If there is one thing that is characteristic of American culture, it is the American Dream. Through hard work, determination, and of course competition, no matter the social status one can rise through the ladder of American society, and reach prosperity. However, as Barbara Ehrenreich eloquently explains in Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, this dream has become increasingly out of reach for many Americans, and not to just those in the blue-collar working class. Instead, Ehrenreich profiles one group that is often forgotten in the new reality of the American Dream, and that is the corporate executives of the white-collar middle class.
To Ehrenreich, although the poverty of the blue-collar workforce seems to be the most prevalent example of the futility of the American Dream (See her book: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America), one group that has increasingly been affected by unemployment, and poverty is the white-color workers of the corporate world. As Ehrenreich explains, these worker’s aren’t in their situation because of laziness, bad choices, or a lack of a college degree. To the contrary, they did everything they were supposed to do, from getting a practical college degree, to rising up the ranks of the corporate ladder, they were the American Dream in action. However, this changed as their employer’s began to look at their salaries as potential ways to cut costs, and as a result, many white ocular executives found their way into entry-level roles like barista, or cashier. …show more content…
From the poverty, and unemployment, that plague the blue-collar workforce, to the long hours, pay cuts, and increasingly diminishing job security of the corporate world. The American dream has become a shell of its former self, and deserves to be recognized as the futile pursuit that it
To Ehrenreich, although the poverty of the blue-collar workforce seems to be the most prevalent example of the futility of the American Dream (See her book: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America), one group that has increasingly been affected by unemployment, and poverty is the white-color workers of the corporate world. As Ehrenreich explains, these worker’s aren’t in their situation because of laziness, bad choices, or a lack of a college degree. To the contrary, they did everything they were supposed to do, from getting a practical college degree, to rising up the ranks of the corporate ladder, they were the American Dream in action. However, this changed as their employer’s began to look at their salaries as potential ways to cut costs, and as a result, many white ocular executives found their way into entry-level roles like barista, or cashier. …show more content…
From the poverty, and unemployment, that plague the blue-collar workforce, to the long hours, pay cuts, and increasingly diminishing job security of the corporate world. The American dream has become a shell of its former self, and deserves to be recognized as the futile pursuit that it