likely.