Not everyone is presented with the same opportunities to succeed. People are born with all different IQ's and personalities, and into all kinds of different environments; we don't all begin the race of life at the same starting line. Many people chose to ignore this, but it's what makes us all different.
I feel as if privileged people often justify the fact that the working poor work so hard for so little by saying, "Well, you should have gotten an education." Yes, an education is attainable, but it is so much more easily attained by those who have been taught its value.
In my opinion, there is nothing more respectable than hard work. Our society could not function without these people, and they deserved to be at least recognized as being just as essential as doctors and lawyers. As Ehrenreich writes, "the appropriate emotion is shame-shame at our own dependency, in this case, on the underpaid labor of others."
How can we help these people? I feel as if only good things can come out of paying them more. It not only provides initiative, but hard work should be rewarded regardless of whether it requires brain power or elbow grease.
2 comments:
I really like Corrine's thoughts on this reading. I, too, believe that if someone isn't taught the value of an education, they will not realize its importance until it is too late.
And, blue-collared workers are just as valuable to our economy as many other esteemed professions. It seems like that is why America has an immigration problem. We need hard-labor workers to sustain our economic growth, but because they can't earn a decent living, they are forced into well fare. Then, illegal immigrants come to this country to work for really low wages, and the only way they are able to make it is because housing and food is usually provided for them. How backwards is this?
I'm not sure that I'm smart enough to answer her question, but I think the first step to help the working poor is to get others to recognize that this population is unappreciated/underpaid. After reading Staples' article, the thing that jumped out at me was that there was such a disconnect between races. And, I feel as though there is also a big disconnect between the classes in America, too. The movers and shakers and the privileged have no idea what it is like live off of minimum wage. Many people don't understand or care about their struggles, and they usually jump straight to judging and criticizing. The flip side to that is that some of poorer people don't know what to do get ahead.
Can you imagine what it would feel like to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet? You would get burned out, and you would probably get mad. I think that is why a lot of people gave up. Many of them gave into well fare, and others turned to violence.
After reading these "Nickel and Dimed" and "Black Men and Public Space," I feel like the root of many of America's problems is a lack of understanding, underpaying, and underappreciating people. If the working poor could earn enough to live a decent life, I think you would see less crime and a more productive work force.
The other thing I think would help the working poor is to have some sort of reach out program to help them learn how to do certain things, like managing money, how to be a good parent, how to save for retirement, and etc.
Even if you have a college degree and earn well above minimum wage, it is still hard to make ends meet. Which is why my heart really goes out to these people!
I enjoyed Corrine's feedback for Nickel's and Dimes. How can one blame a "working poor" for not getting an education? It is true we are not all born with the same opportunities. We are also not born in the same circumstance. Some cultures do not put education first like we do. In some religions and cultures hard working and working for as much pay as you can get to support one's family is what people may be taught. So education may not even be a solution for some because the importance is not emphasized.
The working class, just like the upper, has its hard workers which puts determination and the "American Dream" into our society. Yet, we tend to lose sight that the working class (because of the class) is not as prestigious or appraised by most because they are not backed up with riches or fame.
In "Black Men and the Public Space" the author gives a snippet of the different circumstances the minority may have to go through or do in order to live in our society. One part that i noticed in this reading is how the African American male in the story had to make himself "less threatening" in order to not scare the public or be pulled over by the cops.
Wow, these two readings bring light to issues in our society. There is a struggle between class as well as race. I believe that in order to help these people, we should not discriminate and label a "superior" or "inferior" for either groups. We should also appreciate all classes and all races because there is good that is not highlighted, but is present in each, rather than picking out the bad.
c.mueller
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