Power

     What is power and how does it affect our life? Why do we have more power than we might realize? How is understanding power essential for understanding inequality? The first step is defining power. According to David Croteau and William Hoynes, power is the ability to bring about an intended outcome, even when opposed by others. As human beings, we adhere to authority and obedience. In the video "The Milgram Experiment" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdb20gcc_Ns&feature=fvwrel), there are 12 individuals who have volunteered for a study. This study was to be performed independently and required the volunteers to shock a person who played the role of a student, every time they got an answer wrong. The voltage would be increased each time. At the end of the study 75% of the people completed the task even when told that the last several shocks were lethal. The remaining 25% decided not to continue because they felt it was not right. The others might have either not felt bad about it at all because the person who plays the authoritative position said it was fine, or they felt that because it was for science, they had an obligation.
     In an article named "Five Faces of Oppression" by Iris Young, we see how power affects our life. In many cases, if not all, power causes oppression. Ultimately, "oppression is when people reduce the potential for other people to be fully human" (Iris Young). The article talks about the different types of oppression which are: Exploitation, Marginalization, Powerlessness, Culture of Silence, and Culture Imperialism.
     Exploitation is the act of using people's labors to produce profit while not compensating them fairly. This is a huge issue today. Many believe that the pay they are receiving is not enough to even support a basic way of life. We see people fighting today to increase the minimum wage in order to have a better chance.
     Marginalization is the act of relegating or confining a group of people to a lower social standing or outer limit or edge of society. This is a process of exclusion. One might argue that a group that is a victim of marginalization, is the elderly. Many, if not most, are sent away to homes because their family does not want to deal with them or because they cannot afford to stay with them. They are even suggested (which I think is just a nicer way if saying "told") to retire at age 65 because they are either no longer healthy, productive, or bringing in profit as they used to. This can be controversial, which is why companies are no longer able to set a mandatory retirement age.
     The idea of Powerlessness is that the powerless cannot develop their capacity, lack of decision making power, and exposure to disrespectful treatment because of the lowered status. One group that can fit this criteria are the homeless. Some crimes if not many, are unsolved when regarding the homeless because of the lack of evidence/leads or for the fact that they are homeless and are not beneficial to society. The homeless are greatly oppressed and are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to getting a job.
     Culture of Silence occurs when people are so powerless that they do not even speak about their oppression. There was a time when women fell victim to this and could not even vote. Obviously today that has changed to some extent. There is still the issue of the glass ceiling.
     Culture Imperialism involves taking the culture of the ruling class and establishing it as the norm. Being that American culture is built on Judeo-Christian belief system, these beliefs are often "forced" upon us when we are born by our parents.
     Violence is the most obvious form of oppression. While Occupy Wall Street was said to be a nonviolent movement, we still had the police pepper spray people in the face or gas them and even beat them.