Is Class A Zombie Categories?

Assess the usefulness of Marxist theories of stratification in understanding social class in society today.

The zombie argument presents an idea meant to prove that consciousness doesn’t necessarily logically supervene on the physical. In this example there exists a zombie, defined as “someone or something physically identical to me ( or any other conscious being) but lacking conscious experiences altogether.” (Chalmers,94) Zombie world is then defined as “a world physically identical to ours,but in which there are no conscious experiences at all. In such a world, everyone is a zombie.” (Chalmers, 94) In this idea, only “phenomenal zombies” are to be considered meaning zombies that are “physically and functionally identical ( as us) , but which lack experience” (Chalmers 95) There are five main arguments that stand behind this idea, the first two being ideas regarding conceivability, the second two arguments of epistemology and the fifth and argument of analysis.

After reading Michael Zweig's “The Working Class Majority: America's Best Kept Secret”, I read and was able to determine his own perspective of class. Zweig says that the United States is not a middle class society and that the majority of Americans today are part of the working class. He defines class as power, power in the workplace, cultural, economic, and political and in the larger society and not so much the income. I think he defines class as power due to the fact that we as people have the power to experience class in many ways. We are all born and raised differently and all come from cultural backgrounds. He briefly explains how there is a high class and low class depending how you were raised. I can agree with him on that statement to an extent personally due to the fact that sometimes the worst parents in the universe can raise you, but you alone can show yourself a thing or two about morals and life lessons simply by living them. That does not mean that your parents don’t play a

The day started like that of any other these last couple of weeks. Mysterious incidents kept popping up in the news, of small groups going mad and becoming savage. Life was like that in Lampeter. Very little going on in town, whilst the whole world around us lives with a constant stream of danger. Some people were getting worried, afraid it was some sort of virus going around, but that happens all the time. One small case of a disease and the world’s in an epidemic. Happened with bird flu, E-coli, and we had just got over the joys of swine flu. Now this. Some people were becoming wary, uneasy around other people, fears of catching this mystery virus afflicting the nation and forcing its way into people’s minds. The unfortunate thing was,

Coup Poudre - there is knowledge about the existence of Zombies and how they are created. A drug used to induce death/or give the appearance of death contains tetrodoxin and is produced by puffer fish. In small quantities the coup poudre, as is known, is ingested unknowingly by the person and will quickly give appearance of death as it gives total

Imagine, if you will, a brisk night wind coming fast across a lake carrying a pungent smell, something you can’t quite identify, but is nonetheless familiar enough to send a shiver up your spine. As it hits the trees, they creak out a somber call in the still night air. Or was that groan something more…human? You notice, for the first time, the absence of tires humming on pavement and you wonder if it’s that late, or maybe just a slow night. The soft tapping of your shoes on the sidewalk is the only accompaniment your slow breathing has as you move towards the warmth of your home, holding thoughts of a warm bed in the palm of your hand to keep the chill away. You don’t notice at first, perhaps because the reality of what you’re hearing is

In the first article titled “Class in America” by Gregory Mantsios the discussion on class affecting the United States negatively is brought up. Gregory talks about the fact that people do not choose to be poor but they are put into situations where they cannot move up in class. Due to the fact that class creates an immense gap in communities, there are many issues linked to being categorized as the lower class. In the article Gregory states that “class affects more than lifestyle and material well being. It has a significant impact on our physical and mental well-being as well.” CITE) The author connects the idea that if you are in the lower class than you will also deal with other issues include your mental and physical health declining. Alongside this idea, the author also states “All Americans do not have an equal opportunity to succeed, and class mobility in the United States is lower than that of the rest of the industrialized world. (CITE) This goes along with the idea that once your born into a class, breaking out of it is virtually impossible. The author is also making the point that in the United States class is more problematic than other developed nations and because of this not everyone is given the chance to break free from a poor lifestyle.

It shows that the bottom half of income earners receive less and the top half more of the income distribution. However, Marshall hypothesises that people can move between the classes with hard work and the right mindset.

One component of this idea is a social mobility. Social mobility is the movement of individuals or families within layers of social stratification. For example, if some family of first generation of immigrants (who are usually considered as low-income families) will work hard and get some college education, they probably can improve their social-economic status and move upward direction to the lower-middle class or even to the middle class level. However, to move from the low-income class status upward to the upper class status will be very difficult or even impossible for this family. As was written above, only 1-3% of American population is in the upper or upper-upper classes and this is like “private club” for the rest of population. The membership of this “club” is difficult to earn; many members of this upper class group received their statuses from their parents or grandparents and this looks like a “cast” of privileged people. This privilege gives many advantages and influence in political, educational, religious and other institutions. These advantages make upper class as a dominate group and underprivileged lower classes as subordinate group; and this stratification is describing classism. Carol Brantley and her colleagues (2003) state that “Classism is the systematic oppression of subordinated groups (people without endowed or acquired economic power, social influence, and privilege) who work for wages for dominant group (those who have access to control of the necessary resources by which other people make their living).” Classism says that upper class members are more educated and smarter than low-income and working classes’ members because they and their children can afford very expensive or exclusive education worldwide. Whereas, oppressed groups are lacking this opportunity to get prestige

Looking at this in an Australian context, there is a larger variation and fluctuation between class determinations compared to Karl Marx who believed social class was only determined by the factor of property (Henslin and Possami-Inesedy 2014). Analysing

In the modern world, media outlets and pop culture constantly revive the idea of zombies taking over human society. From The Walking Dead to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” zombies are portrayed as slow-moving living-dead creatures shown in mass amounts to create the idea of consumption. While this monster as it is depicted in movies and television shows is nonexistent, there are living zombies walking the surface every day. They hide in the shadows of town and often only wear the clothes on their back. They spend every day trying to survive with the little amount of money they can scavenge. Money to them acts as the cure to help them get the necessary resources they need. Many people in this nation and across the world are categorized as living under the poverty line. The spectrum of people ranges from homeless and sleeping on the streets to large families settling in garage-sized apartments. Even when taking out of consideration the similarities in physical appearance, zombies are an accurate representation of the major issue of poverty in today’s society due to the instant eeriness that the stereotypes of both subjects represent and the idea that the poor are unable to receive the necessary health treatments.

Anthony Giddens (2006) defines class as “a large-scale group of people who share common economic resources, which strongly influence the type of lifestyle they are able to lead.” (pg 300). Karl Marx, a sociologist in the 19th

Sociology is fluid in the way in which theories become less central to sociological thinking as time progresses. The theory of social class in particular was very prominent throughout the 1950’s-1970’s where social class divisions were seen as central to understanding differences in opportunity and life chances. Social class has been defined as ‘ a division of a society based on social and economic status.’ (1) These theories of social class were developed and studied by the likes of Marx, Weber and Durkheim. The theory of class has been subject to some criticism however since it fails to explain other forms of inequality such as race, gender and sexuality. Although there have been many attempts to link these inequalities to social class, no such connection has been found and other theoretical approaches have been needed from the likes of Andrew Pilkington, Kathwood Woodward and

As research is begun which has classism as a foundation, William Ming Lui’s (2006), well recognized class and classism researcher, precautions must be taken into consideration. In a stringent article critique of Laura Smith’s "Psychotherapy, classism, and the poor: Conspicuous by their absence," Liu points out that the study of classism and those areas that it impacts is much more complex than most researchers realize or expect. He calls for the need for a theory based and operationlized use of terms such as social class, class, social status, the poor/low-income, and poverty rather than use of these concepts simply as constructs. He also caution against the tendency to category low-income subjects by a dispositional attribute (i.e., "poor people"). In conceptualizing classism, he stresses that

Most societies throughout history and the world have developed a notion of social class. It is refers to hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups within society. How these social classes have been determined has been a common topic among social scientists throughout time. Two individuals who have headed this long standing debate are Karl Marx and Max Weber. In this paper I will be summarizing Marx and Weber’s theories on social class; how they are determined, their interests, and problems that may exist among groups. I will then provide my own critiques of their arguments.