sees the refuse of the developed nations being shipped to the
third world, with pollution becoming a worldwide problem.
“The Story of Stuff” discusses and alludes to several
concepts from our textbook, “Sociology a Brief Introduction.”
The film traced the Materials Economy, that is, the chain of
consumer goods from extraction of raw materials, production,
distribution, consumption, and finally disposal. Overall, the
film’s message is that this is controlled by the government
working in concert with corporations to keep society spending
their wealth, which ends up in the hands of corporations (and,
thus, those who control the corporations).
One of the elements of this system that is discussed in the
textbook is oligarchy (Sociology: A Brief Introduction, p118).
Robert Michels developed the theory that democratic
organizations evolve over time into bureaucracies with a
relative few leaders holding on to power. To stay in office,
elected government officials must cater to those who hold the
real power, “…the owners and managers of …corporations”
(p336). Class domination is the theory that real power and
control of American policies, social rules, and customs are
dictated by an elite class that sees its will carried out by the