Social Classes ; The Factors of Marx , and The Shame of Orwell

                    One of the most important elements of social stratification is the 'Class' . A social class is a category of group of persons having a definite status in society , which permanently determines their relations to other groups . Social classes have been defined by various  thinkers  in different manner . The notion of objectivity of class existence is the main contribution of Karl Marx , he emphasises on the economic factors . Power , style of life , and property determine the class status of individuals in the society . And also George Orwell who gave the word 'Shame ' in order to refer to social classes . 

                    Karl Marx defined  the social classes by their relation to the means of production ( ownership or non-ownership ) . In modern capitalist society there are two principal classes ; the capitalist and the proletariat . Max Weber , like Marx , is another German thinker who has seen the importance of economic factor in the classification of a society . He has defined class as a group of persons having the same ' life chances ' or social opportunities , as determined typically by economic conditions , He agreed with the  fundamental belief of Marx that control over property is a basic fact in the determination of the life chances of an individual or a class . That is to say , the members of a particular class will have more or less chance of getting good things of life , things such as a high standars of living , leisure ... ect . Thus  Weber's definition of class is broadly similar to that of Marx , except that Weber added two other dimensions to the economic dimention ; prestige and power .

                     George Orwell   is an english novelist , journalist , and critic . He  expressed his rejection to the the forms of division and differences thru  leaving  his own life to get involved into the class of miserable people , eating  , working  , and sleeping rough like them . And this ' class investement ' is the thing that made him feel what other people experience everyday , and that was an inspiration for him to write his famous books " Down and Out in Paris and London  " and  " The Road to Wigan Pier " .  For Orwell , the world is devided into three main class system : the Inner Party , the Outer Party , and the Proles  ( according to  his novel " 1984" ) .  The Inner party   is the group which makes policies , decisions , and governs . People of this party are the upper class , they are living in  comfortable homes , have good food and drink , having personal servants and access to helicopters and automobiles . The  Outer Party is  the group which is given state administrative  jobs and is composed of the more educated members of society , people of this party are  the " artificial middle class " . And the  Proles which is the lower class of workers that perform the majority of menial tasks and labors . They are in the poorest of conditions , and they make up 85%  of the population .

Society has developed the concept of social classes to categorize people into different  groups based on economic , political , and socio-economic status .  and this stratification  is an eternal problem that has  led  and still  leading to wars ,  segregation , and conflicts . Thus , it is very hard to  get over it . It becomes  a definition of identity .

By : Cholay Amine

Media , a grace or indignation ?

                       Today, we live in media society , in which information media are shaping our minds deeply , but this affection can be either positive or negative , and the opinions of people who are connected to the field of media studies are devided between those who say that media have harmful effects on society and amplify perceptions of a problem in society , and those who say that media's positives are more than negatives , and that the role of media is very important nowadays , for it inform  , educate and enrich the humand mind with a variety of experiences and knowledges .

                      Media have always been a source of moral panic , fear , and anxiety , and the most of people consider it as the main reason behind the Anti-social behaviors that occur in our society , because some peolpe are imitating all what they see on media , especialy in violent Tv programs .  In 1993 , in Britain , two 10-year-old-children abducted and murdered a 2 year-old child James Bulger , the abduction had been captured by security camera in the shopping center where  James disapeared and the child killers were quickly captured , and  at the trial , the judge Mr Justice Moorland commented : " It is not for me to pass judgement on their upbringing , but I suspect that exposure to violent video films may , in part , be an explanation " , in other words , judge Moorland blames media for transmitting the violent scenes to those children .

                     For other people , media plays a main role in educating , informing , and shaping the society positively , for they believe that media can help young people put current images and messages about aboriginal people into perspective by helping them understand how the media work , why stereotyping exists , how decisions are made , and why it matters "who make it " , media education is not about  consuming and imitating blindly , it's about  recieving media images with an active and critical mind . Moreover , Anti-social behaviors that some relate to media effects  are not necessarily produced  by violent Tv programs , Because violence is deeply embedded in human make-up , it's within the society , for instance ,  let's get back to 1912 , in France exactly , when  Nicolas , a 10  year-old-child  killed his little brother  by hitting him  over and over to the head with a hammer  until he died , and take into consideration  that media at that time were not as flourished as today , so the reason behind this crime  was - as some psychologists declared  - the violence the child absorbed from his parents fights  . Thus ,  media are never the reason behind the violence  and anti-social behaviors that we encouter everyday in our society  .

         
       As we've seen , opinions about media effects vary from a person to another , but still , the thesis which claims that media is the reason behind the anti-social behaviors is not trustworthy at all , for the reason that it is not yet  confirmed by scientists , because  you can't actually accuse  violent Tv programs without providing scientific evidences .

By : Cholay Amine