American Way
There's nothing more ingrained in the American value system than workethic that involves the notion that hard work will lead to the fulfillmentof the American dream, economic success. According to the New York Times(Schmitt, 2001), there's ample evidence to suggest that American hard workis paying off as evidenced by a sharp increase in living standards shown bycensus data for the 1990s.[1] The proof provided by the article includes: * An increase in high school and college graduates * An increase in people owning cars, with eighteen percent owning three * bigger homes, with an increase in the number of houses with sevenHowever, books such as Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-AmericanMeal (Schlosser, 2001)[2] and Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by inAmerica (Ehrenreich, 2002)[3] dispute the claims of The New York Times.These works argue that working class people are now working longer, harderhours than ever before with little reward or hope for a better future.These books claim that hard work may be the American way, but it iscertainly not to key to the American dream.
Evidence suggest that real wageshave declined over the years and the an increase of the minimum wage shouldseek to reverse this trend. For one, new labor laws need to be created and existing ones needto be strengthened and enforced to protect the health and safety of workersand to ensure that working people are not taken advantage of financially. In fact, she was often driven to take two jobs and/or work jobsthat jeopardized her physical well-being just to make ends meet(Ehrenreich, p. Ehrenreich notes that many working poor live in expensivehotels because they cannot sign twelve-month leases or afford to pay rentdeposits (Ehrenreich, p. are less and less likely to share spaces and serviceswith the poor. She and her manager open therestaurant by turning on the ovens and grills and getting the food andsupplies ready. The author believes that ourpolarized and unequal society makes the poor almost invisible to theireconomic superiors. The injury rate ina slaughterhouse is approximately three times higher than the rate in atypical American factory. In the chapter called Behind the Counter,Elisa, is a sixteen year old fast food worker who must get up at 5:15 inthe morning to arrive at work on time. In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America author BarbaraEhrenreich also proves that the problem of poverty is not simply about jobavailability.
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Acceptance Essays
