Discuss the below:
Brooke
I think that social stratification is a natural consequence of civilization. Even before agriculture came about, monuments show that there was social and political order. For example, those that built Gobekli Tepe relied on food that was hunted and gathered to have the strength to build the large monuments. The sizeable labor force needed to produce the large stones and the detail necessary to complete the task shows the social and political complexity during that time. With the rise of agriculture, as the population increased, came the modification of a social and political structure esta blished in the home, among family, to a more complex arrangement.
As population increases, there becomes issues of food supply, disagreements among the people, and overall chaos in the civilizations. A social and political structure had to be created to control these and other issues that came about. For a civilization to be efficient and have order, social stratification was put into place. Social stratification put people in a civilization into social levels. This caused a social order that defined one's status in life in which there were now rich and poor. With this shift came a government, that implemented the social classes, in which the kings and pharaohs had power over those below them and could enforce laws in their favor. Also, with this complexity came craftsmen that worked for the upper class, a system of records to monitor the food supply and labor, and more monuments were created.
For any civilization to thrive, there must be social and political organization. Social stratification naturally came about, both before and after the development of agriculture, because there was a need in the civilizations for order. It would not be possible to have a civilization without stratification if they want to prosper.
Justin
Q1: Is social stratification a natural consequence of civilization, or would it be possible to have a civilization without stratification? Explain.
Q2: What can we learn about social stratification from the past that can shed light on the problems of the present?