For Your Consideration...

After the post I made previously, I was watching 20/20, an episode called "Bailouts and Bull." One woman on the show struck a chord with me, and not a good one. Here name is Barbara Ehrenreich and she is the author of a book called "Nickled and Dimed." According to Babs, you can not survive on an entry-level job. She worked as a nursing home assistant, and a sales associate at Wal-Mart. She claims that there was a ceiling placed on how much she was "allowed" to earn. Then the question was brought up. "If you worked hard, couldn't you be promoted?" and she goes on to say "Well..I guess, but only if you're the exception!" So you are encouraging others to not strive to be the exception because it isn't easy to attain? This woman is speaking at commencements all over the country!!

A recent college graduate who was assigned her book, Adam Shepard, wrote a book called "Scratch Beginnings" to dispute her argument. He claims she "tried to fail!" He drew a random city out of a hat which turned out to be Charleston, SC. He went with $25 and nothing else. No exceptions. He moved into a homeless shelter and began working for a moving company making $8 an hour. He eventually worked up enough money to buy a used truck for $1,100. She made no sacrifices, while he did. He said she bought a $40 pair of pants while he bought his at Goodwill. She also stayed in motels instead of finding a roommate, which is what he did after working for a few months and saving for an apartment.

The middle class income has increased in real dollars, adjusted for inflation, from $29k to $75k since the 1950's. Not to mention we have endured worse recessions in that time. 20/20 interviewed people who were young "back then" who have thousands upon thousand invested in toys such as boats and custom ATV's. Their jobs? Landscape contractors, law enforcement, and gardeners. 10 million Americans take cruises every year. This isn't a question of having less money. It's having higher expectations. Have we set ourselves up for failure by making excuses? I think so. 

What do you think about all of this? I thought it was interesting to say the least.