Sociology Game of Life

I'm not where I would like to be in life right now. In a less affluent area of the suburbs, I live alone in a single room. I am totally dependant on my parents for all of my necessities, as I have no source of income. My parents also provide for my other two siblings, who are likewise dependent on them. My daily diet is not healthy, but I am compelled to follow it because of the limited financial resources I now have. The consequences of the food I eat on a daily basis is that I have a higher chance of getting cholesterol-related illnesses and other related illnesses and worst case scenario would be obesity. I usually save on most of the money sent to me by my parents so that I can be able to cater for other personal activities and needs.

The space I live is safe enough for me to live within comfortably however it is not the best place I would love to stay especially with a family. Despite being in the suburbs, it is a safe area with water and electricity. My school is a ten-minutes’ walk from where I live, and the local clinic is five minutes ahead. Both the school and clinic are well equipped and offer the respective services to the members of society living around. After a long day of school, I usually unwind by relaxing on my bed and playing music from my phone. Despite not being in a comfortable place financially, I would never turn to crime to cater for myself and family if I had one.

According to the text, the poor are those who on the social class ladder are either working or are working a minimum wage job and do not have full education usually not past high school. Poverty is also characterized by people relying on public assistance for daily needs due to them lacking employment and having a low gross annual income from part-time and minimum wage jobs they carry out. The poor also usually do not have access to clean water, sanitation and quality healthcare. Poverty can come about to many factors with one being lacking quality education. This can arise from them attending schools where they are not taught adequately, or the environment for learning is not conducive. Therefore, in future, their educational achievements will be too low for them to be able to apply for formal education. Chances are also that with the lack of proper education, one will not be innovative enough to come up with a new venture.

Social classes have a direct relationship with factors such as education, physical and mental health, politics, crime and satisfaction of life. This is because usually people who are poor have been observed to lack proper medical care, therefore, they in most cases have the illnesses culminating to the development of worse conditions. The poor are also not content with their living since there is a lot of struggle in their life for the acquisition of basic needs and almost no chance of enjoying the luxuries of life. Mental health can be caused by different circumstances but can be as a result of poverty brought about by stress and other related conditions. Due to being unable to acquire basic needs easily, it gets hard for people living in poverty to pay for quality education, therefore, bringing about a gap in between the social classes.

Functionalists claim that poverty is important in the maintenance of a social balance. Their argument is that if all people were at per then qualified professionals would not have a chance to exercise their skills in assisting others. Society can from the unequal inheritance of functional importance, and the view by functionalists makes a justification for the current system and tries to make it seem fair while it is not always the case. This view, however, leads to difficulties in determination and functional importance of some jobs.

From the social ladder, one's education is an important aspect in the shaping of society. This is because for people with little or no education, there are reduced chances of them having opportunities for work and therefore their finances are affected. Lack of education and opportunities may in most cases lead to criminal involvement, therefore, having a negative impact on society. For people with quality education, there are chances of them having more opportunities open up for them, therefore, they are able to change the society positively by putting their skills learned into work.