Commonweallth-Club-Nickel-and-Dimed-May-30-2001.mp3
In a country already fractured by ideological differences - torn apart at the seams and seemingly heading to a complete breakdown, the issue of wages; the money the average American makes in order to sustain a lifestyle becoming increasingly more difficult to attain hasn't changed much at all since this 2001 lecture at the Commonwealth Club in California took place. It came right around the time of a series of Tax Cuts proposed by then-President George W. Bush. True to form, it gave tax breaks to the wealthy while snubbing low-wage worker; the person putting in 40 hours a week with very little to show for it.
Although in 2001 we didn't have skyrocketing rents, soaring housing prices, overnight tripling of food prices, gas prices over $5.00 a gallon in some cities that we do in 2024. The staples for sustaining life are rapidly becoming luxuries and the luxuries we once thought were the result of hard work and good attitude are now unattainable myths.
In 2001, journalist and author Barbara Ehrenreich had just published Nickel and Dimed: One Journalist's Experience in Low-Wage America. She is in conversation with Deirde English, Teaching Fellow, School of Journalism, UC Berkeley. When President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act on August 22, 1996, he said: "I hope that this day will be remembered not for what it ended, but for what it began--a new day that offers hope, honors responsibility, rewards work, and changes the terms of the debate." To some, the enactment of federal welfare reform was one of the administration's greatest legacies; to others it marked a fundamental betrayal. Inspired by the rhetoric surrounding the issue--that hard work was the ticket out of poverty--social critic Barbara Ehrenreich decided to disguise her real identity and find out for herself what it is like to survive on low-wage work. Nickel and Dimed chronicles her experiences and her thoughts on what a booming economy looks like from below, in Key West, Florida; Portland, Maine; and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Here is that lecture and the subsequent interview.
Same as it ever was - same as it ever was.
Subscribe and become a member: Become a Patron!
No comments:
Post a Comment