3.1.4 Consequences of Mobility
The vertical movement of a large number of people up and down the social hierarchy tends to break down the exclusiveness of the social class and creates a more uniform national culture. Hopefully, this may also lead to reduction of class conflict, or at least class prejudices. Many sociologists have claimed that the lesser degree of mass consciousness in the US society, as compared to the societies of European countries, is due to the highest rate of social mobility in the US. It may be noted that the widespread belief that opportunities for upward mobility are greater in the US than in other societies may itself have had an important influence on the lesser degree of class-consciousness in the US. The other side of the coin of social mobility is the argument that preoccupation with vertical movement reinforces the class system. Thus, the individuals who are concerned to rise or at least to avoid falling in the social hierarchy accept and even emphasize ( to lay stress on) the importance of class and status distinctions ( separation or division) . Another consequence of mobility is the more effective use of individual talent and ability, and this is generally considered beneficial from the point of view of the society as a whole. The reason is that if the individuals are confined to the social segment in which they are born, many useful talents will remain undiscovered and unused. In modern industrial societies, the expansion of education has been stimulated ( to produce increased action in) by the desire of the governments to provide opportunities for the development of all the abilities in the population, although most of the countries are far from achieving this goal.
Vertical mobility may also have some undesirable consequences. Vertical social mobility, both upward and downward, produces strain in the individuals striving for success and adapting to new social milieus. Such mobility may also be disruptive ( having an upsetting or unsettling effect) of families and local communities, (e.g., in Kerala, where thousands of talented individuals have gone to work in the Middle East countries, disrupting their family life). A high rate of vertical mobility may produce in a society the condition that the French Sociologist Durkheim called "anomie" (meaning normlessness) and the resultant disorientation and anxiety ( a state of being anxious) . Under this condition, there is insufficient regulation of the individual behaviour, and the individual suffers from the "malady of infinite aspiration ( lofty hopes or aims )". The presence of such stress and strain may also give rise to a higher incidence of mental illness among the highly ambitious and highly mobile individuals.
3.1.5 Channels of Mobility
Many social institutions like army, church, school, political party and occupational organisation serve as the channels of vertical mobility through which individuals ascend or descend the social ladder. In any society, at a given period of time, one of these institutions may play a dominant role, (the army in time of war). With the exception of the period of anarchy, vertical mobility is strongly controlled by the elaborate social machinery of testing, selection and placement of individuals with regard to various social positions. The family, the church and the school test the general intelligence and character of the individual according to their standards. When the individual enters an occupational institution, he is tested for the specific ability and skills necessary for the successful performance of definite functions. These institutions, therefore, serve as social sieves. They perform not only the educational and training functions, but the selective functions as well.
The process of vertical mobility exerts a number of important influences upon social life. Intensive vertical mobility increases plasticity arid versatility of behaviour and stimulates progress in thought, discovery and invention. On the other hand, too high a rate of social mobility seems to increase mental diseases when the individuals face difficulties in adaptation to the new situation. Vertical mobility makes the social structure elastic, breaks the isolation created by class and caste and stimulates rationalism. It's direct and indirect influences on all aspects of social organisations are very potent, but highly complex.
3.1.6 Current Trends in Mobility
The economic development of the Western industrial nations after the World War II and the provision of more elaborate welfare services have generated significant changes in the class system. These changes have been interpreted in many different ways by various sociologists. According to some authors, there has been a general diminution ( decrease) in class differences. This has resulted in a higher level of living, greater social mobility and a limited redistribution of wealth and income. These social changes are reflected in a decline in class conflict. This interpretation leads to the conclusion that the Western societies are moving in the direction of relative classlessness or that they are becoming predominantly middle class societies. In sharp contrast to this interpretation, other social scientists have argued that the social changes since World War II are leading to the formation of new social classes like a new upper class consisting of managers and organizers of production in both public and private sectors.
3.2 INCOME DISTRIBUTION -
3.2.1 Concept of Income
Income results from the services rendered to the society by an individual or an organisation. Service may be defined as the creation of desirable events, results or the avoidance of undesirable events/results. The value of an income is the value of the services. For all practical purposes, the value of an income is measured in terms of money. Under services, one may include the following:
(1) The benefits from a property right such as the interest yield from a bond or a fixed deposit in a bank.
• The benefits derived from objective instruments such as the shelter offered by a dwelling.
• From the co-operation of individuals with such objective instruments (the transport sender of a railway).
(4) The services rendered by individuals whether they are manual, labourers or highly qualified professionals.
The total income of an individual or personal income is the total money value of the services received by him from all sources during a given period of time, usually in one year. Similarly, a person's net money income is the sum of all his money receipts less the money invested by him. The income of society as a whole is the total money value of all the services received by the members of the society from all sources. In case of an individual, his "real income" is the money value of his expenditures on food, clothing, shelter, amusements and other miscellaneous services. One important result of these principles of income calculation is the exclusion of capital gains from the income. The capitalisation, at any point of time of the income expected in the future, is not itself an income. By the same token, an increase in the capitalisation from one point of time to another is not income except potentially. Thus, if a fixed deposit of Rs.lOOO.OO in a savings bank is earning Rs.lOO.OO a year as interest and if the depositor withdraws his interest earnings every year, the actual income from his fixed deposit is Rs.lOO.OO a year and the principal sum of Rs.l 000.00 is the capitalisation of this income. On the other hand, if he does not withdraw the interest, this amount is merely accrued and becomes capital gain rather than an income. Certain peculiarities attach to income from labour as contrasted with income from property. Thus in computing the income of a domestic help, it would be necessary to include not only his wages but also his perquisites ( of one's own) like boarding and lodging since these are a part of his compensations, in addition to money wages. Moreover, accountants do not usually deprecate the income of a working man as they depredate in case of a machine, for they cannot easily appraise the value of a human being. More complications arise due to the fact that income must be defined for the purpose of taxation. Thekind of income that is taxed is largely determined by the economicorganisation of a country and the fiscal needs of its govemmen*.
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