Billions of people suffer from poverty and related issues. These problems affect their lives, resulting in the low quality of living. In some countries, people have to starve or work in sweatshops to feed themselves. They do not get enough food, their housing is inadequate, and they hardly get medical help from qualified health providers. As a result, these people have no perspectives in life. They get sick from not having enough food, they have to work under extreme conditions, and they are likely to die before turning sixty-five. At the same time, people from industrialized countries enjoy the far better quality of life. Today, global stratification is prominent as ever, and the gap between rich and poor is getting even wider on a global scale. According to Jobs with Justice (2014), the wealth owned by 85 people exceeds possessions of half of global population. Money is distributed unequally among different nations, and it is caused by cultural peculiarities, differences in industrial development, and the policy of neocolonialism.
Naturally, this social phenomenon is studied by sociologists, who offer the scientific explanation of global stratification. Nowadays, modernization and dependency theories are used to address the issues of unequal wealth distribution (Macionis, 2017). They offer two different opinions on why some countries are rich and other are poor. Modernization theory claims that the reasons are industrialization and cultural approval of wealth. Dependency theory, on the other hand, insists that the influence of wealthy countries is the key factor which keeps developing countries in the grip of poverty. Each of these theories has disadvantages and faces criticism from the opponents. I suppose that the truth is in the middle, and all of these factors cause global stratification. Therefore, unequal industrialization, cultural differences, and neocolonialism are the reason why 85 people own more than several billions.
Supporters of modernization theory claim that rich countries have become reach because of advanced technologies. Before the Industrial Revolution, all people suffered from the absolute poverty (Macionis, 2017). However, the emergence of industrial technologies facilitated production of goods, and the productivity has risen. Costs of commodities have dropped, and products have become more affordable. As a result, people were able to get more possessions to satisfy their needs. Nowadays, countries that have faced the Industrial Revolution earlier, like the United Sates, have strong economies. On the other hand, countries that still rely on agriculture, like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, remain poor. Nevertheless, rich countries can contribute to the prosperity of others by introducing them to new technologies. It happened to some Asian countries, and rapid economic growth of Japan proves that industrialization is indeed one of the important factors well-being (Macionis, 2017). Unfortunately, not every developing country is ready to abandon its traditional lifestyle for benefits of the Industrial Revolution.
Society will not benefit from industrialization without the cultural approval of wealth. In Western Europe, the Catholic Church traditionally proclaims virtues of modesty and spirituality. When Protestantism has emerged, it cherished new values, and the money was considered a reward for hard work. The new mindset and industrialization have contributed to the success of Western Europe and North America. However, developing countries still rely on the traditional culture that prevents them from reshaping their economic system (Macionis, 2017). The main disadvantage of old culture is the reluctance to change. In emerging countries, people prefer to preserve their rural lifestyle and traditions. They want to live like their ancestors, and this old mindset is the primary cause of social factors which define poverty. The rapid increase of population, oppression of women, illiteracy, and low productivity do not let a country to improve its economy, and it becomes dependent on the good will of others. Although the help from the First World sometimes assists the developing countries to escape poverty, the policy of neocolonialism ensures global stratification.
The prosperity of the West strongly depended on colonies. Since the XV century, European countries have been invading Africa, Asia, and Americas to exploit local population and natural resources (Macionis, 2017). Although slavery and colonialism are illegal now, rich countries and multinational corporations continue getting more wealth at the expense of the Third World. The population of low-income countries works in sweatshops under extreme conditions, and these factories pollute local environment. Dependence on financial aid from other countries weakens economies of the Third World. Moreover, it has small opportunities to develop its industry, because the First World uses emerging economies as a vast market to sell products. Ironically, most of these products are made of raw resources exported from the Third World. Therefore, the irresponsibility of rich countries ensures economic inequality. Although global initiatives, like the United Nations, provide help for low-income states, they cannot eliminate exploitation.
In conclusion, I suppose that global stratification is based on unequal access to industrial technologies, cultural differences, and neocolonialism. The half of world’s population owns less than 85 richest people because low-income countries got stuck in the circle of poverty. In the Third World, people rely on their traditions and resist any changes to their lifestyle. They oppose social and technological changes, but their traditional values do not facilitate living in modern world. Having no access to advanced technologies, they produce only crops. Therefore, the Third World becomes dependent on products from rich countries and financial help. Cheap labor attracts multinational corporations, which exploit local population in sweatshops. Overall, these three factors complement each other, and together they become an obstacle to prosperity.
- Jobs with Justice. (2014). [Picture illustrating unequal distribution of wealth]. Retrieved from http://www.jwj.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/140123-85_Wealthiest.png
- Macionis, J. J. (2017). Sociology (16th ed.). Available from https://revel.pearson.com/#/courses/588fc874e4b093c47c30f3b9/player?pageId=a2fc6203e61ed504504b2d6401b83042d1410967f-id_toc935
