Introduction
There are many articles and papers written on the characteristics of capitalism, its negative and positive sides and the role in the world. The word “capitalism” is widely associated with one of the first countries, which adopted it – the United States of America. The impact of capitalism on this country is mostly positive. Although this is a controversial statement, but many economists say that the leading position of the USA in the world is related with capitalism being on the first place. To understand better the nature of capitalism, it is important to investigate whether capitalism allows social mobility.
However, to conduct this investigation, the definition of the social mobility should be provided. So, social mobility is the process by which people move from the position to position in the society. This movement may result in possessing higher or lower rank in the society. Sometimes, this process is called the distribution of talent, even though ratio can not be perfect, the more close it is to the ideal, the better principle of justice is applied in the society (Bendix, 1959).
Analyzing writings of Louis Hartz, James Madison and Karl Marx, answer to the main question of the paper can be found. The United States of America with its regime of capitalism has been promoting social mobility at much more significant extent, than it was done in the countries of Europe. It can also be found out that the process of industrialization, as one of the most common features of the capitalism, is directly connected with social mobility.
However, there is one more tendency associated with social mobility: with the maturity of the industrial society the level of the social mobility is decreasing. How should these statements be understood? Capitalism is based on industrialization, which can be defined as the intensive of development scientific innovations, which leads to an increase in available job opportunities. More people, in particular citizens of the United States of America, are employed and, consequently, are gaining a stable source of profit, which helps them move to the higher rank of class. On the other hand, better qualified staff is being promoted too and continues to climb the “hierarchy ladder”.
However, in the mature stage of the industry, which is present in the USA today, the number of the enterprises, and, consequently, the number of available job vacancies is increasingly growing, because there are established leaders in the market and it is exceedingly hard for other companies to overcome the market barriers. As such, people have fewer opportunities to find work and, consequently, a source for moving upward the “ladder” (Emmison, 2003).
Continuing to investigate the connection between capitalism and social mobility, it can be added that many great economists, like Alexis De Tocqueville and Antonio Gramsci, have noted that the USA when compared to other European countries has a very high level of social mobility.
The main principle of Capitalism includes the development of entrepreneurialism when people have many opportunities of starting business and gaining great profit. Since American market operates on the principles of pure competition, many companies are not able to survive the competition and collapse taking its employees down the rank in the society. Democracy and capitalism are tightly connected, since the best conditions for development of capitalism are set in a democratic country. This fact again proves the positive effect of capitalism on social mobility.
One more peculiarity about social mobility in the USA is the fact that historically USA became democracy very early, and it was one of the first democracies in the world. Democracy with its freedoms and rights have promoted and encouraged social mobility by giving equal rights for all. On the other hand, in Europe, the process of establishment of certain elite has been much more significant and has led to the fact, that the privileged class limited financial growth opportunities for other classes by setting certain limitations and restrictions.
Capitalism in Entertaiment
The movie “Real Women Have Curves” is a good example of how certain culture, or certain way of life, can affect social stability. This is the story about Ana, which is played by America Ferrera. She is a Latin girl with rather ambitious plans. She studies at high school in Beverly Hills which was her choice and her accomplishment to receive right to study there. This young intelligent girl is dreaming about entering a college in the state of Columbia. However, her mother, being a social product of her own experiences, believes that she should rather work at the factory. Ana is against such future and the conflict between these two women arises.
The movie is very romantic and entertaining, however, there is a clear message in it: certain minorities or certain groups in the USA do not have equal opportunities with others or they do not believe in their chances of succeeding in life. This factor has negative impact on social mobility as less people are using their chances to move upward the rank. In the case of this movie, it is a matter of breaking the stereotype that Mexican –Americans do not need higher education, but they should be engaged in the low-paid jobs at the factories.
Conclusion
In the end, it should be summarized that the USA is the country where capitalism traditions were established and today USA is on its stage of both prosperity and maturity. The system of capitalism promotes social mobility, however nowadays the level of social mobility is relatively lower than it was few decades ago due to stabilization of market. Social stability is a positive process, spread of which indicates the increasing level of democratization of the country.
Works Cited
Emmison, Michael. “Social Class and Cultural Mobility: Reconfiguring the Cultural Omnivore Thesis.” Journal of Sociology 39.3 (2003): 211.
Lipset, Seymour Martin, and Reinhard Bendix. Social Mobility in Industrial Society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1959.