Nickel and Dimed: The FAQ’s

This week my book Nickel and Dimed celebrates its 109th week on the New York Times paperback bestseller list. They’re not continuous weeks -- the book disappears for months and then pops up again unexpectedly -- but that’s a pretty good run and doesn’t even include the time the hardcover spent on the list before 9/11 wiped it out for several months. The book is assigned in college, high school and middle school classes, discussed in book clubs, handed out in social service agencies, and has been deployed in union organizing drives, living wage campaigns, and efforts to raise state minimum wages (which, by the way, have been successful in 20 states so far.) If it helped sway any votes in a pro-worker direction, I’d be deeply gratified.

Did I expect it to be a bestseller? Not at all. I thought it might chiefly be of interest to sociologists of labor. Who else would want to read a first-person account of waistressing, housecleaning, retail and nursing home work? I certainly didn’t expect that five years after the book was published I’d still be getting questions from readers on an almost daily basis. As a time-saving measure, I thought I’d answer the most common ones all in one place. Here they are -- the “FAQ’s” about Nickel and Dimed -- including the hostile ones:

Did you keep up with the people you worked with at your various jobs?
I tried, but it turned out that the addresses and phone numbers I had were usually obsolete within a few weeks, due to the turmoil in people’s living situations. Of the few I have seen since working with them: I caught up with “Gail” a few months after we worked together. She had gained some weight (a good thing in her case), found a new boyfriend, and seemed in good spirits. I’ve seen “Melissa” twice in Minneapolis, and on one of those occasions she took part in a post-play panel discussion after a performance of Joan Holden’s play “Nickel and Dimed,” which is based on the book. “Caroline,” when last heard of, had disappeared into a shelter in California, along with her two lovely children.

How did you choose the cities you went to?
I started in Key West, just because I lived near there. I choose Portland ME because I knew it would be mostly white, thus removing the element of white-skin privilege from my job options. I remembered the Twin Cities having nice, affordable, working class neighborhoods, although that impression was 20 years out of date. From the start, of course, I’d ruled out really high-rent spots like NYC, San Francisco, LA and Boston. Rural areas were excluded because of the scarcity of jobs.

As an undercover journalist, how could you know what it really feels like to be poor?
I couldn’t, at least not from this artificial experience. I tried to make this clear in the introduction to the book. My own past experiences with poverty or near-poverty occurred long ago, when I was a child and when my own children were small, and the overwhelming feeling was of anxiety. As a middle-aged person with a home to return to, some savings, etc., I knew I wouldn’t be feeling that again. Not in any serious way.

Why did you go out of your way to insult Jesus as a “wine-guzzling vagrant”?
I didn’t! In fact, Nickel and Dimed received a Christopher Award, which is given by a Catholic group in recognition of books "which affirm the highest values of the human spirit." In the section at issue, I observed that the social teachings of Jesus went utterly unmentioned at the tent revival I attended. The revival preachers clearly preferred the dead and risen Christ to the living Jesus – who did indeed drink wine and could even make it out of water. As for the vagrancy charge: that’s what he was, a homeless, itinerant preacher.

Did you really live like a low-wage worker or did you ever cheat?
I cheated when I got an uncontrollably itchy rash on the housecleaning job, probably from the cleaning fluids. I thought I should go to an emergency room if I wanted to remain “in character,” but I was afraid I’d lose the job if I took a day off to do that. So I called my dermatologist friend in Key West and begged him for a prescription, sight unseen. (I did pay for the ointment out of my earnings.) What I didn’t know at the time is that an ER visit would have been out of the question anyway, since they cost about $1000 on average, or a month’s pay on this job.

What shocked you most?
Two things: One, the totalitarian nature of so many low-wage workplaces. On two jobs, for example, there was a rule against talking with your fellow employees. The other major surprise to me was that the jobs were all mentally as well as physically challenging – and I have a Ph.D. in biology. I struggled to learn the computer ordering systems in restaurants, to memorize the names and dietary restrictions of 30 Alzheimer’s patients, and, at Wal-Mart, to memorize the exact locations of all the items in ladies’ wear – which would then be rotated every few days, no doubt to convince me that I had Alzheimer’s.

What are the ethical problems with this kind of journalism?
I once asked the dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism about this, and he said “Dunno.” Before I undertook Nickel and Dimed, I hadn’t done much reporting of any kind, and certainly not undercover reporting. I was an essayist and columnist, so I hadn’t much thought about any ethical issues reporters face. On the one hand, there is clearly some deception involved in this kind of work – pretending, for example, that I needed a waitressing job for the money. On the other hand, I should point out that “immersion journalism,” as this is called, is a venerable investigative technique, represented, for example, by John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me and the German journalist Gunther Wallraff’s Lowest of the Low, in which he went undercover as a Turkish immigrant worker. To ease my guilt about the deception, I always “came out” to the co-workers I was closest to before leaving a job. They were remarkably blasé about it.

What was your audience for this book?
I don’t know about other writers, but I can’t think about a particular audience when I write. It would be too inhibiting. I just try to be as accurate and vivid as possible – and if some readers have to consult a dictionary, and others find themselves flinching at raw language – well, that’s too bad.

What was the first thing you did when you returned from your low-wage life?
I think the expectation here is something involving hot tubs and champagne. In fact, what I did was write. I would return from each city with up to 40 pages of raw journal entries, and the challenge was to turn them into a coherent chapter while every conversation, every smell and ache, was fresh in my mind.

What have you done with the money you’ve made from this book?
I was able to put a nephew in his 30s through college and to help several individuals not related to me. More importantly, I’ve been able to donate generously to groups working for a living wage, affordable housing, and other much-needed reforms. In my personal life, I’m a lot freer to do things that don’t pay (like this blog), and you’ll have fight me for the check in a restaurant.

How did working on Nickel and Dimed change your life?
It made me angrier. I was angry about poverty before, but now I am in a permanent, low-level, rage—leavened, of course, by the knowledge that I am part of a large and growing movement for economic justice.

Comments

[lc2]

Barbara,

I hope you will count among the rewards of your having written this book, the fact that you've inspired many people to do something about what you "uncovered." I am personally considering returning to college for a degree in journalism as a way to channel the activism I have felt being slowly but surely sucked out of my system by neverending physical and mental demands of being broke. I'd rather be broke (or more broke, as I will be with the student loans I'll have to apply for) but doing something meaningful. Because of your book, I am more determined than ever to give a voice to those working two jobs, as flawed as the rest of us, but who blame themselves for their situations or blame those worse off.

Your book revived recognition of economic conditions that are invisible in the media at large. Example? Most years our local newspaper prints nothing labor-related on Labor Day (including this year -- the Labor Dept.'s annual press release on p. 9 notwithstanding) but last year it asked the few local executives (this is a blue-collar town) to tell nostalgic tales of their first jobs. To the execs' credit, they acknowledged that they were quickly humbled to see that the work was harder than they'd thought, and that they admire people who work with their hands for a living. However, how can a newspaper in a liberal area endorse ignoring the experience of 99% via some cutesy article about how a bunch of overpaid paperpushers slummed it for a summer once in their uncle's factory? And this is in a liberal area where identity politics are center stage. As far as I'm concerned the pc movement in the 90s (when I attended college) undercut the labor movement at least as much as Reaganomics. My question is this: why is it more palateable to discuss gay marriage, gender roles, etc. than salaries?

Anyway, I thank you for telling it like it is -- not infantilizing or romanticizing low-paid workers, but for doing solid reporting on this.

[John]

I really loved this book, "Nickel and Dimed", and that book together with the documentary "Roger and Me" opened my eyes. Just recently the Maytag factory shut down, but there was nothing on the news about it. I had to read about it in the German press. Funny thing, Germany has a much more critical, truth-telling press than we do. Unfortunately this whole low wage problem keeps going. Next, the housing bubble will burst and then America will be in real trouble. Then they will start trading oil in Euros or Yen, get it? I just read about how gas will be so expensive that in 20 years all of the suburbs will turn into ghettos as people will move back into cities because driving will be way too expensive for the common folk. The future will be like this: A large minority maybe 10% of symobolic analysts, doctors /inherited wealth living like kings and the majority 90% of the people living in poverty, working 3 jobs just to survive. Read about Brazil if you want to see the near future. Read about their gated communities ie: armed guards patrolling the perimeter. Read about getting body guards to escort your little dears to school. This is "Blade Runner" coming, and in a way, voting for the "Boy Emperor" Bush, we have all brought this on ourselves. Now we can all stew with the majority of Christian fundamentalists, illegal aliens with millions of their children, ...The future is dark for America, and nothing politically will change anything. Soon your children will compete with Pedro and Paco for that job of survival at McDonalds. Even under the Clinton administration the gap between the haves and have nots grew. The problem is systemic. A two party dictatorship, owned by corporations, isn't going to change a damn thing, so that is that. 10 years ago I would tell you to go to Europe or Australlia but Globalization is beating down all of their socialized health care, etc. Although it is much better to be poor in Germany than in America...To be poor in America is to be surrounded by completely ignorant, violent, people. It is a nightmare. If I were poor I would opt for "rural poor" and would not live "big city poor". America is all corrupt to the core. We preach these values, and it is a sham...Yes, there are good people here who grew up in the system, but the system is grinding down, and unlike the Great Depression, our depression, without Christian ethics, moral, decency for fellow man, will be a nightmare. Save your money ladies and gentlemen, notice how the elites are putting their money offshore and into gold. Warren Buffett knows what is coming, and you should to. This machine is breaking, and the center cannot hold. Save your money, live frugally, read about the Great Depression, and do not put all of your money into the stock market. When people don't have any money to buy crap, those stocks will come way down. The rich will survive, as they always do. Yes, you should blame your relatives and friends for voting this in. He has just sped up this whole process through tax cuts for rich etc. He will go down in history, but not for what he wanted. Good luck all! Get ready.

[A Canadian]

Barbara,

Congratulations on the success of Nickle and Dimed. I haven't read it yet, but I have read Bait and Switch (I chose to read that one first since it is more applicable to my situation - I don't make $100,000/year or more; try maybe half of that, but I'm white-collar).

For years now I have been busting my hump trying to get ahead. I went back to school to get a degree (while supporting a 3 year-old on loans and bursaries), and I have extensive experience in the white-collar world. I am now considering taking additional courses to upgrade my skills, because all of my hard work and effort just doesn't pay off and I figure I've got to do something! As you say in your book I was doing what I thought were all the right things; I got educated, I'm highly skilled and I'm hard-working. I have been categorized as a high-performer (with a 2% annual increase, sans promotion, as a thank you), but all that gets me is more work with tighter deadlines! I can't win - if I bust my hump I get "rewarded" with more work; if I don't I get fired. Throughout my struggle to get ahead I kept asking myself "What am I doing wrong??" "Do I have some type of inherent defect that prevents me from making any type of progress?" I thought I was entirely alone in this predicament. What I realized from reading your book is that I am not alone. There are so many other people out there in the same or even worse situations.

This phenomena is extremely unsettling. It's like we are regressing back to the period of the Industrial Revolution where people (and children) were forced to work long hours in extremely unhealthy working conditions for little pay. Any attempt to challenge the staus quo was harshly supressed by the wealthy boss. Obviously nothing has changed. So much for progress!

Reading your book has given me a renewed self-confidence, and I am determined not to let the "man" beat me down! I'm not going to let him win. I am going to keep on keeping on with my head held high and my dignity intact! It's not me that's defective, it's society!

Thanks!

[The Eternal Squire]

May I suggest that UP have an online gift shop that UP members can sell thier own wares through. This would provide UP members who are unemployable with some means of being able to support themselves through thier own creativity or intellect.

For example, would anyone like me to create a UP membership pin out of sterling silver? I am teaching myself the ability to do silvercasting.

[The Eternal Squire]

I had a stray side thought:

I think I understand why cheating at the high school level is higher than it has been in years.

It is because children are seldom stupid. I believe they see 2 things (1) that nearly all jobs have been deskilled and compartmentalized so that the average high school graduate can perform them, (2) since the skill level of high status jobs is now about equal to low status jobs, that having the right GPA will get you into the right honor society,
(3) that membership in an honor society is a better predictor of future wages than actual knowledge of the field being worked...
then that leads ==> get that GPA needed to get into that honor society, even if you have to step on the 'nerds' to do it.

[BW]

"As an undercover journalist, how could you know what it really feels like to be poor?"

What kind of Q is that? Someone had to step forth and write that story. Otherwise, we wouldn't have it.

And even if you did turn out not to be poor forever, you may have come close enough to be scared of it forever. I sure am. At least, you are doing something about it. Buena suerte.

[MissAnneThrope]

Love you Barbara....there are many of us out here who are eternally grateful to you for this book...you did something that desperately needed doing, and I for one still remember the huge impact "Black Like Me" had on me as a teenager. For many of us, it precipitated our involvement in the civil rights movement....and I hope and pray that your book will likewise effect generations to come.

[Jennifer]

I loved Nickel and Dimed and I'm glad it keeps making surges on the bestseller list since I think it's an important book.

But, as with Bait and Switch, something about this FAQ just rubs me the wrong way. Somehow...it presumes too much. That a PhD would somehow make it easier to learn a new job, for example. (The reference to all the charitable uses for the book's profits also strikes me as self-congratulatory, but, truthfully, it's not the public's business how Barbara Ehrenreich spends her money and it was tacky of anyone to ask.)

I wouldn't bring this up except that it raises the same problems I had with Bait and Switch and I think those issues could affect any white-collar labor movement.

People in all kinds of jobs take pride in their work, but professionals especially tend to define themselves by it. Their work is often something they've trained for at length, perhaps studied for years, and that they often think of in terms of a committment (whether to a particular company or to a particular field).

It's hard in that situation to think of management as the enemy -- even when they are. A professional goes into a company with the perfectly reasonable expectation of regarding their colleagues as...well...colleagues. Those above you in the food chain are someone to emulate and learn from, not someone to organize against.

It's confusing and painful, then, when management in the white-collar sector resorts to much of what management is up to in the low-wage sector -- intimidation, micro-management, routinization of job tasks, expectations of conformity. All those things that chip away at an employee's sense of personal agency and competence.

I've wondered if perhaps the reason I liked Nickel and Dimed and disliked Bait and Switch is simply because I could identify with the latter. Maybe there was plenty to criticize about Nickel and Dimed and I just didn't know it because the bulk of my work experience hasn't been in the low-wage sector.

My full review of Bait and Switch is available here: http://www.readerweekly.us/issue/350/Jennifer_Martin-Romme.html

[lc2]

Jennifer, I think those are some really good points, and they also speak to the challenges of organizing blue-collar-in-disguise workers like bank tellers. It's probably also the reason that Congressional Republicans have promoted a plan to reclassify a huge number of hourly paid workers to salaried/ supervisory positions, thereby making them exempt from overtime and other benefits. It seems that the more people are convinced that they're "professionals" the easier it is for them to believe that they're more valuable to the company. The old divide and conquer routine.

A great firsthand account in this regard is Don Snyder's "The Cliff Walk" --the story of an English prof. who didn't get tenure and was "reduced" to learning a trade before the fame of the book let him return to academia. He is really changed over the course of the story and questions everything. I highly recommend this book, plus as a bonus it takes place in the part of Maine where Barbara's maid experience happened.

[Josh]

I read the book and thought it was one of the most dishonest pieces of "journalism" that I have ever seen. Can I get my money back?

[Terry Vermeylen]

It's great that you are a lot freer to do what you want with the money you have earned. And that is the key to money happiness. Money provides us freedom and control over our destiny. Buying stuff seems to shackle us.

[realpc]

"I am in a permanent, low-level, rage"

I know, that's true of all the leftist activists I know or have read. Permanent, growling, simmering, raaaage.

I'm actually afraid of them, and I think many would join a revolution joyfully.

Permanently angry about poverty? Who are you angry at? Do you think any sane person wants poverty? It's like seething with rage because people get sick, or have accidents.

The truth is, you hate reality!! Your image of how life should be comes from 1950s TV shows.

[Anarcissie]

What you might call "near" leftists are in a rage, whereas "far" leftists -- the people at the anarchist bookstore or those at Food Not Bombs -- are often quite cheerful in spite of the awfulness of everything. My guess is that this is because the "near" leftists still haven't eliminated liberalism from their systems, so they're disappointed every day when the system doesn't work the way they think it should, whereas for the "far" leftists it's obvious that it's not going to work except to produce war, imperialism, junk, and eventual catastrophe.

It may seem unconnected, but that guess made me also wonder about the idea of the "professional". What's a "professional"? When I was a child it was someone in a suit with a lot of credentials, like a doctor or a lawyer, but when I became an off-the-street computer programmer with neither credentials nor a good suit, I too was designated a "professional" although I should by rights have been classed with auto mechanics and plumbers (except auto mechanics and plumbers are held to higher standards of performance). I think it might be a way of keeping people out of unions and the like.

[realpc]

"the awfulness of everything."

Some of us think just being in this world is a miracle and a chance to learn and experience. We see some problems as a challenge. Others -- great tragedies, disasters, horrendous crimes -- are part of life. We grieve over them but know that not all can be fixed or prevented.

Often, there is no villain to blame. When there is a villain to blame, we expect justice.

People like you, however, who see everything as "awful" (I assume that by "awful" you mean "miserable," not "full of awe"), are missing your life, in a way. Sure, you get to be permanently enraged and it's possible to get high on rage. But you're missing everything else. And you are not seeing life as it is. You life in a fictional world of heroes and villains, where all tragedies and errors have a human cause. Where humans are all-powerful and could create perfection if they wanted to.

[Anarcissie]

You've got it backwards. People like me are not enraged or depressed. Read what I wrote.

[realpc]

So you're a far leftist? I should have know from your name, I guess -- anarchist - issie?
Well anyway. Anarchists believe the misery of life is caused by powerful villains. I think an objective analysis of history, and what little we know of prehistory, shows that life never was perfect. So it's kind of silly to expect it ever will be.

And looking objectively at our inner selves confirms that the world's problems originate within each one of us.

I am guilty of nastiness and stupidity, I just don't have enough power to use it to destroy the lives of others. I think if you were honest you would get a glimpse of that in yourself.

And it really does change your view of the current political crises. In a way it's bad, because we have to acknowledge there are no easy answers and revolutions often make things much worse. Believing in easy answers and despising villains may be more emotionally satisfying. But the truth is always preferable to satisfying fictions.

Who is happier -- the realist whose faith is in the infinitely mysterious wisdom of the universe, or the activist who believes in the unlimited power, wisdom and goodness of the human intellect? Maybe we're both happy enough in our own ways.

But I do not think Barbara Ehrenreich, or other leftists I know or have read (Noam Chomsky for example), is happy, if she is experiencing permanent rage. They project their inner misery on something evil out there in the world. They can't even define that evil rationally. Sometimes it's the Bush administration, sometimes it's Republicans or conservatives in general.

[Anarcissie]

I do think a lot of people enjoy rage, and not just leftists, either. In my youth back in the Dark Ages it was a favorite right-wing stance. However, it's a sort of low taste, and it's dependent on having wrongdoers around to be enraged at.

I got tired of rage a long time ago and stopped reading the newspapers, watching television, and listening to any radio station that broadcast news. (Most of it was lies and hot air anyway.) That helped.

In any case, there comes a point where one's disagreements with the established order become so great one can no longer feel rage. That seems to be the case with the leftist radicals I know today, and a lot of other people as well. This is why a lot of the old leftist tactics like demonstrations, agitprop, organizing unions and parties and so forth don't work so well any more.

I think what people need to do is organize their society anew at the most basic level -- find ways in which to live that don't involve regular employment, welfare or theft, for instance. Lots of people do it now. There is no use waiting for governments to straighten things out, as governments attract the worst people in the world, as we can easily see looking at the current ones. It's a long shot, but we might be able to get something done before our present great leaders finally push the world off the cliff.

This blog is of great interest to me because Barbara discusses how people actually work and live. It's pretty rare among political theorists to find anyone engaging these issues.

[Different]

"Do you think any sane person wants poverty? It's like seething with rage because people get sick, or have accidents."

Poverty is a result of human free societal will and sin, while sickness, and controversially, accidents, simply are not.

There is a huge difference; your comparison is simply not cannon.

I would dub your response irresponsible, unaccountable, lazy and ignorant. Like many entitled conservative rich ling baby boomers of the "me" generation, you do not take any responsibility and behave rather immaturely.

You fail to realize it's the rich who make all the decisions, and are thusly, responsible for all that is sown, and that includes poverty that is very much a POLICY in play like that of a complex jig-saw puzzle.

The poor such as I, who have no power or influence, are prevented from making the big decisions necessary to advance in life or progress society. We are denied contribution. Fact of the matter is, it is not a merit-based society. My fate, my will, my success, my innovation is very much determined arbitrarily by a unit known as “the boss”. I have no ownership and exist without liberty. He is free to assimilate my culture, my creativity, my innovation, my ideas, my sense of meaning, and my purpose to profitably benefit his own at my expense. I am without consequence or control, my life, is in his hands. The illusion of choice is also not the answer. Yes, I am technically free to walk around (or find another dictator to work for), but the corporate garden is still a prison, and this capitalism we very much complain about, is in all actuality, Stalinism.

[realpc]

Different,
Some people are going to be more successful than others, in any system. It sounds to me like you resent the success of others and feel very sorry for yourself.
I am not rich and never was. I get bossed around at times and I don't like it either. But I try to be grateful for whatever success I have (and it all came from motivation and refusing to be a victim), and not to waste too much mental energy envying those who are better off.
Someone is always better off. Most of the richest people are old, for example, and won't get to enjoy it much longer. If you're young, they probably envy you for that.
Envy is here to stay, but you don't have to let it ruin your life.

[Anarcissie]

Different: "...You fail to realize it's the rich who make all the decisions...."

Not really. We give them that power, and we can take it away. However, we should not expect the rich to do it for us. They're only doing what we have asked them to do: run our lives, and live high on the hog while doing so.

[realpc]

President Clinton wasn't born rich, but he got the chance to run our lives for a while. I don't think Reagan was born rich. There are plenty of examples if you bother to think about it, instead of just automatically assuming we still have an old-fashioned class system.

No, there haven't been any leaders who were born poor and stayed poor. Maybe because a poor person doesn't inspire voters with confidence. How can he be a good leader, if he can't even straighten out his own life?

Being rich, or at least somewhat successful, can be simply good luck but it also can be a sign of intelligence, talent or motivation.

[gaby]

The last election has shown that it isn't just the wealthy running this country but also the ignorant. Combine the two and the rest of us have to suffer the consequences. Here is an example of the ignorant:

In October before the last presidential election I was asked to accompany a friend to a wedding. The wedding party and family were very religious Christians. During the dinner the issue of politics came up and we were encouraged to vote for Bush "because he is the one who walks with God." I was speechless. I wanted to ask if they could give another, more earthly reason we should vote for Bush, or voice my objection to this simpleton mindset. Or ask if they had not watched the news lately or, or... I did the only thing I could and that is leave.

[lc2]

I can only speak for myself, but as a leftist, what I decry more than anything is wasted human potential. I don't mean I'm sad that someone's self-esteem is wrecked by the fact they work at Wal-Mart and aren't a rock star, I mean the fact that they work at WM, probably live in a low-level fear of getting sick b'c of no/inadequate health care, make sh%t pay, and still can't pay basic bills.

The lack of dignity bothers me, and not b'c I think working at WM is something to be ashamed about, either. The goal is not to raise everyone to the level of suit-and-tie "professional." My argument is: we'll always need people to clean/serve/clerk/wipe nursing home residents, why not accept that inevitability and make those jobs full-time, and better paid while we're at it? There are so many people who want nothing more than to work 8 hours at the kind of job you leave at the end of the day, have enough $$ for a modest house, groceries and utilities and gas, and watch a little tv. Instead they're sucked into overtime or a second job just to pay the bills, their kids are raising themselves, and they console themselves with SUV's they can't afford and comfort food that will kill them decades before their time. This is the American dream?

I see realpc's point about the haves and haven'ts but the fact is, not everyone has the personality or aptitude to be an entrepreneur, go-getter, type-a personality, whatever you want to call it. And thank goodness for that, probably lots of dot com start-ups came to an early demise b'c of too many cooks in the kitchen. If the US really values teamwork, it would esteem the whole team, not just the members leaving footprints on the backs of the others. Most people don't want the pressure and responsibility of the CEO's job, or the burdensome lifestyle that making $100K+ implies. They just don't want to have the same or less earning power after 30 years in the company, while the brand-new CEO purchases a sixth vacation home. And I think we all know this is the mildest possible example.

I'm not particularly enraged about it (esp. since I discovered cardio-induced endorphins and work in a field where I make a difference every day), but it upsets me that too many people cannot contribute their gifts and make the world a better place b'c of financial pressures. My friend who is an experienced social worker but has slipped into poverty and now must live in 2-retail job hell is a good example. I don't like that there are so many obstacles in the way of people like her, someone who was dealt a crappy hand in terms of family background and physical constitution and who luckily benefited from generous gov't support of her college education, but who is now alone and adrift in the world and is acting in desperation. She's paid her dues big-time and there should be resources for people who don't have 2-3 months financial cushion to look for better jobs. Instead they get trapped.

Maybe that's why I hate, financial desperation when the world is full of people who are depressed because of idleness and a growing sense of anomie that one more trip to the mall won't cure. And I've never understood why we're universally disgusted by and support censure of a 5-year old who won't share and terrorizes those around him or her with tyrannical demands, but we accept it in adults as a matter of "haves and have-nots."

[realpc]

lc2,

I can see your point, this society can be a hard place for anyone who isn't tough, competitive, talented or lucky. I had relatives my parents age who never went to college, worked 40 hour weeks, and had no trouble buying a house and raising a family.

It has become more difficult, and certain things have become a lot more expensive, especially housing, medical, and education. It must be very hard to buy a house and raise a family unless you have some kind of skill.

I never had a lot of luck or help, but I still did not experience the kind of misery you describe. For a long time I had a low income, but never had two retail jobs. I just lived without any luxury whatsoever. You have to admit that one problem Americans have is buying stuff they don't need and can't afford.

But I guess the main reason I didn't suffer terribly is that I never tried to raise a family. Yes, single mothers can get stuck in a trap, I definitely agree with that.

I also agree that the capitalist system can be tough. It's the worst possible system -- except for all the others.

You know life does suck, in many ways. But I sincerely believe it's worth the struggle.

When people lived in small tribes, they were probably happier in many ways. They had emotional closeness and the security of knowing their relatives would never let them down. How many of us can count on our relatives that way now? On the other hand, they had absolutely no freedom, and starvation was an ever-present threat.

Even the poorest Americans usually have food, which is quite amazing compared to all other past and present civilizations.

I think that humanity evolves, just like all of life, and we are part of a great process we can't really control. We can try to improve things that have obvious solutions, but complex problems are beyond the smartest of us. I really don't see a reason to be enraged. I try to be philosophical, which does not mean I'm apathetic.

In Taoism, for example, or systems theory, everything depends on dynamic balance and tension between opposing forces. Changing things can have unexpected effects, so wisdom usually counts more than cleverness.

When people are enraged, they can lose touch with their wisdom and restraint. They also forget their own faults and only see the faults of others. Does Barbara Ehrenreich see any selfishness or greed in herself, for example, or does she only see it out there, in the evil corporations? I think her focus is entirely outward, just like most progressive activists.

[Ann Bartow]

I loved your book and my entire bookclub did as well. I had a somewhat similar idea to yours, but I only lasted through one minimum wage job stint. My far more modest account is here:

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=922788