Week 4 discussion questions - Assignment Example

Sociology al Affiliation) Question The American dream of social mobility is a myth. This reality is complicating for most Americans as the recession period offered alarming levels of social inequality. The decline in the high social mobility that characterizes the Americans is because of the immigration and declining unionization rates (Graeber, 2011). In addition to those, the subsequent low demand of semi skilled human resource and the technological developments also contribute to further widening of the social gap in the American social mobility context.

Question 2 Income represents the amount of money or remuneration that an individual receives on a regular basis. Wealth, on the other hand is the amount of time that an individual maintains a current or specific lifestyle without receipt of compensation for extra work. In this context, wealth defines the social class of people, as the irregular cash inflows of the low class is opposite to that of the high class (Graeber, 2011). Therefore, when one is born in a precise social class, it determines the type of education, health and environment that the person will get while growing up.

This defines the viewpoint of that individual towards tackling economic and social issues. Question 3 Symbolic ethnicity is the generational change of ethnicity towards assimilation and acculturation of specific ethnic affiliations. The American ethnic cultures are divided in accordance with race, religion, color and origin. Many families, like mine, maintain a partial ethnic identity but as generations change, we are assimilated into the American culture. Depending on your political affiliation (Graeber, 2011), your social class and environmental orientation, your core ethnic identities are shaped.

ReferencesGraeber, D. (2011). Value, politics and democracy in the United States. Current Sociology, 59(2), 186-199. doi:10.1177/0011392110391151