Working Class Kittens
I’m going to show you a few pictures. I want you to guess which of these pictures “pulls my heart strings” the hardest.
So, which of these pictures does the best job “pulling my heart strings?”
*Drum Roll Please...................................................................................
I hope it’s not a surprise that on a blog oriented around books, the correct answer was the only picture of a cover of a book.
This is me formally announcing that The Working Poor by David Shipler will be my SSR book for the weeks and Tumblr posts to come.
So what have I read so far? Well, I’m only 40 pages in, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. I had 30 or so pages of Midnight in Siberia left. Once again, I had to consult Mr. Schaefer to determine that ≈ 30 + ≈ 40 ≈ 70 and 70 < 150. However, my previous post about certain authoritarian figures in my life forgives my shortcomings... in my mind at least.
Anyway, The Working Poor is so good I think I’ll share a part of it:
Being black, Debra also felt herself on the wrong end of subtle racial strains. “Seems like they’re too lenient on the Hispanics,” she asserted. “I was next to one, and she wouldn’t keep up. you know, bread was piling all up, and she puttin’ ‘em in boxes, and flattening them out, and he (the boss) came over and raise hell.” She pretended to speak no English, so Debra became the target of complaint. “Hold on!” she objected. “She can understand as much English as I can understand. Don’t come over here pressing me because she won’t keep up! I done made three boxes to her one. But she runs off that Spanish, gets a Spanish partner and they get going on and on and on and on, you know what I’m saying? Oh, my God, yeah. It’s a lot of that, a lot of that.”
This passage was one of many that shed light on tensions in poor communities I did not expect to find. In hindsight, it was a bit naive of me to have seen all poor people as a unified front against the tyranny of inequality. I guess in that sense, this book has made me less of a Marxist. I can’t blame for poor people for all the divides they’ve erected. When society screws you over with the worst education, housing, healthcare, banking, credit, and representation, it’s hard to have a positive view of the other 7 billion people out there.
Race isn’t the only division that I have just learned about (*sarcasm*). Apparently, there’s some serious friction between poor people and some people who made it out of poverty. Why? Well, it takes a lot to get out if poverty in America. Usually on the order of saving every penny, getting the most out of entitlement programs and charity, and working hard for years. That’s why when some formerly poor people see those in poverty splurging on non-necessities like fresh fruit or cable, they get frustrated. On the other end, the people still in poverty can justifiably be jealous of those that moved up.
It’s all understandable, but totally pointless. Poor people got bigger wealthier fish Americans to fry fry. Stop getting pissed off at the poor Latino, the poor whites, or those no longer poor. Get pissed of at all the people that profit off of poverty and/or try to maintain the status quo. I’m looking at you payday loan centers, car dealerships, legislatures, and finally, that dude who tattooed Mitt Romney’s logo on his face in 2012...
