Fig.3.2.5.1 Typical Lorenz curves
(Ic=cumulative percentages of income and PC =cumulative percentages of population) Empirical distributions of income, on the other hand, usually appear as concave hyperbola, as shown by the curves B and C. The existing inequality.of income is measured by the area between these straight hyperbolas and the line. The curve B shows less inequality of income, while the curve C indicates greater inequality. The variety of methods devised to measure the inequality of income illustrate the profusion( spending a lot of money) of various aspects. It also suggests a high probability of divergent results from the analysis of one and the same data. In addition, this lack of agreement as to the precise aspect of inequality to be studied is usually accompanied by paucity ( insufficiency ) of adequate empirical data on income distribution. Considering these two factors, therefore, one would expect to find few definite conclusions as to the trends or differences in the inequality of income. On the contrary, one usually finds a profusion of contradictory generalisation, which are often obvious results of pressure to respond somehow to a problem vital to social policy. How divergent and unreliable such inferences are may be illustrated in the case of former Prussia, which is one of the few countries for which empirical data on personal distribution of income are available for a long period. From the income data for Prussia for the years 1875,1896,1913 and 1919, Prokopovich concluded that the inequality of income was increasing during the period 1875 - 1919. A contrary conclusion was derived from the same data by Heifferich, who claimed that no tendency towards a greater concentration of income was observable. On the other hand, Angelopoulos studied the data for the years 1896,1914 and 1926 and inferred that the inequality of income had diminished during the period 1896 -1926.
3.3 SOCIAL TENSIONS AND THEIR CAUSES
3.3 Social Tensions
Social tensions usually result from the conscious pursuit of exclusive values by individuals and/or social groups. The individual members and groups always widen or narrow their claims on society for life, liberty of movement, property and other desirable things by competing against one another. Competitors become self-conscious rivals, opponents or even enemies. The relative position of an individual in relation to the current value in a society is controlled by influences of which he is mostly unaware. On the other hand, everyone believes in some measures that his personality and life can and should be protected from the encroachment by others and that it can be enhanced at the expense of others. Thinking along these lines by individuals and groups leads to social conflict, which may involve the defence of what already has or the acquisition of what one does not have. Acquisition may mean taking away of that belongs to another or the appropriation of that which another would like to have. The defensive, destructive and obstructive aspects of a social conflict become entangled with one another in every crisis and create social tensions. Exclusive values may be pursued by individuals and groups by various means which may vary all the way from physical violence to persuasion and thus include the whole range of techniques used for social control. Conflict among human beings differs from the struggle for survival among animals in the diversity of the means employed by the former. Each animal is bound by its very structure to a few stereotyped means for coping with a conflictsituation. On the other hand, the nature of man is so plastic that rich variations can be found within the human species among the means employed to deal with conflicts. Thus, the place of physical combat is usually taken by argument, admonition( warning) , ridicule( to laugh at) , litigation( engaged in a lawsuit.) , etc. and these are the functions of cultural setting in which conflicts occur. Social conflict is a mode of registering or consummating social change. As a result, conflict is more acute in case of rapid social changes, when the vested interests of the old social order stand out against the pressures from the new. A social crisis may bring about a willingness to come to terms with the requirements of new realities. Thus, strikes, boycotts and wars frequently lead to a more permanent organisation f interests and social tensions and subside after prolonged agitations and protracted litigations. Social crisis may also result in the obliteration of one or both of the contending parties. It is not always true, however, that a particular social conflict can produce a relatively abiding settlement. It has often been said that vital issues are never decided: they are merely superseded. There are numerous causes of social tensions.
The most important ones are:
(1) Class struggle. (2) Political corruption.
(3) Crime. (4) Competition. (5) Unemployment. (6) Heterogeneous ( different in kind) population. (7) Racialism. (8) Religious intolerance( inability to tolerate) .
• Linguistic ( relating to languages or knowledge or the study of language) intolerance.
• (10) Uneven distribution of wealth.
(11) Rapid social change. (12) War.
Among the above twelve causes of social tensions, the first five are very visible.
3.3.2 Class Struggle
Class struggle is a form of social conflict, which creates tension in the society. Credit for the theory of class struggle goes to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They formulated the doctrine of class struggle in the Communist Manifesto in 1847. Marx's theory of class struggle asserts that, in the course of making a living and utilising technical knowledge and industrial equipment, the members of society become segregated into classes which carry on different functions in industry and, as a result, occupy different positions in the social organisation. Among these classes, there arises an Antagonism ( opposition ) of interests, which may lead to a struggle. The modem capitalistic regime ( system of government) does not abolish the class struggle; it merely creates new classes and intensifies the struggle among the classes. With the development of capitalism, society splits up more and more into two hostile camps – the bourgeoisie ( the middle class of citizens) and the proletariat ( the poorest labouring class) . The bourgeoisie attempts to convert surplus value into profits, while the proletariat tries to resist it. In the ensuing struggle, the workers realize that the power of the bourgeoisie rests on the ownership of the means of production and that economic exploitation ( the act of using for selfish purposes) can be ended only through establishment of a ocialist society based on collective ownership. On the basis of his theory of class struggle, Marx predicted the inevitable victory of the proletariat with assumption of certain inherent tendencies in capitalism, viz., the rapid concentration of industry, the disappearance of the middle class and the growth and increasing misery of the working class. In any society, the process of production is simultaneously a process of economic exploitation ( the act of successfully applying industry to any object ) . Those who do physical work receive less than they produce, not only because a portion of it is necessary for the extension of production, but also because they have to support the owners of the means of production. The resulting antagonism ( opposition) finds its expression in a struggle for distribution of the total national product. As this struggle becomes conscious, it gives rise to class conflict and creates social tension. The dominant minority tries to maintain and extend the opportunities for exploitation, while the exploited majority continually strives to liberate itself. Gradually, class interests intermingle ( mix together ) with political, religious and even scientific and technological interests. Since the power of the ruling class is always concentrated in the organisation of the state, the oppressed class aims directly against the state. Every class truggle is a political struggle, which aims at the abolition ( to put an end to ) of the existing social order and establishment of a new social system. In order to prove capable of establishing a new social organisation, the class must possess certain essential characteristics:
(1) It must be economically exploited and politically oppressed.
(2) It must be a producing class.
• It must be welded together by the conditions of its existence.
• It must form a large mass or a majority of the population.
According to the theory of class struggle, all these characteristics are found in the industrial working population. It is for this reason that the industrial proletariat represents the only class, which can carry out a complete social revolution and can reorganise society on the basis of the socialist ideal. The peasantry ( a lowly class of smallholders) lacks most of the above traits. On the other hand, the peasantry forms a large portion of the population in most countries. So, it is essential that the industrial workers should ally ( a choice taw or large marble) themselves with the poorer elements of the peasantry to carry out the social reorganisation. The classical theory of class struggle, as outlined above, has encountered many difficulties. No definitive division of society can be made into classes on the basis of the so-called factors of production, the law of the division of labour or the sources of income. In modern society, the struggle by economic and social groups is fragmentary and intermittent. It is generally concentrated around major issues of immediate importance. It is also inevitable that economic interests should be overshadowed from time to time bv cultural, religious or racial factors. Nationalism, both as economic and cultural phenomena, tends to offset the formation of classes. Economically, machination is likely to regard itself as one unit common interests as against other nations. Culturally, each nation tries to consolidate its economic coherence by means of national ideals which permeate( to penetrate and fill the pores of ) all social groups. To the extent to which it anifests( that may be easily seen by the eye or perceived by the mind) itself, the struggle of economic groups i&a potent factor of social change. Manifestations of group conflicts like strikes reveal stagnant conditions and serve as a stimulus to their elimination or amelioration ( to improve) . On the other hand, when such conflicts in the industrial world are concerned merely with group shares in the distribution of wealth, they may result in social detriment ( damage) . In large social transformations, the struggle of classes may lead to social disintegration ( to break up) . This is true specially when the class struggle is carried out among social groups which are in early stages of economic and intellectual development. Such class struggles have often resulted in social crises.
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