The Social Wake-Up Call: An In Depth Look Into The Exploitation of the Modern Worker
Social Conflict Theory, in all of its glory, is a social wake up call. While shining a spotlight on the overall inequality seen so often in social stratification, especially under capitalism, it follows those inequalities to their roots: a system that creates major disparities in socioeconomic classes, and is only functional and working for those that are rich enough to buy their places—eg. the rich and highly wealthy. Social Conflict theory reprimands this idea, and closely follows many ideals that seem to unionize the working class under white oppression, and who seek the abolition of such systems. This theory calls on the liberation of the proletariat, and is closely related to other ideologies who seek the same things, such as communism and socialism— both of which find equality and equity for all, regardless of the role they play in society because in the end, they are all equally important to a functioning day and night.
This theory, however, is one of the most constant in our everyday lives. Not only does it explain how workers are so often exploited through their social classes and labels, but also bleeds into the cognitive processes we use on a daily basis. Much like conspicuous consumption, the social conflict theory explains how members of a society try and mark their social mobility through material purchases that deem them worthy of attention, praise, and just try and create an image of higher class than what they may be.
This is most often evident in the purchases of the middle class, and happens when, for example, a doctor will buy a brand new house, complete with the entire “McMansion” look, just to mark that they are elite and wealthy, despite not being a pert of the high class, but in order to rationalize and move up on the social mobility scale through conspicuous consumption, even if they are aware that the disparity keeping them from actually moving up is the abundance of wealth directly going to those who exploit them, and not the working class, who still show major evidence of conspicuous consumption. Much like the piration of name brands, the working class, or those who are financially stable to have a good credit score, might “buy up,” either with a pricey car, or even a brand new lavish car— all to mark their place on the social mobility scale without actually moving up, and even though they are the class that’s getting majorly exploited.
When it comes to other purchases, however, the stigmatization of those being exploited is still majorly evident. When purchasing brand new cars or trucks, the experience differs for each social class. While the high class patrons may experience no dents in their social mobility scale because they amount the most money, they are able to keep exploiting those below them for their own gain, and keep the facade that money will eventually “trickle down.” They are the individuals who demand labor from the middle and working class to keep amounting their wealth, and while shopping for something they may already have many of, their train of thought greatly differs from those of other social classes.
While they see it as an everyday experience— driving around in fancy cars and having the ability to buy one at a moment’s notice, the Social Conflict Theory amounts the overwhelming and tone-deaf evidence that their exploitation of others for their own gain, as well as the major disparity in incomes is nothing new to them. This, however, differs from the experience of someone from the middle class, who would most likely have to take their economic situation in mind while looking at cars— which ones are economically beneficial to them, which ones allow for them to still make a mark on the social mobility scale, and still maintain their wealth. The major differences in car shopping for these two social classes is the economic stability seen, and how it once again differs from that of someone in the working class. While the top two classes may have more ease in finding a car fit for them, the working class would most likely find the exact opposite. Instead of worrying about how it may ook, they have to keep in mind how it will economically and socially affect them. Not only do they have to remain stoic on prices, but they also have to take into account just how much a car will cost, and how much work and labor that will mean for them in order to pay off the impending bills and taxes that are sure to come.
The cognitive processes most likely in action while making these purchases, however, differ greatly. Just like what was touched on above, each social class greatly differs in economic and social backgrounds, and that itself plays a major role in the involvement of Social Conflict Theory. Not only is it taking into account the major disparity between financial stability, as well as the sometimes inhumane wage gap seen, and how it only benefits the upper class in the end. They, of course, are the owners of the major car companies the middle and working class are buying from in the first place, and as social stratification has it, are the only ones who have the freedom to keep up with an increase in their social mobility.