Contributions of a Class Society - Essay Example

Teacher Contributions of a Society Introduction Imagine a word where everyone was the same. Each person has the same skills and abilities, the same desires out of life, and each was highly competitive. While such a homogenous society may sound appealing, it would like result in chaos and destruction. The reality is that human civilization has always been predicted on the reality that people are inherently different and that each individual person has a particular role or function to play within society. While it is a difficult concept for many people to wrap their heads around, communities around the world have almost always been stratified by class. Each respective class within society is responsible for certain components, from innovation and wealth creation, to production and maintenance. The desire for a classless society has certainly existed through the years, even though never believed to have been achieved. Marxism, for example, is the functional belief in the ultimate condition of social organization. The closest modern structure we have that can approach this idea in true communism, yet that has never been achieved either. Karl Marx, however, did supper the idea that the primary function of any state government is currently designed to suppress the lower class of society to make way for the ruling class and their respective interests. Marx believed, however, that this would eventually in a disappearance of a class structure, as the proletariat would be victorious, socialism would reign, and the functions of the state would simply wither away. Obviously, this has not happened. If anything, class divisions within most societies are more apparent than ever, with each respective group making their own positive and negative contributions to the overall functionality of modern human civilization. Upper Class Contributions The upper class has been long regarded as the oppressor in society. Whether by birth right or mere brute strength, a small group in nearly every community reigns supreme over the rest. At the same time, one cannot ignore the contributions that the upper class makes. Having the wealth, they either provide jobs for the middle and lower class, or they serve to repress the will of the minority to the point that only their own self interests are served. The conflict theory demonstrates this sociological practice in action (Leventoglu 835). Throughout history, there have been examples of the upper class truly working to make the lives of everyone around them better, while others had worked to destroy all that has been built in deference to preserving aristocratic rule and principles. Consider the example of Julius Caesar. Fighting for years to become the eventual ruler of the entire Roman Empire, Caesar used his brief time in power to reorganize Roman society into a more prosperous and powerful region. He support the middle and lower class, coming from the middle class himself as a child. While he worked hard to protect the wealth of the noble, he also instituted policies to further the interests of the poorer classes of Roman society. The same cannot be said of other dictators throughout time, however, as Stalin would be a great example. Stalin turned the former Soviet Union into a de facto police state whereby the lower class was crushed under the weight of having to support the ruling class. There was no going back. Eventually, however, the two classes had such immense conflict that the lower class themselves won the struggle to become free of tyranny and gained the right to develop their own ways and freedoms within the structure of Russian society. Middle Class Contributions The middle class is perhaps the most misunderstood of the three groups stratified within most modern societies. Commonly referred to as both producers and consumers, middle class citizenry has always been the backbone and glue that holds communities together. Their contributions are immense, as is represented by the myriad of individuals living with the middle class who have gained global notoriety through the centuries. Middle class individuals are intellectuals, blue collar workers, and everyone in between. They are all among us and serve to continually rotate the wheel that contributes to progressive society. In socioeconomic terms, the middle class historically has been defined as the group of people that fall between the working class and the upper class. There are certain distinguishing features that do tend to set the individuals in this group apart from the others. In considering a capitalistic society, middle class has traditionally referred to the bourgeoisie and the petite bourgeoise (Kefalas 67). Over time, however, society has progressed to embrace the principles of proletarianism, and finance capitalism has grown to the point that the middle class eventually came to be known as the labor aristocracy, professionals, and the white collar workers in society. In essence, the middle class contributes to society largely by enabling the wealthy to accumulate wealth (Yeoman 69). That wealth is then distributed down to the middle class in the form of dividends or salaries. What is left over is then left for the lower class. This is a distinguishing feature of a class based society. There are further characteristics that also tend to define the middle class. More than the lower class, individuals in this group tend to have earned some form of tertiary education certification. They also typically hold a professional qualification, such as being an academic, lawyer, engineer, politician, or doctor. They work hard to uphold traditional bourgeois values, and this is represented by their contribution to the economy by owning a house and working in jobs that are perceived to be secure. This allows them be confident as a consumer, which in turn serves to spark the economy. The middle class in the West also tends to have a social status that defines the individual by their level of education, wealth attainment, and profession (Wells 660). It is a form of cultural identity that enables them to embrace all that a community has to offer without too much worry over how to pay for it. It is because of this that many psychologists theorize that the middle class are the happiest and most emotionally stable of the three classes. Lower Class Contributions Many in society mistakingly believe that the lower class does not have much to offer and that they are the least happy members of any society. While there is no denying that life in the lower class can be difficult, there is still much that society benefits from their contributions. Also referred to as the working class, this group of individuals are typically employed for minimal salaries, typically in industries dominated by manual or industrial work. This alone demonstrates the contributions made by the lower class because they are typically the producer of goods in society. These job include those of the blue-collar nature, but can also be morphed into certain white-collar and service oriented professions. This class of people typically earns their wages solely through employment related endeavors, often live paycheck to paycheck, and generally find it quite difficult to save any money of a substantive nature (Samson & Krasilnikova 21). With the concept of Marxism and Socialism, the working class is often used in conjunction with the proletariat. It is meant to describe all individuals within a society who exert great mental or physical labor in order to produce economic value to a society. They are, in essence, the means of production. Without the lower class, those in the upper echelons of society would not have the means to create wealth that can then be passed down to other members of the community (Tikhonova 29). Many argue that the upper class exploits the lower class. While this might be true in certain situations, it needs to be noted that the upper class makes it possible for the lower class to have employment. Without the financial capital and ingenuity of those in the upper levels of society, factories and other places of industry would simply not exist. Conclusion In summary, while the concept of Marxism and Communism sound ideal on paper, the reality is that human civilization has always seem to thrive the best on a class system. While there are certainly inherent deficiencies in such a system, it is important to note that individuals tend to always desire conflict. Without conflict, competition would cease to exist. Once the status quo is accepted, then life would become stagnant, innovation would stop, and the world would stop progressing forward as it is today. While the middle and lower class need to be protected, it is also important to note their many contributions to society. At the same time, the upper class must also be mentioned in any discussion of this sort as well. While this group within society is by far the smallest, they are also the most powerful. Just as the emperors of old, they hold the power to do tremendous good, or even greater evil. Society works best, of course, when all classes work together to support the interests and well being of all members of the citizenry. Works Cited Kefalas, Maria. “Looking for the Lower Middle Class.” City and Community, 6.1 (2007): 63-68. Leventoglu, Bahur. “Social Mobility, Middle Class, and Political Transitions.” Journal of Con flict Resolutions, 58.5 (2014): 825-864. Samson, Ivan and Krasilnikova, Marina. “The Middle Class in Russia.” Sociological Research, 51.5 (2012): 3-25. Tikhonova, N. “The Lower Class in the Social Structure of Russian Society.” Sociological Re search, 51.5 (2012): 26-44. Wells, Jonathan. “The Southern Middle Class”. The Journal of Southern History, 75. 3 (2009): 651-662. Yeoman, Ian. “Middle Class Squeeze.” Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 6.2 (2007): 69-70. Read More