CHAPTER 5 How much power do you think you have?

      According to our textbook, power is derived from a Latin word, potere, which means "to be able". Max Weber viewed power as the ability to bring about an intended outcome, even when opposed by others. When I read that definition I immidately thought of an employee being empowered by his or her boss or a professor assigning an assignment to the class and even though the students do not what to do it, they have to in order to pass the class.
       There are three strategies of empowerment, education, which is basically getting the right amount of education you need to get a job that gives you the money that you need and help you accomplish your own goals that you have set for yourselves. Organization involves bringing people together to identify common goals and work to achieve them. For example, if a big company comes to a neighborhood and wants to all the houses to break down so factories could be built, an organization, a group of people from the neighborhood will come together and organize a way to that change from happening. Networking involves reaching outside your immediate circle to find allies. I've never really sit down and thought of power in the ways that are mentioned in this book. I believe that each and everyone of us has an amount of power even if some of us don't recognize it.
        A small 5year old has power over their parents sometimes, when they're in a store and the kid sreams that he wants something. He doesn't stop yelling until his mom gives him what he wants and that's a sign of power. I believe the real power comes from money because people who has money gets more opportunities. Wealthy parents have the ability to send their children to better schools and then later on send their children to better colleges. It's simple, money equals power in my opinion.
       The Milgram expirment was a fine example of power. Micheal F got 12 people from the public came to what they thought was an memory test. They were introduced to someone else who they thought was another voluntare but he was actually an actor for the expirment. Each participant was given a role to play, a teacher which was the voluntare and a learner which was the actor. The teachers were given a list of word pairs which the learner had to memorize and each time the learner gets a multiple choice question wrong he received a voltage shock. With every wrong answer the shock is increased by one voltage shock. The generator went from 15-450 voltes. 9 out of 12 people went up to 450 voltes. I personally could not believe that, I thought people were more compassionate than that. Even though they heard sreams from the person they still went on because the professor who was in charge told them that the expirment requires them to to on. This shows the people subjects to higher authority and will do almost anything if a higher powered person tells them to.
          Our society has a lot of power over who we are and who we become. The Five Faces of Oppression explains how society acts as a puppet master of our lives. Exploitation is when a higher authority uses their power to exploit employees such as sweat shop workers. Marginalization is when a group is confined to a lower edge if society. Marx's theory socialism some "have" power while others "have not" refers to powerlessness. For example slaves felt powerless, they thought little of themselves. Culture imperialism is when a group that have power in society control how the people in that society interpret and communicate. This is a perfect example of society and the power it has over us. And lastly violence is a way to portray power over all types of people. It's purpose is to damage, humiliate and destroy a person.
            After I read this chapter I realized power is everywhere. We could either have power or be empowered. I just believe that it is up to us, we determine where we stand in society and how we are treated by others. This chapter really thought me a lot.