The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David Shipler - Literature review Example

A Working Poor: Invisible in America- Analysis A Working Poor: Invisible in America- Analysis The Working poor: Invisible in America” is a book by David K. Shipler that discusses the capitalistic mythology that prevails in the American mindset. It indicates how the society is integrated into functioning according to merit and on reward basis on a superficial level but all of this is not true, when it comes down to the grass root level. It seems that in the American society, the myth prevails that the harder you work the more chances are of succeeding. The television, the political debates and the schooling is all programmed to teach the Americans in various ways how everyone can be a winner by working hard and while few do with a bit of luck and succeed with this formula, but there are still many in the American society that survive on monthly pay checks with no promising future. Instead, they survive with just a struggle for today and a hope that tomorrow might be better. There are people who work day and night becoming an integral part of the capitalistic mindset but rarely do they succeed. In a system that banishes out anyone who fails to obey such as recovering drug abusers or corrective inmates trying to get back on their feet, the society banishes them out making it hard for them to survive and this is what Shipler talks about in his book. The most prevalent theme in the book is how government uses capitalistic techniques to not let the common man flourish and even in the elections nobody pays heed to the poor mans struggle. The paper focuses on the analysis of Shiplers observation and how a merit based society fails to progress because of wage slavery and unethical work grounds. 2. Shipler believes that the government is mainly responsible towards the people in poverty and then there are private industries, charities and other economically well off individuals who also have responsibility towards the people living in poverty. The statistical data and the interviews of the working class below the poverty line fuel up Shiplers argument that the politicians need to address the problem of poverty and the issue of everyday wage slavery instead of making political debates addressing issues that are not important to the average man who strives day to day just to survive. He talks about how low wage workers do make the economic wheel move but they have no voice in the national dialogue that prevails during the election season and during the off season as well. Private investors only leech the average workers blood and inhibit their progression because cheap labor is what capitalistic mentality aims by giving the individuals an illusion to succeed but the reality is to trap the person in a never ending cycle of poverty and deprivation. The people are mostly poorly schooled to recognize the wage injustice that prevails in the economy which can be owed to the class differences. The industrials want lower class to be ignorant so that cheap labor fuels their own financial gains and the cycle of poverty continues. 3. Shipler does in chapter 11 give out some good plausible solutions to overcome the problem of poverty in America because he believes that poverty causes problems for the government on some level but also does the work for them because they can employ cheap labor and this can serve as a fuel for the economy that progresses on a capitalistic mindset. Anyon discusses that working class and school behavior are normal because the working class are rewarded on the basis of docility and obedience while the managerial on assertiveness in work and initiative which proves that the entire working system somewhat functions like a classroom where people are rewarded on personality traits (Anyon,1980). Shipler does not blame the average worker and his struggle to survive but details out that how the capitalistic claws force the average worker to not get out of the web. His suggestions are plausible because they aim to eradicate not only a system that feeds on impoverished people but also tries to educate the masses that things could be made better for both parties if the higher authorities do acknowledge that there exists a problem and not sweep it under the rug. Acknowledging is the first step in eradicating the injustice and helping people who want their struggle to hold a meaning get into a system which rewards them and elevates them. 4. When people fail to succeed in life, then there is fault on both sides and one cannot overlook the competence of the surroundings in leading to the individuals failure. The American dream is encrypted into the mindsets of the people that if they struggle hard enough, then all individuals can be winners. But when an individual fails to succeed, then the failure can be owed to the individual plus the society because society is what programmed the functioning of the mentality in a certain way and structured it to believe in a subjective notion that held very poor objective grounds. In America, a family of three earning $21,100 annually is considered as poor according to the year 2007 (Shipler 9) but the government does not keep in mind that the varied class difference and the working hours people put into obtaining wages vary not to mention the spending and the basic necessities of the people. In short, when an individual does not succeed at a certain plan, then it is the failure of both the individual and the society that one lives in because the society does not stand alone without an individuals contribution. An individual who failed to succeed reflects the failure of the society as well. 5. Shipler did assert the right fact to which agreeing to the highest point is that low wage workers make life comfortable for the middle class and upper middle class American families because cheap labor employment gets work done all the while increasing profit margins for big industrial capitalists. Alan reflects exactly how much American society has progressed on racial grounds in which Shiplers work is discussed and has made important political implications (Wolfe, 2003). Employing cheap immigrant labor helps to generate more profit revenues for industrial owners and managerial departments while, the immigrants on the struggle to survive on racial grounds lag behind and work long hours just to fill the pot hole of the financial greedy capitalists. Middle and upper middle class families benefit from all of this because they get goods on cheaper rates. Secondly, they do not need to work long hours because racial and class differences have made a great impact on how people get wages and their work hours. There is no thought given to the fact that such long hours of work, low wages and poor working conditions can harm the people employed at cheap rates. Thus the upper class looks mainly at their own benefits and what they can reap. The class differences make the upper layer or upper class live in more favorable conditions than the lower class which deepens the roots of societal ignorance as well. 6. According to Shipler, there is mass poverty that prevails in the American society because people keep being subjected to mass consumption instead of retaining and that mass consumption is what makes the economy grow while overlooking the facts on how cheap labor harms the individuals psychologically. Anyone with a family of three with an income of $ 21, 100 annually in the year 2007 is poor according to the federal government but this pattern has changed over the years because of the massive consumption oriented society. People who earn more are still unable to get out of the poverty that follows because the trend is focused on getting more out of everything than how it is gotten. While lower class struggles to fit in the middle class, it is seen that the middle class struggles to get into the upper class and so on which only leads to more poverty because consuming demands increase as well without having the ability to retain what a person gains through hard work and labor. The future of the population seems to highlight more consumer mindset where buying things is a social status symbol and everyone wants to progress instead of retain ones capabilities. It is all structured around how one would want to keep moving forward but not acknowledge that there are limitations to their capabilities as well. 7. In the society that we live in today, there is a certain stereotype attached to hard work and succeeding in life which means that if a person is lazy, then the chances of his success in life are very low and to be successful there is value added to the job, status and the things a person processes. It means that if a person works hard, then success is bound to follow him while, Shipler proved this image wrong. Hard work does not necessarily mean that a person will succeed in life nor does it signify failure if a person does work hard but does not succeed. But one has to keep the limitations in mind and then judge accordingly and one should understand that hard work will not necessarily result in success. Shipler gathered interviews of people who work on low wages and then combined it with data to break the stereotype that hard workers always succeed in American society which reinforced the stereotype. However, he noted that immigrants in the society are always treated badly as compared to the average American citizens and immigrants also work for long hours and are employed as cheap labor which fuels the economy. Shipler combined data and analyzed it to prove that not everyone who works hard gets a taste of winning in life and not everyone who is lazy dwells into economic disparity. 8. In conclusion, Shipler does make valid points through analysis and interviews to shatter some of the stereotypes held about the American society. He gives an eye opening and general view on how the economy gives the illusion that a person will succeed but rather it is programmed to keep the people in the clutches of poverty and no economic progression at all. People need to realize that a capitalistic and consumer mindset is the biggest flaw in the society that needs to be eradicated by eliminating educational differences and which will in turn minimize the class differences as well. The American society can only flourish if people realize the true potential and not remain ignorant to their surrounding but have an outlook that asserts a win situation for them but others in the race as well. References Anyon, J. (1980). SOCIAL CLASS AND THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM OF WORK.The Journal Of Education, 162(1), 67. Shipler, D. (2004). The working poor. New York: Knopf. Wolfe, A. (2003). An intellectual in public. Ann Arbor, Mich: The University of Michigan Press. Read More