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An essay on capitalism
Essay on contemporary capitalism
Essay on contemporary capitalism
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We live in a capitalist society, and many of our everyday actions are integrated with the economic system. When we walk into any store, we are participating in the grand tradition of capitalism but, as in all social structures, there are rules. When we enter stores, we must act proper in order that the economic processes can go smoothly. For my social experiment, I plan to enter a Walgreens and subvert the capitalist process by staying in a store for an extended period of time and requesting free goods. I plan to directly ask an employee if I can have items for free, and also request outrageous discounts. I chose to conduct my experiment at Walgreens because it is a small store that has a variety of products. That way, I can wander the …show more content…
Even though I was very anxious during my experiment, I found it to be freeing. I enjoyed acting inappropriately in public, and it allowed me to leave my comfort zone. That being said, I do not think I would do it again. I found that there was no benefit to my actions. Since I did not receive any free items or discounts, I accomplished nothing in my attempt to subvert the economic process. Also, I made the employees uncomfortable, and I do not wish to create awkward situations for others. I believe that my experiment was successful. I demonstrated one of many ways that I could break a folkway and cause tension in the world around me. However, if I were to do it again, I would change a few aspects of my experiment. I would have not bought any items form the store, because I looked less suspicions when I was buying items. Furthermore, I could have always spent more time in the store, acted more awkwardly, or engaged more …show more content…
I believe that it is important and sometimes necessary to question and subvert the folkways we all live by; however, social norms are not inherently harmful and subjugating. The reason we do not act odd in stores is that store owners fear shoplifting. In order to preserve their stock and, by extension, their livelihood, managers must watch customers and make sure they pose no harm. Now that I have acted as the subject of that suspicion, I understand and have a greater appreciation for the
Societal norms are ultimately the sociological expectations for our society. So, when people see somebody standing in the middle of a crowded public place doing nothing, they are going to take notice. I realized that while standing in the middle of the mall where many people
The daunting task of violating a social norm, something that I could be ostracized and ridiculed for, I still chose to do. Social norms are the rules of behavior that are considered acceptable in a group or society. Doing weird things in public while surrounded by strangers is a recipe for disaster, especially for somebody like myself. I am awkward and have plenty of trouble talking to new people. Most of us are told not to talk to strangers when we are younger because there are all sorts of crazy people out there. There could not be a better way to break out of my shell and violate a social norm than to sit down and talk to total strangers while they eat.
The reactions of people when you break a social norm can vary quite drastically. Sometimes the reactions are quite large and other times they are rather subtle. The reactions typically vary based on what norm you break and how strong of a norm it is. In the case of invading people’s personal space, I did not receive and intense reactions. All of the reactions I received were subtle. Not ma...
Upon entering the Wal-Mart store, anywhere in America, one can use predictability because all Wal-mart stores have the same look and offer a “one stop shopping” experience. Shoppers expect the same shopping experience found in one Wal-mart to be available at the same price and quality as the next Wal-mart. All Wal-marts run their business the same way. Calculability simply means quantity over quality. Wal-mart doesn’t say they offer the best brands-they offer everyday low prices and return/refund options when the purchased object doesn’t work, falls apart, or doesn’t meet expectations. Efficiency is what Wal-mart prides itself upon. Convienent parking and wheelchairs for handicapped individuals, 20 items or less checkout, large display signs noting where items are located, and departments are just a few examples of how Wal-mart taps into efficiency. Lastly, Wal-mart uses control in all aspects of a customer’s shopping. The “McDonaldization” of control at Wal-mart has become the norm, and a customer may not even be aware of the control. Walking in, one grabs a shopping cart. One pushes from one area to another, up and down the aisles. One selects purchases and then goes through the checkout line, similar to cattle being feed. The Wal-mart worker is controlled by his blue vest and the constant “swiping” of each SKU
I crawled in the store Walmart on a busy Sunday like if I was a baby or even a toddler. This I would consider to be a norm violation because normally a young teen is not seen walking and crawling like a little baby. Immediately I had many people including teenagers and adults looking at me as if I had a mental illness. There were various times when I would wobble like if I was learning how to walk and then I would fall. A worker at the store came over to see if I needed help, but the way she was speaking to me was very slow and sounded out most words. I denied help and continued to do my norm violation. To me it was absolutely astonishing how many time I got criticized. I did not get to hear all the criticism, but the ones I did hear were harsh. The comments went from just stating if I was dumb to stating that I was a “stupid retarded kid on drugs”. However, when I was doing this act I also seen a couple of little toddlers doing almost the same crawl and wobble but the difference was that many parents thought it was a “cute” act. While my walk and wobble was just despicable and unacceptable. I cannot deny that I never thought the same about a person committing a norm
Instead, I stood up and handed the desired two-liter of orange Fanta to the confused, uncomfortable woman. As a group of three teenage guys started walking down the aisle, their conversation ceased and proceeded to stare. Feeling sheepish, the one boy left to obtain something on another aisle while the other two proceeded to get some cases of cokes. The weirdness and creepiness of my actions were clearly evident on the faces of passersby because we’re instilled by our parents that you can’t just sit on the floor of a grocery store. Although I had gotten permission from the manger to perform my act of social deviance, the employees had no knowledge of my social experiment. They nervously avoided the aisle I had occupied and occasionally would walk past to see if I was still there. Throughout the experiment, I refrained from most eye contact relying on my peripheral vision or staring at people’s feet and only talked if I was spoken to. I sat and occasionally laid down in the aisle for about 40-45 minutes at
The experiment I have chosen to break a folkway was to walk around either a store or the mall with all my clothing backwards. This was to test and see the reaction of people since it is not normal for a person to be walking around with their clothing backwards. Of course, the first thing I did was make my own inference on how people would view me as I did the experiment. I predicted that people will looks at me very strangely and would at least laugh. The most I want to see from a person is just their facial reaction plus a few comments.
They tried to keep telling me the directions, even as I walked away. I expected from the people that know me to walk with me as I walked away, which they did. I figured strangers would just stop talking. The only sanction I received was a shocked/disgusted face from my boss’s son. I only felt somewhat rude. The one Walmart employee that followed me down the aisle made me feel the worse because she just looked at me like where am I going. I have never been to another country and I have not experienced very many other cultures. I would imagine that that the norms I violated would be the same in most cultures. I feel like the norms I violated were simple ones and are not odd or weird. I makes sense that you would let someone finish talking before you walk
In my walk through the toy section in Walmart in Sonora, I noticed that the boys and girls toy sections were very distinct. It is easy to tell the difference, the girls section had mainly pink packaging and dresses on the shelves. The boys section was mainly in dark blue packaging with swords, lightsabers, and toy guns prominent.
Breaking those norms made me feel extremely out of place and rude. They made me feel that way because I knew what I was doing wasn't socially right and people would get mad or be rude to me with their reactions. For the most part throughout my experiment, most people reacted the way I thought they would. You could tell that most people felt awkward or uncomfortable while breaking the norm. I faced a couple of difficulties during my assignment when it came to violating the social norms.
... day. The hardest part of the experiment was going against social psychology; it was very uncomfortable going against the social norms. We also found that it was difficult to match all of our schedules to be able to do the experiment all together when the gym was full. Overall the experiment taught us that social norms have molded society to believe that they should restrain their original thoughts and actions when in a public place. Lastly, individuals should not disturb other social norms that occur within the range of accepted actions, especially in the area of clothing.
The general public that encourages these types of judgments need to realize that with each company or store, it is the workers that make everything possible. With the amount of time and effort it takes to perfect a store to make it acceptable for the shopper, they deserve more respect than they earn.
Shoplifting is a major problem in today. The temptation of not paying for something, just hiding it away and saving your own money is a large factor for some people. The culprit just thinks he's getting a product for free and doesn't know what he's actually doing to himself and the community. Shoplifting effects everyone, yourself and the everyone in the local neighborhood.In this essay I'm going to explain some of the circumstances of stealing from local stores, or any store. After I've been caught stealing I found out how wrong it is and how it is a disadvantage to everyone.
Walmart can be studied using social function and social conflict. First of all, we need to understand what is a social function? Social function is a society has a different system that work together in harmony. Also, each system helps the social balance and brings benefits for each system without harming any systems. Each parts relates to the whole system. For example, during the movie, we can see so many example of social function. Walmart is a big company and has so many branches in the America. Of course, Walmart will need so many worker, and brings income for everybody. Walmart create an opportunity for everybody has a job and income. The worker helps Walmart make money, so both of those received benefits from each other. Moreover, each
Ordinarily, people witness vulgar acts and retaliate accordingly. While shopping on Black Friday, it is not uncommon to watch someone steal something out of someone else’s cart, causing an unruly argument in the store, or witness someone flipping another person off while driving down the