Legitimating rationale Essay

Explain how and why the Functional Perspective is the legitimating rationale (explanation or justification) for a Capitalist economy, and give examples of this justification through race, religion, class, gender, and educational level. Then, critique the Functionalist ideology from the Conflict Perspective and describe how the stratification system produces deviants (not criminals, but rather those who fall outside the expectations in actions, thoughts, appearance, credit-score, etc) and the result of this labeling in terms of preserving the status quo. Without a judicial system, regardless how flawed it is, in a Capitalist economy it would be bedlam without it. As a human race, we need to abide by restrictions and laws. It is an unfortunate statistic that the majority of inmates are lower class, less educated than the norm. The penal system shows no favoritism on gender nor religion. In our society if the law is not obeyed, then you will have to pay the ultimate price. Earlier social conflict theorists argue that money is the mechanism which creates social disorder. The theory further states that society is created from ongoing social conflict between various groups. The gap between the haves, and have not, have certainly widened in the past five years. Families who were considered middle class five years ago have seen their credit score plummet. Ones that found themselves buying at higher retail stores are now at discounted houses. Having their homes foreclosed, and living week to week, has become the norm in the middle of this society. There is much resentment for the middle class as the higher class seems to go unscathed, and the lower class seems to be getting more and more government services. I believe the word status quo is a thing of the past. Part B Choose 1 legitimating rationale and show how the 5 basic social institutions (economy, family, religion, education and government) work together and support one another both structurally and ideologically to foster this rationale. Then discuss Marx’s claim that the interests and goals of the economic system define  the goals and objectives of all other institutions. (50 pts) â€Å"Women are subordinate to men,† and the way that they all support it. Economy (women get paid less than men: glass ceiling), family (men expect women to play the housewife), religion (the bible talks about women as the â€Å"sinners† and that men are superior/women can’t be priests in the Catholic church), education (we are taught sexist rationales in school like boys are macho and girls play with Barbie’s and don’t fight), government (the U.  S. Constitution says â€Å"all men are created equal† not all â€Å"people† or â€Å"all women†)Beacuse the economy is controlled by a strong male presence (wall street, congress, etc) they continue to re-emphasize the male agenda because they want to keep control (keep higher salaries, make the laws, etc) So the male controlled economy defines the goals and objectives of everything so they stay in power.