In her narrative, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich explores the world of the low-wage working class. An upper-middle class biology Ph.D. and journalist, Ehrenreich temporarily uproots her life in a two year social and economic experiment to join the laborers of America. Her purpose is to get firsthand knowledge and answer the question, “How does anyone live on the wages available to the unskilled?” (Ehrenreich 1)…
In the thought provoking novel, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich explores the life of low-wage workers in America’s society. While speaking with an editor one day, the question of poverty and how American’s survive off six and seven dollars an hour played in Ms. Ehrenreich’s mind. So as a journalist, Ehrenreich goes undercover working several minimum wage jobs and tries to survive off the earnings. Seeing and living the lives of these poverty-stricken workers, Ehrenreich learns that hard work doesn't always lead to success and advancement in today's society.…
Sheila Kromholz article “Campaign Cash and Corruption: Money in Politics, Post-Citizens United” describes the influence campaign contributions have on politicians. Kromholz begins the article by detailing the reasons why campaign donations are influential. Kromholz then follows that up by explaining the results that influence has had of the political system. This article was useful for my topic because it provides an explanation for why money has a large influence in politics. Kromholz explains how spending in political campaigns have been increasing over time, with the most of the spending done by PACs, making politicians more dependent on donations to win. The article also explains how the influence of money affects polity. Kromholz brings…
The part that standouts to me the most was when Barbara says, “...I rejected the idea, even after all my upper middle-class friends had, guilty and as covertly as possible, hired help for themselves, because this is just not the kind of relationship I want to have with another human being…” (pg. 91). The author disagrees with the idea of having a maid to clean her house and not wanting to have this sorta connection with other human being. I would remember this because Ehrenreich has viewed the maid as human not a slave. Ehrenreich has understand the mind of a maid and knows how stressful it could be. A maid's body would rot quickly and consequences on health can be later shown as she grows older. Most maid’s have gone to work on upper class…
It was almost impossible for her to find an affordable residence. Even with the help of an Apartment Search, no explanation or further help was given to Ehrenreich. She was merely told that she should be aware of an affordable housing "crisis." There needs to be further assistance in helping the working poor find affordable residencies. Research states that in the last few years we have seen a steady decline in the number of affordable apartments nationwide. She lands a job at a nearby Wal-Mart and Menards. She soon discovers how hard these employees work for their money and how dedicated they are. With an initial pay of $7 an hour and the lure that in two years it might be raised to $7.75, the options are not optimistic. During this job, no one is allowed to be caught talking to one another, or "stealing time." Ehrenreich is surprised to see hard-working women of mature years "dodging behind a clothing rack to avoid a twenty-six-year-old management twerp" (181). Many bosses in these kinds of jobs, love to hold power over others and feed off the authority. In one instance an employee was denied the use of her discount in order to buy a clearance t-shirt with a stain on it. Ehrenreich goes on to explain that "you know you're not paid enough when you can't afford to buy a clearance Wal-Mart shirt with a stain on it" (181). Employees are also not receiving pay for overtime hours they are pressured to work. This along…
How can leaders of such large companies, who make millions, try and tell their minimum wage employees how to live on so little? Leonard Pitts Jr., the author of “’McBudget’ an insult to those living in poverty” takes his stance on this as he talks about McDonalds controversial ideas and guidelines for how to live on so little. He points out that the employees may only be getting a mere $8.25 per hour and that they may not even be getting the full 40 hours per week of pay. It seems that another point the author was making was how much the CEO of McDonalds actually makes. He includes that according to Wall Street Journal, CEO Don Thompson earned a compensation package of $13.8 million last year, which is exponentially greater than the minimum…
Due to these low paying jobs people are forced to live in cheap hotels or even their car, because they can't afford enough to live. Managers are given more for doing less than someone who is running around and working for hours which are seemed to be unfair to many in a busy workplace. Politizane’s, Wealth Inequality in America argues that the gap of how who is rich, poor and middle class is very uneven in America. In the video they give an example that 4% of the nation's money goes to the 1% of people who happen to be known as rich. I agree with all the following argument due to all of the opportunities given by Canada or America placed unfairly. I strongly agree with Barbara Ehrenreich's piece of Serving in Florida. In the community of Rochester minimum wage is set at $7.75, with a full time job at the end of the year an individual with minimum wage of about 15,080. A car may cost 10,000 and a house is much more. I agree with the fact of people making minimum wage do not have enough to live but I disagree with the fact that they do more than people who are doing other work. In Rochester, Mayo Clinic and IBM happen to be the biggest…
The dog and I are walking down Edgars Lane, which is a long, flat street filled with old Colonials and Tudors. No two houses look alike, and all are very impressive. It’s one of the nicest blocks in our lovely village along the Hudson River.…
The biography piece is called “All But My Life” and the author is Gerda Weissman Klein. The piece we are given is about a girl and her family when World War 2 started to happen and about how life just suddenly stopped and turned horrid with bombs, gunfire and explosions,and how her father was stricken by an illness, while all this is happening. Her beloved town was once “gay” and “sparkling” ,but it had turned frantic, her entire country was in fear and what was once beautiful was all gone, so quickly.…
What the heck is the postmorbid condition? Whatever. So here it is. Vivian Sobchack explains it in her essay by the same name. After you read her, you’ll find out things like this. Films such as Bonnie and Clyde and Pulp Fiction still stand as leaders in terms of Sobchak’s “hyperbolic escalation and quantification of violence.” Television programs like 24 and Law and Order Criminal Intent are somewhat more tame examples of this phenomenon. Some folks wanna go with the flow and says it’s okay. Actually, it’s most of them. But I feel different about the whole thing.…
Daughter of the former Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, first of her name, may she rest in peace. Daughter of the Royal Protector and ex-assassin Corvo Attano.…
Unlike Nanapush and Fleur, Louise Erdrich uses the character of Pauline to demonstrate the rejection of Ojibwa religion and culture. Throughout the novel, Pauline is known as a liar and troublemaker who tries her best and hardest to single handedly destroy Ojibwa life, religion, and culture. For example, in the novel, Pauline had “bothered [her] father into sending [her] south, to the white town. [She] had decided to learn the lace-making trade from the nuns” (Erdrich, 14). Pauline is asking her dad to send her south away from the other Native Americans, and more importantly, away from the Ojibwa religion. In this part of the novel, Erdrich best conveys Pauline’s rejection of Ojibwa religion by showing how the efforts she would go through in order to separate herself from the Ojibwa way of life. Pauline has rejected this lifestyle to such great amounts that she is willing to move…
With regards to, Elizabeth Spelke she gives thanks to Steven Pinker, who has a debate with her. For one commodity, she does express that she has several points of agreement and disagreement with Pinker. Speaking about, “The Science of Gender and Science,” she wrote this debate in 2005. Notably, Elizabeth Spelke believes that social factors are the greatest forces in the differences between men and women because, there are no differences in overall natural ability for science and mathematics between men and women.…
CEO’s are the highest paid workers of the company. This article is a complaint about how high the CEO’s salaries can get up to. The main lady in this article says, “the gap is too big between the worker and the CEO” They conduct a survey every year on the pay gap between CEO and common worker. The incentive for them to work hard is rewarded by earning shares in the company they helped build. They state that “if the pay for an average production worker had increased at the same rate as the CEO pay during the 1990s, the average worker would make $110,399 and the minimum wage would be $22.08.” This would make the world a little bit different place today. The CEO Pay Targeted article was a very good and truthful article.…
Is America truly the land of endless opportunities? People from all over the world come to the US in high hopes of becoming rich with minimal efforts. Sadly, this is not the case. After reading Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich, I have a new outlook on individuals struggling to get by on low wage paying jobs in America. Barbara travels to Florida, Maine, and Minnesota to "investigate" life as low wage worker. She plays a different role in each of these three states to experience the true life of these workers. She works at four different low paying jobs as a waitress, housekeeper at a hotel, house cleaner and a Wal-Mart associate. In the course of three months she finds insight in life with minimum wage. Reading this novel has truly had an impact on me and the way millions of people within America truly live. As an upper middle class citizen I don 't experience these struggles Barbara experienced in investigating different types of low wage lifestyles. It has really opened up my eyes to the way people live and makes me feel extremely privileged.…