Barbara Ehrenreich is an author I stumbled across looking for something different to read (i.e. not true crime) in Borders a few years back. I bought Nickel & Dimed, her excellent first hand study inspired by the welfare reform laws. Ms. Ehrenreich decided to see if it was feasible to subsist on the $6 and $7 an hour jobs the working poor are subjected to. She actually went to different areas of the country and did the jobs. It's a great read, full of humorous observations and a couple belly laugh parts and she hates Wal-Mart as much as I do (just skip this part, Holly, okay?). It's also tragic that you can work really hard, be good at what you do and still never get ahead, get decent benefits or an employer that actually gives a shit about you as a person.
I went on to read a couple of her other books and some essays and articles she had written and fell in love with the grace and poise she brings to her work, which is generally not so lighthearted in subject choice. I decided to Google her a few weeks back to see if she had anything new and voila! She has a great website and writes a blog that deals with work in America.
I've read quite a bit of her blog and it's very interesting and insightful. It puts into words what this country is going through in terms of employment and the economy.
Check out Barbara Ehrenreich here.
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