On Being a Wage Slave

"Most civilized nations compensate for the inadequacy of wages by providing relatively generous public services such as health insurance, free or subsidized child care, subsidized housing, and effective public transportation. But the United States, for all its wealth, leaves its citizens to fend for themselves." --Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed 


Being a low-wage hourly worker has become, effectively, a prison--no way out, no way up. It's a self-perpetuating caste system. 
Imagine working a minimum wage job, trying to make ends meet. What would you do to save money and cut costs? 
Most people who are living in poverty are lacking the resources to actually pull themselves up out of this situation and save money. How does one put down a security deposit and first months rent on an apartment? Often, they are not, leading to people living in hotel rooms--and then not being able to save enough money to ever put down a deposit. That, or they are living in their cars or with relatives in cramped quarters, drifting from place to place or feeling burdensome. And how do you eat if you live in a car or hotel? Why, you eat out, which of course costs a lot more money than buying foods at the grocery and preparing them yourself. And how do you get to work? Often several people are sharing one car, and a car pool system must be worked out. Or perhaps you live close enough to walk to work, which is why you are unable to go and apply for the better paying jobs across town, or even, for that matter, apply for many jobs in the first place. 


These factors are all suppressing the working-class poor. People in these hourly jobs work long, tiring hours, often on their feet. 
The most unsettling, people are being treated with distrust from the beginning. Drug tests, personality  tests, and high turnover rates are all facts of working a low-wage job. People are not seen as people, but as merely bodies to do a job. They are not expected to think for themselves, are not given basic rights to privacy, are not expected or allowed to make and voice opinions, or given adequate rest. This automatic distrust is sending a message to the working class population about what others think of them. This is, again, forcing people into and keeping people in poverty. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. What sort of dignity and self-respect does a grown adult have when they must ask to use the bathroom or take a phone call? How do people respond when their purses and bags are checked when they leave work?  These kinds of rules and regulations are preventing people to think for themselves and to feel good about themselves. 
How are people expected to raise families on a measly $7-8 per hour? Why aren't employees being valued? 
Many companies do not allow workers to work full-time, so that they are not receiving benefits or overtime. Workers are seen as a mass, one is disposable, and easily replaced by another. 


For a good look at this all encompassing caste system, check out Nickel and Dimed. Ehrenreich goes undercover in three cities in various low wage jobs. She compares herself to the others working in these positions, noting that, despite getting paid the same, and  being treated the same, she is still miles ahead of her colleagues, in the fact that in each place she has allowed herself some start-up money, a car, and has had excellent healthcare her entire life. 
The discrepancies between the perception of low-wage workers and their actuality is disturbing. So many feel that low-wage workers are lazy, incompetent, or stupid. Ehrenreich points out that none of the low-wage work she did was easy. No one is really getting by on the small sums of money they are making. Despite rent and food prices going through the roof, the minimum wage or really many of the median hourly wages, are not matching up. 




Can corporations and businesses afford to pay people more? what's the problem at heart here? Thoughts?


--Megan