SOCIOL 1 Lecture Notes - George Deukmejian, Juliet Schor, Nelson Rockefeller
Intro to Sociology Lecture Notes Week 2 Thurs 10/12
A Few Words About Liberals and Conservatives:
• The Democratic Party leadership today is to the right of the Republican presidents of the late 20th
century
o Richard Nixon (R): Wanted Universal Health Care (Democrats don’t want it today)
o Ronald Reagan (R): Gave women greater access to abortion, amnesty for illegal
immigrants
o Barack Obama (D): Deported more immigrants than Republican George W. Bush; also
created DACA
o George Deukmejian (R-CA): Signed into law a bill banning assault rifles
o Bill Clinton (D): Cut welfare programs for middle class and toughened up sentencing
laws, resulting in mass incarceration; 500,000 premature deaths due to UN economic
sanctions; then proceeded to bomb Iraq approx. 3,000 times in the north and south; war
against Serbia; and reversed Glass-Stegall Act: Provided regulation of the bank industry
(commercial baking could not interfere with investment banking and vice-versa;
therefore, Clinton deregulated the banks
• Conservative Republicans today are to the left (more Liberal) than their conservative Republican
predecessors of two generations ago
o 1964 Election: Extreme Republican Barry Goldwater got the nomination over the more
moderate Nelson Rockefeller (Reason: because Rockefeller was divorced)
o Premarital sex: Republicans hated it during the 20th century
o Smoking weed
o More accepting of gays/lesbians
Culture and Personality (both go together in a way):
• Culture: Shared ways of doing things; composed of values, norms, and a particular level of
economic production (mode of production)
o Aka “Customs of society”
o Society is controlled by type of economy, dictates what we do and can’t do
o Marvin Harris (Reader Chapter 3): Argues pig taboo was an economic necessity in arid,
deforested regions of the world
o Juliet Schor (Reader Chapter 4): In today’s society, there are things known as “labor
saving devices”; working more hours per week than those in medieval times
o Wolfgang Schivelbusch (Reader Chapter 5): Asks the question: Why do more people
drink coffee as a regular beverage than beer
o Values and norms of societies are related to the “modes of production”
• Personality: Your culturally shaped tendencies to think, feel, and behave in particular groups
o Most decisions aren’t yours; behavior is very culturally programmed
o Surrounded by people who are like you, so you notice the differences not similarities;
when you are in a different country, you compare yourself to them and find the
similarities
o You are shaped by your culture: the way you dress, the food you eat, etc.
• Values: Important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is
good or bad and desirable or undesirable
o Ex: Hard work, individualism, material success
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
