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Why Are People Unequal In Society

Essay by   •  September 9, 2010  •  714 Words (3 Pages)  •  2,213 Views

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Why are People Unequal in Society?

According to Philosopher's of the time of enlightenment the nature of society created inequality. These philosophers also believed that it was the job of the government to limit inequality and try to create conformity.

Now we are able to see that inequality emerges with each and every interaction. This is because every individual possesses qualities which may be better or worse than another's. These qualities include things such as intelligence, athletic ability, and beauty. However, this has become a problem that we ourselves created. We choose to compare ourselves to others. Sociologists have examined two aspects of this problem. One of these aspects is the simplicity of how inequality arises in the first place. The second aspect is how it is perpetuated over time. Social structure is a social pattern that involves unequal ranks. Once these ranks are discovered inequality will always exist.

One of the main elements of inequality is the division of labor. There are three different settings for Division of Labor. The first setting is the economic setting. In this setting inequality occurs because of different jobs, money, positions of power, and dependence on others. This also creates inequality because an employer controls an employee. Once control is established there are automatically ranks. The boss may take advantage of his employee, and gain at this employee's expense. Once this process has started it will never stop.

The second setting for division of labor is the organizational division of labor. This division includes such things as family, friends, groups, schools, politics, and

churches. Within these groups there is a sense of the follower and the leader. These leadership positions allow there to be an advantage over others. This also shows that all organizations have few in power and many that must follow them in order to succeed.

The third setting for the Division of Labor is the intentional division. This includes things such as war. In war there are always winners and losers. The winners of course end up ruling the losers. This provides a division of labor in which the outcome was somewhat intentional. This inequality is created by those who crave organization and structure. If these people do not agree with another country's way of rule, they will defeat them and in turn bring in their own statutes.

Social conflict is another way of creating inequality within a society. Social conflict is the act of struggling over something important in value. Again this creates a winner, loser situation. In these types of conflict it is obvious that one side will be denied their

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