The continuous development in various areas in the social and economic aspects of the United States and its people has promoted modernization. In fact, every nation around the world has varying degrees of development, easily identifiable with the agents of modernization present in their societies. Manifestation of Modernization in the U. S. Society Modernism has manifested itself in every aspect possible in the streets and corners of the United States. In anywhere in the states, one sweeping look at the scenery and you’ll notice local diners, large supermarkets, sophisticated street lights and high-end cars.
At a schools or universities, students wear fashionable clothes, listening to the latest song of a popular singer in their iPods. At homes, TV sets sport the latest high-definition technology. As the leading nation in the world, the United States is highly developed and modernized. In direct comparison to what the United States was a century back, life is indeed easier, and ironically, harder. Let’s take a trip back to United States more than a century ago. The U. S. in the 1900s. Industrial Revolution is on its booming peak between the years 1876 to 1900.
According to Lone Star College Kingwood’s American Cultural History, there are only 76 million people, Americans alone, dispersed among the 46 states by the turn of the decade. A middle-class worker receives almost 13 dollars a week for 59 hours of work. The female population has the highest life expectancy at the age of 47; males at 46. Black people have a life expectancy of only 33 years. Across the nation, roads that are cemented and paved only measure up to a total of ten miles, and only 8 thousand cars use these roads. The US treasury holds only 46 million dollars.
Economically, the U. S. became known from at the beginning of the 90s as the world’s primary industrialized influence, contributing 23. 6 percent of the world’s industrial output, as compared to 18. 5 percent for Britain, 8. 8 percent for Russia and 6. 8 percent for France (Kennedy, P. , The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, as cited in Smitha, F. E. , 2003). The U. S. in the 21st Century. The Information Age started at the turn of the century. The boom in the demand and use of technology by most of the well-off and middle-class families has complemented their needs to information.
The United State is home to an estimated 304,532,257 people (Census Bureau, as of 23:31 GMT July 6, 2008). However, 4. 2 percent of this number, or 5. 8 million are unemployed, as of September 1999. The average salary of an average worker is 13. 37 dollars per hour. The life expectancy of the female population still leads the count at 79 years; the males at 73 years. These are just the physical differences of the people from a century ago and thee present. Modern Sociological Theories in the U. S. Structural-Functional Analysis: Theory of Mass Society.
Structural functionalism is a more methodical description of functionalism, engaged primarily in comparative politics (Roberts, G. & Edwards, A. , 1991, in Sociology Professor). In this context, two or more societies and political systems may put to measure beside each other, whether their differences are formal or informal, at the condition of studying their functions contributing to their general configuration. In a mass society, authorities dwell in big systems of government, leaving people in local neighborhoods diminutive power over their lives.
The mounting degree of modern life may have constructive characteristics, but only at the expenditure of our losing our cultural inheritance. The presence of technology has confined the Jane and John Does of this age of information to their own houses and work cubicles. There is a definite decrease in interpersonal communication especially now that the people are always on the go, with never-ending tasks that eat up the time for a simple conversation with a friend or family.
The mass media has given the people the chance to communicate without intimate contact. Whether via instant messaging or text, with the use of the Internet brought about by the people’s need for storage and information, the world is just a mouse click away. Modernization: A Continuous Trend? Modernization is highly likely to continue in the U. S. As it is the greatest power in the world, the U. S. will have to maintain a certain degree of development and modernism to keep the lead in this fast-paced universe. If the U. S.
would lag behind, it will cause the other high power nations to look down upon Liberty, causing a possible massive degradation in the nation’s economic development. Modernization in a Global Perspective Modernization is evident not only in the U. S. , but also inn the other developed and developing countries. Like what was mentioned above, there is some degree of modernization depending on the present economical and social stability of the country.
If we compare a certain country’s cultural, economical and social aspects from a century ago to now, we would see a trend slightly the same as that of the U. S. There would also be changes in their way of life, how they dress, how much the local transport fare costs, how much their own currency would be if changed to a dollar’s worth. Other countries outside the American country have adopted women suffrage, as it has become a hot issue in these countries (Ian Tyrell, 2007). The Consequences of Modernization However positive modernization may look, there are looming and often bad consequences for it. One is the social isolation of the busier people. Another is the increase in the cost of living of the people.
Evidently, there are more beggars and homeless in the streets than there was a hundred years ago. Looking at an environmental perspective, more forests are cut down to make way for the symbols of modernity: highways, subdivisions, large shopping malls, and big smoke-emitting factories. The new technology gave way to finishing more jobs that needs to be done, and imminently ironically increasing the number of jobs that has to be done. As it was, technology is taken for granted. Modernity may be a good place to the eyes, but most of the time, the train to Modernity is for the privileged only.
Evolution of Formal Organizations Class Society is defined by the Marxists as the major grouping of societal stratification in industrial societies, whose foundation is chiefly on cost-effective and professional aspects, but also referring to people’s approach to living or sense of group individuality (Research Machines, 2008). Formal organizations have progressed over the century owing to innovations in, but not limited to, technology and politics. Transformations in an association are to be anticipated. The speed of advancement is shifting the client needs.
Adjustments need to be recognized, time-honored, and established before putting into function. The technologies we have today may not have existed 10 years ago. Today, we have high-speed mainframes and state-of-the-art medical equipment that was just a bubble of thought ten years ago. Micah’s Organization Seeing the scenario concerning Micah’s business, there is really room for change and adjustment. As circumstances vary, managers should be ready to fine-tune operations for that reason. Creating latest systems or altering current operating systems are two ways to adjust to a working atmosphere.
However, these systems should be reliable and is able to bend for development in meeting goals in the character of the inputs. Consequently, a particular company is supposed not to use the same system to assemble cars as it uses to construct trains, nor the similar method to sell appliances as the one originally designed to sell services. However, it must be achievable to change an accessible structure to construct diverse amounts, selections, or categories of the equivalent product or service. References Class (Society) (2008). Online, Tiscali
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