Assignment:
Explain how an individual's ascribed social class position at birth may affect what Max Weber called life chances, or the ability of an individual to attain the following "good things" that a society values:
- good health care
- longevity
- a good job
- security
- status
- wealth
- power
- prestige
Describe how life chances may affect an individual's life goals (positive or negative).
In what ways may life chances be irrelevant?
Give examples of how the concept of life chances operates in the following systems:
- a caste system
- a class system
- a one-party, Communist system (such as China)
Good health care
If you belong to a lower social class your access to health care is limited. In a caste system it may even be believed that you sickness is ordained by the gods. In a class system your access to health care will be determined by the amount of money you have. Even you are perceived as belonging to a lower social class such as African-American or Hispanic, if you have the money you will be treated. In a one-party system you pretty much are at the mercy of the government. Here you may be denied treatment based on ideology or finances but typically not because of social class.