Marriage and Income Inequality in Anthropology - Essay Example

Anthropology Marriage and Income Inequality The first program is concerned with the relationship between marriage, incomeinequality and the future of the American family. The introductory part of the program conveys that many of the families are formed by parents of the same status in matters of wealth and education. The rich and the most educated are more likely to marry and as a result produce educated and rich children. This virtual cycle is found to turn vicious for the poor people. This has resulted to the increase of income inequality among Americans since income is strongly correlated with education. The more education one has, the more money he/she is likely to earn. Families comprising of two uneducated couples are likely to suffer poverty and at the end bring up poor children who have less opportunities for education and work (Carbone 22). Women in America have been provided with the opportunity to pursue careers outside the home. Educated women in this perspective earn a better pay. While this actually reduces the difference, changes incurred in men’s earning depending on their education are the major causes of the rising income inequality. There is the issue of moral decline. In this case, women have abandoned their culture which directs them to their responsibilities as house wives. In the contemporary society, both men and women are competing for various opportunities. In some cases, women are found to secure higher opportunities than their male spouses. This develops a feeling of independence within the woman and thus leading to the family breakup. Capitalism and Inequality according to Thomas Piketty This program analyses the grand dynamics that lead to the accumulation and the distribution of capital among families within the U.S. Inequality and the concentration of wealth as well as the prospects for economic growth are key values that lie in the hearts of the political economy. According to Piketty, the modern growth in economy and the diffusion of knowledge has diminished inequalities. However, extreme inequalities are feared to arise as a result of the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the economic growth rate in the contemporary society (Piketty 25). The most striking issue on this regards the remarkable break witnessed in the years between 1914 and 1945. Considering this period, there developed an impression that capitalism was becoming more democratic. The inherited wealth was no longer the matter behind an individual’s ability and position in the hierarchy of social-economic. Other provoking point discuses such circumstances like the two world wars, the debt fueled recession and the great depression which lead to the reversion of the higher inequality in the years between 1930 and 1975. These lead to the destruction of much wealth that was owned by the elite and prompted the government to take measures in redistributing income during the post-world war II. The conclusion of the program itself is quite striking. Piketty has expectations that the march of inequality would extent to the future. According to him, between 1914 and 1945, capitalism was exposed numerous shocks. The destruction of property and high rates of inflation in consumer prices does not match the rate of inflation in the asset prices and the introduced taxation of income. Emergence of the Paleo-Americans from the Ice Age The third program discuses the emergence of the America’s Paelo-Indian mastodon hunters from the ice age. In a period of not less than nine thousand years ago, people walked on dry lands across Europe and England. People could walk from Siberia to Alaska. These dry areas are currently submerged by the deepest lakes in America, among them, Lake Huron. Amazing sites of human life have been discovered on the lake floors, from which the Paleo-American life emerged (White 33). Among other points in the program, the discovery of the V-shaped structures and an array of linear stone lane on the floor of Lake Huron sound more interesting. This discovery marked the most intricate set of hunting constitutions ever found o the floor of lakes. This issue has some relation to the class perspective that many archeological discoveries vary depending on function and their year of existence. On the other hand, the story of the nine thousand year-old caribou provokes some interest. The hunting drive lane was discovered under one hundred and twenty one feet of water in Lake Huron. In their underwater searches, anthropologists discovered the hunting structure in a stone lane that contained three circular hunting blinds. The class perspective on the issue of hunting as a group effort is featured in the view that some hunters during this period would sharpen the caribou toward the blinds while others waited to attack. Your Inner Ecosystem According to research, there exist trillions of bacteria in our bodies. Scientists have discovered that there are ten times as many bacteria as human cells in the human body. Microbes make up part of the human body and are developed beginning the moment of birth. Human beings are incapable of regulating their internal workings. Bacteria found within the human body can bring about sickness. It is quite interesting that the same bacteria that cause sickness play a significant role in our bodies. They perform an important task of breaking down food components t, this making them digestible and enhancing the processing of nutrients within our bodies. Secondly, it is more provoking that scientists in the U.S revealed on their research, the number of myriad bacteria, viruses and amoeba that live, reproduce and eventually die within our bodies. Their research is said to have described several microbes of the skin, of the saliva, guts and nostrils. The significance of this research is that it helps researchers understand better the appearances of the microbial community in healthy bodies and how they can lead to illness (Gates et al. 30). Over a long period, doctors in the U.S have been engaged into war against bacteria. The discovery of antibiotics was considered a great turning point in their struggle to fight bacteria. However, their engagement is less significant from the perspective that a jungle of microbial life that exists within our bodies is essential to a healthy life. Scientists have familiarized with the huge number of microbes that exists within us and have collectively described them as microbiome. A New Era of Jim Crow The new Jim Crow is a book that deals with issues of race and justice as witnessed in the United States. This program is concerned with the application of issues discussed within the book in the situation of African Americans in the present United States. Michelle Alexander, author of the book, says that the American prisons are crowded with black men that have been cut off from their American citizenship. The declaration of war against drugs is thought provoking. It si found out that the issue has devastated the black Americans. 75 percent of the prisoners in America are found to be the blacks. This deteriorates their freedom and places them to a permanent second class citizenship when they are released. On the second point concerning South Florida, Michelle Alexander stresses much on the death of Trayvon Martin. This point conveys the critical outcomes witnessed on the bases of race and gender. The death the Miami Gardens teenager in a shooting portrays how injustice is carried out within the state. The African Americans no longer enjoys their full rights of the American citizenship (Michelle 25). The conclusion part of the program is still interesting. The new Jim Crow is criticized on its contributions with the argument that, it has lead to a distorted view of mass imprisonment. In relation to the development of attitudes, the analogy does not consider the attitude of the blacks towards crime and punishment. There is much ignorance of violent crimes while the key focus is on drug crimes. Works cited Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. , 2011. Print. Carbone, June, and Naomi R. Cahn. Marriage Markets: How Inequality Is Remaking the American Family. , 2014. Print. Gates, Donna, and Linda Schatz. The Body Ecology Diet: Recovering Your Health and Rebuilding Your Immunity. Carlsbad, Calif: Hay House, 2011. Print. Piketty, Thomas, and Arthur Goldhammer. Capital in the Twenty-First Century. , 2014. Print. White, Phillip M. American Indian Chronology: Chronologies of the American Mosaic. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2006. Read More