My article deals with the study of society and social interaction of the Middle Class and how they survived on a Nickel and Dimed. In our text (n) 2, (pg. 42, paragraph 2) the journalist Barbara Ehrenreich brought the two stories together by research, that it is, impossible to make it on minimum wage work. The journalist observed in her study the mindset of the working Middle Class people, their persistence to make ends meet, to take care of their household, family and the will to make thing change. The “Middle Class” an aimless expression applied to those who is not on the system of welfare. In the United States certain development changed the past three decades, due to after World War II, the benefits of growth, and money making flow to
In a New York Times article, “Too Poor to Make the News,” author Barbara Ehrenreich focuses on the impact the recession has caused to the lives of the working poor. She begins her article by describing how the newly group, known as Nouveau poor, have to give up valuables where as the working poor have to give up housing, food, and prescription medicines. Ehrenreich’s purpose is to inform her readers who are blessed enough not to suffer like the working poor. Barbara Ehrenreich’s article examines the impacts the recession has on the lives of the working poor, by demonstrating pathos, and makes readers aware of the sufferings the poor have to face. Barbara Ehrenreich examines the aspects that are impacting the working poor from the recession.
In Allen’s chart, he illustrates how only 2% of the American population makes over $10,000 a year. With the poverty level at $2000 a year, most of the American population fell close to or under this annual income (Doc 8). These low wages of annual income made people's’ lives a true struggle. Citizens would work for nearly 24 hours, all week long, just to get by with basic living standards. An example of living at or below the poverty level, is documented in Paul Blanshard’s “How to live on Forty-six Cents a Day” interview with a woman living in South Carolina with her family of 6.
The article “The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans” was featured on The Atlantic website. It was published in the May 2016 print issue of the magazines under the heading Business. The article was written by Neal Gabler. This 6,800-word article was written about the both the personal financial struggles of the author and general financial struggles of the American middle-class that are so often masked. According to the author, the article was inspired by a statistic published by the Federal Reserve Board: “47 percent of respondents said that either they would cover the expense by borrowing or selling something, or they would not be able to come up with the $400 at all.”
The result is a “class system based on widening gaps in income wealth, and power between those on top and everyone below them” (Johnson 44). Although many Americans despise their lot in life, they have little choice but to work for the oppressive system. Capitalism produces oppressive consequences in which the class system provides little to no security to those who are not in the top ten percent. Bambara does not hesitate to call the reader’s attention to this fact through the ideas of Miss Moore. Sylvia narrates that Miss Moore is “boring us [the children] silly about what things cost and what our parents make and how much goes for rent and how money ain’t divided up right in this country” (Bambara 146).
Innovatively Transforming U.S. States Scholars write and publish different materials for various purposes, including informing, educating, cautioning, or creating awareness. This essay focuses on the article “How to Save the Middle Class When Jobs Don’t Pay,” published in Open Washington Pressbooks by Peter Barnes. Although paying equal annual dividends to residents across the state can strain a limited budget, Barnes shows how every state can exploit this economic intervention by adopting Alaska’s model and Paine’s idea to transform individuals and society. Peter Barnes proposes and supports a remedy to the economic crisis facing the middle class in the United States. Barnes argues that other states, like Alaska, can creatively find ways to pay their residents yearly
On the one hand progressives wanted social justice. For example, they wanted women to be able to have the right to vote and they wanted to limit the power of business to exploit its workers. On the other hand, they wanted to achieve social control. The most obvious instance of this was their push for Prohibition. This was meant to force people to act like middle-class "native" Americans were supposed to.
The article “It’s Hard to Make It in America: How the United States Stopped Being the Land of Opportunity” by Lane Kenworthy provides an eye opening view on how the modern world has changed from the past and what kind of change it brought to the economy. I think this article was written for young Americans who are planning to start their own families to know the statistics on how their actions will affect them and the future generation involving their children. The article seemingly provides such a simple solution to decrease the gap between low income and higher class families, to grant more money to low-income families. But if this is the case, where is that money coming from, and how will it be regulated so it undoubtedly helps the future
Atlantic Media Company, 18 May 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. "The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground. "
Reading through RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013, it became fairly obvious that the author, Edward McClelland, was presenting a thesis idea that consisted of promoting the middle class through examples of its prime time when middle class thrived. McClelland made the point clearly as he repeatedly provided examples ranging from the glory days of the assembly line industry that had provided high paying jobs for many people, to presidents who attempted to keep business within the United States to promote home grown jobs. He was especially focused on the point that the middle class was shrinking due to a large discrepancy between the wealthy and the rest of society as capitalism achieves its goal of padding the wealthiest and keeping the middle
“The nation's middle class, long a pillar of the U.S. economy and foundation of the American dream, has shrunk to the point where it no longer constitutes the majority of the adult population, according to a new major study” (Lee). This is showing that the American dream opportunity as a whole is shrinking. This is due to there becoming a shrinking amount of people who are middle. The Census Bureau says “41.5% of americans brought home between 35,000 and $100,000 in the year 2015” (Lee). It is still shrinking daily.
The stalk market crash along with the Great Depression both affected the beginning of the middle class myth. People argue about non educated people or people who work at fast food restaurants make more than educated people. The middle class does not just mess with our money because all of our money has to do with our nation's economy so if the nation's economy isn't doing good then we all know the money that is being made in our household won't do any good. In our economy the commodity that builds our economy is our resouces,discussing a wider range of perspectives some argue about not living in the right condition. Some who might live in the city might have to pay more rather than someone who lives in the country or vice versa.
The middle class want to become rich and the low class only wants equality.” Orwell’s predictions of the party, the government in modern society, rises to power and the poor stay poor. In LA Times “Income Inequality makes the rich more scrooge-like, study finds”, “Since the 1980’s -- the end of a 30-year period… wealth has grown increasingly concentrated at the top of the economic ladder, while low-income Americans have commanded a smaller and smaller share of the nation’s wealth.” *add where quote is from* ”... top 5 percent of American families saw their real income increase 74.9 percent… the lowest-income fifth saw a decrease in real income of 12.1 percent… Sharply contrasting with the 1947-79 period… with the lowest income group actually seeing the largest gains.”
Annotated Bibliography Cohen, M. (2014, April 26). The American Dream is now just that for its middle classes – a dream. The Guardian, p. 00. “The American Dream is now just that for its middle classes – a dream” by Michael Cohen explains the perception of Americans towards the decline of the middle class. The article details how the middle class was viewed before the elections of President Obama, and how it’s viewed after the creation of the Affordable Care Act.
Americans are embracing facts of inequalities and wage control, which has been a drawback in the American economy in the past, yet new policies have reduced inequalities by passing a law back in 2007 to raise wages, that is “Congress passed the first increase in the minimum wage within a decade” (574). That same embrace has the middle class preparing for the future by planning new strategies to educate their children about the dangers of debt to income ratio, gaps between social equality, and political power among the wealthy gaps. Also, unbalanced monetary stimulants, which have no power of motivation for some whom are after the American
