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Changing Lives, Gaining Relief

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Life was once simple — choices were made without concern; adventures were pursued. It was an easy thing to enjoy the days. Such enjoyment is gone now, however.

The revelation of HIV has left you undone. Your control has been taken; your certainty has been shattered. There seems to be nothing left for you.

There is.

A disease may offer limitations but your life is still your own, with the aid of essential changes:

Dietary Evaluations

It was once a dependency on grease, the salt-soaked delicacies. Your meals were tributes to excess (with condiments forever smeared on your Coogi shirts). The discovery of HIV, however, demands a change. Infections are common with this disease. You must therefore choose a diet stuffed with nutrients: choose vitamin-heavy foods, whole grains and vegetables; ignore heavy doses of sugar or calories.

Exercise Increase

Movement too often seems impossible. HIV demands all of your energy, steals your desire to explore the world. That desire has to be found again, however — even if it’s forced. An increase in exercising (at least one hour a day) can strengthen your body and stall the crippling symptoms of joint and nerve pain.

Tobacco Denials

There’s comfort in nicotine: the curl of smoke within your lungs, the familiar flavor of carbon. Cigarettes are a relief, steadying your shaking hands and offering indulgence for a desperate time. They also strain your body, however. Those with HIV are three times more likely to develop cancers and other illnesses related to smoking. It’s essential that you abandon tobacco therefore — now.

Make these lifestyle changes to battle HIV and gain control once more.

Filed Under: Relationships, Society Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Disappearing Middle Class

A monument to the working and supporting class... 

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Listen to any liberal talking point in American politics and you’re likely to hear a common thread – the country is splitting into groups of have and have-nots and the middle class is slowly disappearing. That idea may seem somewhat drastic, especially when you look around your own home and feel like things have been going fairly well, but there are some surprisingly statistics that certainly point to a declining number of white collar, working class Americans.

Of course, the idea of an American middle class is pretty ambiguous. There is no official definition of the word and politicians frequently change how they use the word depending on who their audience is and what their message is.

The most common definition of the American middle class is white-collar workers who are typically skilled craftsmen and lower level management. These people usually make enough money to be comfortable but whose financial lives can be upset by a drastic change in economic behavior or by a personal disaster that can wipe out funds very quickly.

The gap between the lower and middle income levels and those at the highest income levels continues to widen quickly according to several recent research groups.

According to The Business Insider, the poor are getting poorer: 61 percent of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck and 36 percent don’t regularly contribute any money to their retirement. On the other hand, there are plenty of signs that the rich are getting richer: 66 percent of all income growth from 2001 to 2007 went directly to the richest 1 percent of Americans.

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Relationships Between the Classes in Society

In the early twentieth century, there was a great divide between those who held the great majority of the wealth in the United States and those who did not. As immigrants streamed into the country and populate the western United States, a rising middle class emerged that now focused on building their own version of the American dream. They opened their own businesses, live better and to break into areas that had once been only for the higher class. Today, the middle class holds a powerful position in the United States in most fields and rules in the suburbs.

This has shifted to create a new divide between the upper and middle classes with those in the lower socio-economic level of income. More students in schools are becoming eligible for free and reduced lunches, government support and programs such as Head Start. The poverty has now become a cycle for some at this level as children end up in the same level of struggle as their parents due to poor nutrition, chaotic environment and indifference by many.

There is a greater part of society that has compassion and works to bring those who struggle into a more stable frame of living. This movement can be seen best in churches, non-profit organizations and government legislation to create new programs in the past. The question now remains as to how the middle class will look in the future and if a greater portion of the wealth will be available to all.

Filed Under: Relationships Tagged With: , ,

Social Class and Economic Relationships

Social class comparisons make most people think about economic relationships, lifestyle and differences between people. Upward mobility often requires education and unified family support, according to authors Annette Lareau and Dalton Conley of “Social Class: How Does It Work?”

Employment and cultural traditions tend to reflect a person’s social class identity. Upper class people and families tend to have more money than middle class or lower class persons. Upper class families have accumulated wealth, sometimes over many generations, while middle class people sometimes struggle to make ends meet. Individuals or families of the lower class may rely on government programs and subsidies to maintain life’s basic needs. Poverty may plague the lower class family for generations.

Upper class individuals and families use less of financial resources to purchase the necessities of life. They possess the ability to buy a preferred home, or homes. Obtaining a mortgage isn’t a factor for the upper class person.

The upper class person or family may appear materialistic to middle class or lower class persons. Wealthy people spend more money and focus more attention on managing their assets. Technology helps the upper class family to manage their money.

Middle class people take advantage of employer-offered programs to save money, while lower class people have little money to save. Lower class people save the least amount for retirement. A focus on the necessities of the present keeps lower class families from investing in the future.

According to the Reverend Dr. Bob Edgar of the National Council of Churches in December 2005, “A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it. Full-time minimum wage workers earn $10,700 a year, which is about $5,000 below the poverty line for a family of three. This is a moral outrage.”

 

Filed Under: General, Relationships Tagged With: , ,

Social Class and the Importance of Technology

Access to technology in daily life affects personal productivity, according to “Digital Age Literacy for Teachers” by Susan Brooks-Young. Lower class job seekers may have less interaction with technology. An individual without a home computer or internet access has fewer opportunities to search for work. The ability to use email or a simple webinar program may limit his development of current skills.

Students now learn to use technology as an essential skill in school. Children begin using simple technology in elementary school. Access to technology at home may stymie the student’s ability to compete with other students. For example, a teacher gives her sixth grade class an assignment. The assignment must be formatted as a Microsoft Word document and submitted by computer. If his family doesn’t have a home computer, he must stay after school to complete the assignment.

Lower class parents may not know of their student’s struggle to compete in a level playing field in school. The lifestyle associated with upper and middle class technology use may seem nice-to-have rather than essential to these parents. Generations of working poor families rely on libraries or friends for occasional access to technology. Students of lower class families must sometimes ask for extensions on their assignments because they don’t have home computer access.

Middle class families understand the need to introduce technology to children at an early age. Middle class parents use technology in the work place and throughout daily life. Costs of Internet access, computers, software, mobile phones and devices factor into the middle class lifestyle, according to “Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society” by Margaret L. Anderson and Howard Francis Taylor.

Upper class parents assume the use of technology in daily life. Acquiring better technology for the upper class family’s home isn’t materialistic. Communicating with family relationships, business associates and contacts requires the use of technology.

 

Filed Under: Relationships, Technology Tagged With: , ,