Roger and Me

1) Describe the ripple effect that come from factory closing in Flint, Michigan, including the experiences of individuals and the community as a whole.

Most of the workers of the Flint Michigan plant lived in Michigan and were all part of the community. The plant owner Roger Smith decided to shut down the plant and moving the plant to Mexico which, for obvious reasons made the workers of the plant upset. The Plant gradually let the 10,000 workers go, leaving them unemployed. A sit down strike was organized by the workers because they felt they were not being heard. The Strikers later won that fight after 40 days. Some workers later found local jobs but not enough compared to how many were laid off. Many families were evicted from their homes. The crime level raised tremendously due to people going insane over the fact that they have just lost everything they had and now have nowhere to go. The community was divided into two parts the rich that were not affected and the poor that were powerless.

2) Moore also describes the discrepancies between social classes: one that is experiencing the direct effects of massive layoffs, the other that seems in denial and/or resolutely ignorant. What were the examples of both groups.

There was two sides to this story, some in a better position then others. The poor community seemed the most affected by the closing of the plant, contrary to they wealthy folks pretending there was no problems and in fact there was no problem for them. The poor people had no power and to some extend had nothing to say about their loss. The rich people that were affiliated with the closing of the plant in the other hand were in denial and like said by Tom Kay, "They got to do what they got to do" and also "Everything is going to be okay".

3) Would a sociologist watching this video be inclined to view it from a functionalist perspective or conflict perspective? Why?

A sociologist watching this video would view this problem as a conflict perspective because just like Michael Moore said, " The rich get richer and the poor get poorer" Just like the definition explains it, it is looking at a macro point of view, the whole society and how it was affected. Even it means putting down others for an other one benefits. Roger Smith was doing that exact same thing he was putting other down, leaving them job less around Christmas but didn't affect