By Howard Hehrer
In the original human society, people traveled together in groups of about 30 or 40 people, gathering food and supplies as they went, and rarely had any need to trade. Because of this, everyone had about the same amount of everything, and for the most part everyone was equal.
In the next stage of interaction, people discovered how to breed animals and grow plants. This created the first supply surplus, and thus inequality was born. People began to live in a single place; their groups grew larger, and for the first time were able to focus on tasks other than finding and consuming food. People began to splinter off to create new, useful supplies such as leather, weapons, and so on. Some began to accumulate more possessions than others, and the effects of this change remains with us today.
One of the major landmarks in human development of inequality came with the invention of the plow. This made land much more productive and much more easily cultivated. The results were agricultural societies. Even more people were freed from the need to produce food, and more division of power and labor shortly followed. Trade expanded, and trading centers turned into cities. Power shifted from the agricultural community to ruling elites. The result: great political, economic, and social inequality.
Another invention that furthered the effects of inequality was the birth of the steam engine in 1765. This land marked the arrival of the industrial society. Because of the usefulness and ease of machine operation, societies created a surplus like the world had never seen. This also encouraged trade, thus more inequality. Some people even opened up factories, exploiting their employees for minimal wage and long hours of work. As these elites gained wealth, they began to use it to gain influence in politics, as well - corrupting and buying up political positions to further their interest in industry.
As may be expected, as surpluses grew, the emphasis changed on the production of new goods to the consumption. In 1912, sociologist Thorstein Veblen coined the term "conspicuous consumption" to describe this shift in people's orientations. He noted that the Protestant ethnic identified by Weber - and emphasis on work and savings - was now turning to a desire to gain wealth for the sake of flaunting it to others.
In 1973, we saw a new type of society emerge. To refer to this new society, sociologist Daniel Bell used the term "postindustrial society". This included six distinct characteristics: a service sector so large that it employs mostly workers, an even greater surplus of goods, extensive trade among nations, a wider variety of goods, an "information explosion", and the globe is linked by faster communication (global village).
The global village can be better thought of as a globe divided into three large neighborhoods, which represent the three worlds of industrialization. Because of the arrangement of politics and economics, some nations are located in the poorest part of the village. Their citizens squeeze a meager living out of menial work, while fellow villagers who live in the rich sections feast on the best that the world has to offer.
In the original human society, people traveled together in groups of about 30 or 40 people, gathering food and supplies as they went, and rarely had any need to trade. Because of this, everyone had about the same amount of everything, and for the most part everyone was equal.
In the next stage of interaction, people discovered how to breed animals and grow plants. This created the first supply surplus, and thus inequality was born. People began to live in a single place; their groups grew larger, and for the first time were able to focus on tasks other than finding and consuming food. People began to splinter off to create new, useful supplies such as leather, weapons, and so on. Some began to accumulate more possessions than others, and the effects of this change remains with us today.
One of the major landmarks in human development of inequality came with the invention of the plow. This made land much more productive and much more easily cultivated. The results were agricultural societies. Even more people were freed from the need to produce food, and more division of power and labor shortly followed. Trade expanded, and trading centers turned into cities. Power shifted from the agricultural community to ruling elites. The result: great political, economic, and social inequality.
Another invention that furthered the effects of inequality was the birth of the steam engine in 1765. This land marked the arrival of the industrial society. Because of the usefulness and ease of machine operation, societies created a surplus like the world had never seen. This also encouraged trade, thus more inequality. Some people even opened up factories, exploiting their employees for minimal wage and long hours of work. As these elites gained wealth, they began to use it to gain influence in politics, as well - corrupting and buying up political positions to further their interest in industry.
As may be expected, as surpluses grew, the emphasis changed on the production of new goods to the consumption. In 1912, sociologist Thorstein Veblen coined the term "conspicuous consumption" to describe this shift in people's orientations. He noted that the Protestant ethnic identified by Weber - and emphasis on work and savings - was now turning to a desire to gain wealth for the sake of flaunting it to others.
In 1973, we saw a new type of society emerge. To refer to this new society, sociologist Daniel Bell used the term "postindustrial society". This included six distinct characteristics: a service sector so large that it employs mostly workers, an even greater surplus of goods, extensive trade among nations, a wider variety of goods, an "information explosion", and the globe is linked by faster communication (global village).
The global village can be better thought of as a globe divided into three large neighborhoods, which represent the three worlds of industrialization. Because of the arrangement of politics and economics, some nations are located in the poorest part of the village. Their citizens squeeze a meager living out of menial work, while fellow villagers who live in the rich sections feast on the best that the world has to offer.
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