Money and Success

Money & Success Serving in Florida The author of this response is asked to respond to the question and dilemma posed in the "Serving in Florida" text and what the author of this paper thinks that Gail, Ellen and/or George could do to improve their material and economic well-being.

The author will offer some suggestions as to what it takes to make it in the United States, especially for someone that is brought up in the working class as opposed to a person raised in suburbia or even amongst the rich.

The author of this response holds that while it is theoretically possible to escape the curse of being broke while being in the working class, it is something that not everyone achieves and whether by choice or fate, people in the working class should be able to make a living wage. Escaping Financial Hell Many people bemoan the travails of the immigrants and the working class in the United States.

Indeed, there many people that do not make enough money to constitute a living wage and find a better life and thus realize the proverbial American Dream. Some people dismiss this talk as being superficial and untrue. However, this is simply not the case. Some go so far as to say that it is impossible for people to leave the working class and become financially sound and successful.

While this has been disproven by many people, it is also true that a great many people do not ever escape their financial struggles during the course of their life. The proverbial cards that one is dealt to start life or at least start life in America can be quite damning as it relates to the general ability to escape poverty. Even so, not everyone wants to be an executive or professional yet they still want to have a living wage and that is not the case for many Americans.

Alger would absolutely say that succeeding despite adversity is absolutely possible as people do it every day in the United States. This perhaps runs counter to the outlook offered by Barbara Ehrenreich. However, the author of this response would absolutely disagree with Alger's view of things even as the author of this response certainly wants to be among that echelon of people. Ehrenreich makes some valid points and there are always going to be people that have to fill the lower-end jobs in society.

Given this fact, people that for whatever reason do not escape the working class should be able to earn a living wage and be able to live at least somewhat comfortable even with the lack of achievement and upward income and other economic upward mobility. However, Alger is wrong based on a number of factors. First, the chasm between poverty and wealth in this country is growing ever-wider by the day.

In other words, the amount of money that the poor has is shrinking and the amount of money the wealth have is rising, both as a proportion of the overall pool of money. Again, this is not to say that poor upstarts can't make a buck in this country but there will always be a need for janitors, seamstresses and other generally low-paying jobs and those people deserve to live a decent life even if they do not want to strive for better incomes.

Family choice and other priorities often matter much more to some people and this should not be ignored. Another point of contention that the author of this response has with Alger is that even people that work up the chain have to start off at the bottom and those people are getting short-changed as well.

While some would say that this is what family and roommate situations and the like are for, the author of this response is that this should not be necessary in a country with the wealth and resources of the United States. Hardly anyone starts anywhere other than the bottom and the overall progression from the bottom to the top as well as the people that are just fine staying at the bottom, the level of income and benefits aside, should be allowed to live comfortably.

Lastly, the author of this response would offer.