Day One
We arrived at Wake early in the morning to load the bus and leave for Birmingham, Alabama. Today consisted mostly of traveling, but our time on the bus was divided between discussions, movies and nap time. For our first discussion we compared two theories that explain the social stratification systems. While Davis and Moore base one’s success on his/her willingness to make sacrifices and have “what it takes,” Wright takes a different stance. A neo-marxist, Wright discusses the various relationships between the ownership and exploitation of individuals. He says that the unexploitable are viewed as worthless in society; many “unexploitables” are in jail or the ghettos. Furthermore, unexploitable areas, often lower-class areas, contain little to no businesses other than Churches Chicken and a car wash. Wright’s explanation is at the basis for his disapproval of capitalist societies. I thought this dicussion was interesting because I find that people often use Davis and Moore’s claims to justify such high salaries in some professions, or to explain why it’s okay for others to work at minimum wage. Yet there are so many contradictions to this that it would be ignorant to believe that the American Dream, being rewarded for one’s hard work, is a reality. I hope this trip helps me to better understand the fallacies of Davis and Moore’s article and what can be done to change the current situation for those who are not benefited by our system of rewards.
Before we arrived in Birmingham, we watched Fried Green Tomatoes; so for dinner, we ate at the Irondale Cafe (where some of the film was shot). It was fun eating homemade sweet potatoes and fried green tomatoes (although I probably won’t order those ever again). The corn was also noteworthy and I am happy to announce that I have now eaten cream of corn not from a can. Our waiter goes to UAB and his name was Whittely Dikes- that was when I realized we really are in the deep South.