Linkage and Application Paper

Linkage and Application Paper

Societies all over the United States have experienced inequalities. Not every society can have the same opportunities as others. But to truly understand a society’s patterns of inequalities, one must look at the dominant and weak societies. In every society children have the power to change what their elders have produced or not produced for them. Motivation, education, money, illegal immigration, social classes and mobility are factors that benefit some but deteriorate the hopes and dreams of most lower class societies. A society’s patterns of inequality are structured so that they are reproduced from one generation to the next.

Motivation is a superior factor in a society’s quest to move upward. A child learns from their parent’s surroundings and the society in which they live in. If a child is brought up in poverty, without a sign of hope for upward mobility, their motivation may be shattered. As the child grows up and upward social mobility has not been attained then it is up to the next generation to make a difference. As long as this continuous chain of failure is present in a society the generations will continue to keep living this non desired life and motivation will not be present in any of the individuals in that society. (Kozol 1991)

Money is a major factor which contributes to a role in inequality. A society with money has better resources then a society that is living in poverty. Money is the essential ingredient to success in the United States. Without money and a strong drive to attain money, a society will stay in the class for which they have been designated too and each generation will experience the same as those before them. Money is a necessary mean for education which also plays into this equation. (Kozol 1991)

Education is a primary source of upward mobility. If a society has a poorly funded education system then those who have a desire for upward mobility are not given a fair chance as those who live in a society where there is a well funded education system. An example of a poorly funded education system is located in the South Bronx, New York. This illustrates an example of people living in a society with a poorly funded education system in which the majority remains in this low income society. On the contrary, a person growing up in a middle class city or town such as Waltham or Weston, MA has a better chance of making more money then their parents because of the well funded school systems and the percentages of those who have the means to attend higher education, in these areas. (Concord Monitor 2005) It is a known fact that the more time you spend in school, the higher degree you will achieve and you will make more money. For societies living in poverty, degrees are not even looked at as attainable. The amount of education one can attain is usually