Games and Class

After we played the penny game, Monopoly, and watched the "People Like Us" video, I got a better sense of what wealth gives us in the US. Being born into wealth is a huge advantage. After playing the Monopoly game, I realized that it was much easier to win and succeed if you started off with money. I began with only $270, and in the end I finished with around $100, while the other players started with a lot of money and ended with even more. When you have a lot of money, it is easier to take risks and succeed, because if you lose, you still have a lot of money left over. I think that this concept exists in our world, outside of the Monopoly game, as well. When you begin with less money, it is a lot harder to move up in society and make more money. An advantage of having wealth in our society is socializing and networking with other people exactly like themselves. It is all about getting your name out there, and knowing the right people, and people with wealth have a much bigger opportunity to get what they want by knowing everybody that can benefit their name and their lifestyle. Also, the wealthy don't have to worry as much about their financial situation andhaving it all just disappear in one day. They have enough money to take financial risks and not have to worry about losing it all. I think that the only way to limit these privileges would for everybody to begin with the same amount of money when they were born- but that is impossible. Therefore, I don't think that there is any true way to limit the wealth that different people possess in our societies. As much as people claim that we don't have social classes and everybody is equal, everybody isn't. We can't change the privileges people have and the wealth people have, but we cantry to help the less fortunate and share our privileges with them.

"What a man is depends on his character; but what he does, and what
we think of what he does, depends on his circumstances. The characteristics that
ruin a man in one class made him eminent in another."
I think that Shaw is saying that opinions about people can change based on their environment and class. Something that is considered good in one society can be viewed as bad in another, just based on where those societies are. An example of a behavior that can be compared to this quote is "the idea of an aggressive real estate developer with an aggressive sanitation worker. Both are in business, but their qualities may be judged differently." This idea demonstrates that in an affluent area where the real estate is competitive and the hunt for housing is difficult, somebody would want that aggressive real estate developer. The customer can afford whatever the developer throws at them because they are wealthy, and the developer is trying to make good money as well. People are open to new ideas and new developments. However in a less affluent area, an aggressive developer can be a burden on people. If people love their surroundings, are against new housing projects, and can't even afford it, the aggressive developer would really bother the members of that society. This quote is just saying that the same person can be viewed different under different circumstances, and they can be positively deviant in one area, while negatively deviant in another.

Social Class

Social/economic class is the social category which you fit in to. I think that it is based on yoyur income and what you can afford and where you live. In your life, I think it influences who you are friends with and what you can accomplish in your life. People are generally friend with those in the same social class, because they can relate to each other. I also think that there is a tendency for people to judge others if they stray out of their designated class as well. I think that class and deviance correspond with how you live within your social class. I believe that sometimes it is negatively deviant for people to leave their social class and to befriend those in other classes. However, I think that it is seen as positively deviant for those in the higher classes to reach out to the less fortunate and the people in different classes to help out. I believe that there are unwritten rules about how to act within your social class and if you act out of it, then you are deviant and the public opinion made of you will negatively be affected.

Deviance

In my opinion, punishable deviance a societal construct and I don't think it is avoidable in our society. When people are negatively deviant, since it is against the norm we feel the need to punish them. I believe that we regulate the punishments through our court systems, but they aren't always fair and equal. Sometimes punishments which are given to white men aren't the same given to men of different ethnicities just because of their background. I believe that if we are going to punish those are are negatively deviant in societies, we need to punish fairly, and also with punishments that are able to help. Our punishment/penitentiary system tells us as sociologists that we judge people and and don't try to give them help because they are different than the rest of society. I think the rehab aspect of our jail systems are clearly lacking after watching the 30 days episode. I think that if these people were able to get the help they needed, and actually finish out the sessions, that they would come out of jail as better people and they would be less likely to get back involved in their old ways. In the film, the inmates weren't required to finish their rehab. If they were able to leave before it was over, they did. But I think if they were required to finish once they've started, they would be better off. I believe that the deviants who are in jail can be helped and improve their lifestyles if they just had the access to programs that could help them. They are are deviant because they don't know any other way, and if we could help them properly we could teach them the right way.