Gender, Race, and Class, SOC3320-What is Affirmative Action?/The Legitimatization of Inequality

The legitimatization of inequality

The inequality between the super wealthy and the poor is so extreme today that it is corrosive to our democracy. –Noam Chomsky

This is by far a very interesting chapter in the book. It begs to answer why Americans seemingly accept living in an unequal society.

How do millions of people in our society accept that a small few (the 1%) control about 80% of the total wealth? You would think that we would think this is just unfair and there would be constant rioting and protesting in the streets. What don’t we do this everyday?? We know from the above quote by Noam Chomsky as well as watching the Ted Talk in Week 3 that living in an unequal society is downright poor for any social progress or viable mental health so how do we stand for this? I asked you on the discussion board so, how is it legitimatized? Why do the majority of people (who have no wealth, a lack of power, and political influence) accept this inequality? Why is not questioned or challenged enough? Our authors remind us that force or coercion do not work. The government or military cannot us force us to into submission and we cannot fear them, this would not be sustainable. We need to be loyal and support the wealthy and those in power. 

Our readings tell us that “people must come to believe that the system is fair and deserving of their allegiance.” So how is this maintained?

These readings tell us why!  It is rooted in our beliefs and value systems. (Which may I add are very particular to the United States. There is really no other nation that thinks the exact same way as we do!) So what are these belief systems or what our book calls ideologies. (An ideology is a set of beliefs and values that rationalizes a society’s structure of power and privilege. Our authors also want us to know that “much of ideology is oversimplification, distortion, and even myth.” And not everyone accepts it all of the time!)

So what is the American dominant ideology? They are what we value as a people. (Values defined are ideas about what is good or bad or right or wrong in a society.) Among the most essential are individualism, equality of opportunity, meritocracy, the work ethic, and liberal capitalism.

The most important is the first one, individualism. The U.S is the most individualistic society on earth (where we alone are responsible for our successes and failures in life) and we can see how this value seeps into all other aspects of society.

  "Individualism" is certainly a Western value. We are individualistic here in the US while the majority of the world is more collectivistic.  A collectivistic type of society is concerned with relationships with others where relatives and those in one's in-group are highly valued.

The second value we hold and that also goes hand in hand with individualism is self reliance. Our authors say this very clearly as “people should pursue their objectives of success through their own efforts rather than rely on others.”

From here we can see how inequality may be justified. If we become rich it is because we did everything on our own! We didn’t need help from anyone! If we stay poor or becoming poor we feel the same, it is our fault. There is no one or nothing to blame.

Equality of opportunity is the next value that is part of the American ideology. This means that society is open for anyone to succeed and that people have control over their own destiny.  Our book shares how we view the rich in using this value pattern, that “the American public has little illusion that the rich share the same opportunity for economic advancement as the rest of society.” If we are as equal as the rich and powerful and the playing field is so level, why should we show any disdain for them? We could be them one day! This is the idea that is left with this thinking pattern.  Even during the 2009 Great Recession Americans still thought they would be able to get ahead one day.

Another thing interesting to add is that along with this ideology is the belief the fear of other types of systems. We believe that we have the best system! Our authors note that “today, suggestions of even minor changes in the capitalist political economy are commonly depicted by opponents as attempts to impose “socialism.”

Those are just a couple of the value patterns that allows for the legitimization of inequality to continue in our society. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this subject and seeing which value you choose to include in your response this week.