The And Its Effects On The Lives Of Those Beneath Them Essay

Throughout history, those in power have been â€Å"dehumanizing† and devaluing the lives of those beneath them. There are many reasons why people would want to devalue an individual or an entire group of individuals but what it comes down to is that it is far easier to mistreat someone if their life is considered less valuable. If they are somehow sub-human there isn’t any moral concern with forcing them to do slave labor or forcing them to live in poor conditions. This is an incredibly important part of society that can be linked closely with the psychology of survival. There is an â€Å"us† group and a â€Å"them† group, an in and an out-group. Anyone in the in-group is considered safe and worth protecting. Anyone in the out group is potentially dangerous. We assign greater value to our own lives and to the lives of others like us1 so that we can be safe. This phenomenon can be easily linked with evolution. In nomadic times if someone is exploring and co mes across an individual that is not a part of their in-group they will be wary of them and take measure to avoid coming to harm by their hands. Later that translates to assessing people as â€Å"sub-human.† This assessment puts those that are considered sub-human into a place in society where they can be manipulated and abused by those is power. These classifications can be based on skin color, language, origin, and even something as trivial as stature. Henri Tejfel’s Social Identity Theory clearly describes that a person’s identity comesShow MoreRelatedThe Relevance Of Christianity : An Apologetic1064 Words   |  5 PagesWade (1998) lists three concepts, â€Å"meaning, morality, and hope† (para. 8). As important as those concepts are, they surface issues, like the tip of an iceberg above the water. Of course, I wanted meaning and hope, as do most. One’s one understanding of meaning and hope, however, comes from one’s experiences in life. 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