BARBARA EHRENREICH

BARBARA EHRENREICH ~ HAD I KNOWN ~ 2020

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~ T-TIWFWAMONOTE=WF-B-P-W-OO-‘CP-TONTBPOTBP ~ True – The Internet Was Filled With A Multiplicity Of New Outlets To Write For – But – Paying – Writers – Or Other – “Content Providers” – Turned Out Not To Be Part Of Their Business Plan

~ TITRFOJT:NM-D-A-YA-B-L-WWADSPWCMUETESOT-A/PE/V-TWTD-MLFAOTCTCODT-TIOJ-IJ ~ This Is The Real Face Of Journalism Today: Not Million-Dollar-A-Year Anchorpersons – But – Low-Wage Workers And Downwardly Spiralling Professionals Who Cant Muster Up Expenses To Even Start On The – Articles / Photo Essays / Videos – They Want To Do – Much Less Find An Outlet To Cover The Costs Of Doing Them – This Impoverishment Of Journalists – Impoverishes Journalism

~ WCTF-LAL-ITM-A-TPWW-FPTP ~ We Come To Find – Less And Less – In The Media – About – The People Who Work – From Paycheck To Paycheck

~ BA-ASP-DNSI ~ Burying An – Aching Social Problem – Does Not Solve It

~ B-IIRPTMALOTKOJCATUP? ~ But – Is It Really Possible To Make A Living On The Kinds Of Jobs Currently Available To Unskilled People?

~ AT-OA-SJ-I-‘SW’-ITC-S/S/S/R/R ~ A Third – Of A – Server’s Job – Is – “Side Work” – Invisible To Customers – Sweeping / Scrubbing / Slicing / Refilling / Restocking

~ CWTPTM-SWTSTG-B-MATFOOR-TMSTMIMFSTETEFA ~ Cooks Want To Prepare Tasty Meals – Servers Want To Serve Them Graciously – But – Mangers Are There For Only One Reason – To Make Sure That Money Is Made For Some Theoretical Entity That Exists Far Away

~ MCS-FHAATITW-B-ITJTSTNOEED-EWTNTD-A-TIW-FS-STCBAEAR ~ Mangers Can Sit – For Hours At A Time If They Want – But – It’s Their Job To See That No One Else Ever Does – Even When There’s Nothing To Do – And – This Is Why – For Servers – Slow Times Can Be As Exhausting As Rushes

~ A-BR-IN-AR-ICBTA ~ A – Break Room – Is Not – A Right – It Can Be Taken Away

~ G-WSTM-ETAT-MS ~ Gossip – Which Seems To Mean – Employees Talking Among Themselves – Must Stop

~ IP-AICPIP-SCAE ~ In Poverty – As In Certain Propositions In Physics – Starting Conditions Are Everything

~ TAN-SETNTP-OTC-TAAHOSC ~ There Are No – Secret Economies That Nourish The Poor – On The Contrary – There Are A Host Of Special Costs

~ T-RP-AUTWOHT-A-OI-B-TIASVSM-S/PT/TP-TBFTC-WME-ALOOOH ~ The – Regulation Poster – Admonishes Us To Wash Our Hands Thoroughly – And – Offers Instructions – But – There Is Always Some Vital Substance Missing – Soap / Paper Towels / Toilet Paper – Too Bad For The Customers – Who Must Eat – Almost Literally Out Of Our Hands

~ B-F-TCTU-WWCETSKOAOPTOBEOU ~ But – Fortunately – The Commercial Tells Us – We Workers Can Exert The Same Kind Of Authority Over Our Painkillers That Our Bosses Exert Over Us

~ ORFOTMAL-WW-TCOP-WA-IAAC-FTSAFACFTWTDATWTP ~ One Redeeming Feature Of The Most Abject Low-Wage Work – The Camaraderie Of People – Who Are – In Almost All Cases – Far Too Smart And Funny And Caring For The Work They Do And The Wages They’re Paid

~ PHBAMCTOOT-A-WBTTTPTASGTH-NM-NFIHP-A-NASOPC? ~ Punishment Has Become A Major Cultural Theme Of Our Time – And – Who Better To Take The Punishment Than A Social Group That Has – No Money – No Friends In High Places – And – Not A Speck Of Political Clout?

~ B-WAKT-‘WR’-M-I-PE-TSHGTBP ~ But – We All Know That – “Welfare Reform” – Means – In – Plain English – That Someone Has Got To Be Punished

~ WIISH-F-TPATT-T-GATDOTLOO? ~ Why Is It So Hard – For – The People At The Top – To – Graciously Acknowledge Their Dependency On The Labor Of Others?

~ IINACTBP? ~ Is It Now A Crime To Be Poor?

~ The – Safety Net – Or – What’s Left Of It – Has Been Transformed Into A Dragnet

~ IWCATTHTP-NCSATGOTT ~ If We Can’t Afford To Truly Help The Poor – Neither Can We Afford To Go On Tormenting Them

~ ML-F-WTCW-TT-WTBDQ ~ Manual Labor – From – Waitressing To Construction Work – Tends To – Wear The Body Down Quickly

~ TWOD ~ The Wages Of Despair

~ TEO-R-B-ITT-BC-I-AROP-N-AIOATTRA-B-ANMITLC-L-MOGH ~ The Effect Of – Relentless – Brightsiding – Is To Transform – Breast Cancer – Into – A Rite Of Passage – Not – An Injustice Or A Tragedy To Rail Against – But – A Normal Marker In The Life Cycle – Like – Menopause Or Graying Hair

~ IOU-TVIO-EC-TMCE-WOHDOCAD-A-WTO-O-E-ST-PT ~ Ignoring Or Underemphasizing – The Vexing Issue Of – Environmental Causes – The Multinational Corporate Enterprise – With One Hand Doles Out Carcinogens And Disease – And – With The Other – Offers – Expensive – SemiToxic – Pharmaceutical Treatments

~ T-MT-O-‘S’-DTDATD-DWHL-‘F’-HTTWD?-CWCTB-‘B’-B-P-T-TD? ~ The – Mindless Triumphalism – Of – “Surviorhood” – Denigrates The Dead And The Dying – Did We Who Live – “Fight” – Harder Than Those Who’ve Died? – Can We Claim To Be – “Braver” – Better – People – Than – The Dead?

~ IINOK!-WII-AWCGOASAPWOD-I-AA-A-TTETIH-M-A-A-C ~ IT IS NOT OK! – What It Is – Along With Cancer Generally Or Any Slow And Painful Way Of Dying – Is – An Abomination – And – To The Extent That It’s Human-Made – Also – A – Crime

~ M-INLAPFO-CS ~ Morality – Is No Longer A Prominent Feature Of – Civil Society

~ FDM-WADSFTTAIAS ~ Facts Don’t Matter – When A Dogma So Flattering To The Affluent Is At Stake

~ TCOATWAAHCF-IC-ASOGW ~ The Combination Of A Tiny Waist And A Huge Carbon Footprint – Is Considered – A Sign Of Great Wealth

~ F-HNBCAMFIH-B-P-I-A-‘TPOP’-IG-SB ~ Fun – Has Never Been Considered A Major Force In History – But – Perhaps – It – And – “The Pursuit Of Pleasure” – In General – Should Be

~ IAOS:IYWTSS-FFTTATIC ~ It’s An Old Story: If You Want To Sell Something – First Find The Terrible Affliction That It Cures

~ TDTWSTMUSAMCTOH-WAMWOM-C-‘NB’-A-‘MM’-AWA-PDAWLHOS ~ The Devices That Were Supposed To Make Us Smarter And More Connected To Other Humans – Were Actually Messing With Our Minds – Causing – “Net Brain” – And – “Monkey Mind” – As Well As – Physical Disorders Associated With Long Hours Of Sitting

~ D-IAA-‘TV’ ~ Dissent – Is Also A – “Traditional Value”

~ TCOB ~ The Cult Of Busyness

~ T-H-N-AGBOL-A-T-H-ADBTE ~ The – Have-Nots – Are Getting By On Less – And – The – Haves – Are Doing Better Than Ever

BARBARA EHRENREICH ~ THE WHITE-COLLAR UNEMPLOYED ~ BAIT AND SWITCH ~ 2005

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~ O-W-C-OG-D/L/T/CP-HDBACOS-AAS-FT-T-PS-UITETW-W-P-TEOSBTTO-BUBT-FOL-SOATFPAB-U-TDTA-AAA-E ~ Other – White-Collar – Occupational Groups – Doctors / Lawyers / Teachers / College Professors – Have Done Better At Carving Out Some – Autonomy And Security – For Themselves – Their – Principle Strategy – Undertaken In The Early Twentieth Century – Was – Professionalization – The Erection Of Steep Barriers To The Occupation – Backed Up By The – Force Of Law – Some Occupations Added The Further Protection Afforded By – Unions – To Defend Themselves Against – Arbitrary And Autocratic – Employers

~ TFO-W-CW-T-BT-A-D-TJ-A-TPA-IUATT-I-O-TA-UFIT-MC-OOC ~ The Failure Of – White-Collar Corporate Workers – To – Band Together – And – Defend – Their Jobs – And – Their Professional Autonomy – Is Usually Attributed To Their – Individualism – Or – To An – Unwarranted Faith In The – Meritocratic Claims – Of Our Culture

~ WSTW-CWA-A-LTSV-I-TRTTI-AAU-W-TE ~ What Sets The White-Collar Workers Apart – And – Leaves Them So Vulnerable – Is – The Requirement That They Identify – Absolutely And Unreservedly – With – Their Employers

~ TW-CF-IETE-TF-TTCOOT-‘C-S’ ~ The – White-Collar Functionary – Is Expected To Express – Total Fealty – To The Current Occupants Of The – “C-Suites”

~ TCEOMBAF;TCBMBBC-A-SYARTSUAWTSQ-U-ATLNOL-OW-CWS-TLINRR ~ The CEO May Be A Fool; The Company’s Behavior May Be Borderline Criminal – And – Still You Are Required To Serve Unstintingly And Without The Slightest Question – Unfortunately – As The Large Numbers Of Laid-Off White-Collar Workers Show – This Loyalty Is Not Reliably Reciprocated

~ NGIBS-O-P-BM-TL-TDOTMC-T-TU-ATTC-RTCI-A-BTAAA-PF ~ No Group Is Better Situated – Or – Perhaps – Better Motivated – To Lead – The Defense Of The Middle Class – Than – The Unemployed – Assuming That They Could – Recognize Their Common Interests – And – Begin To Act As A – Political Force

~ T-W-CU-TPW-‘PBTR’-DER-A-SEUIR ~ The – White-Collar Unemployed – The People Who – “Played By The Rules” – Did Everything Right – And – Still Ended Up In Ruin

~ C:TCTCTAWFC-EITFOOO ~ Courage: The Courage To Come Together And Work For Change – Even In The Face Of Overwhelming Odds

BARBARA EHRENREICH ~ BAIT AND SWITCH ~ 2005

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~ SWTEDO-2001-THBARIUAHCAEP ~ Starting With The Economic Downturn Of – 2001 – There Has Been A Rise In Unemployment Among Highly Credentialed And Experienced People

~ TEMBLU-TCMBRIC-A-STLC-LAPFONS-WOTTASAWATM-TPWPHBUVE:D/R-S/S-S/R/D-L ~ The Economy May Be Looking Up – The Company May Be Raking In Cash – And – Still The Layoffs Continue – Like A Perverse Form Of Natural Selection – Weeding Out The Talented And Successful As Well As The Mediocre – This Perpetual Winnowing Process Has Been Institutionalized Under Various Euphemisms: Downsizing / Right-Sizing / Smart-Sizing / Restructuring / De-Layering

~ H-L-EAP-T-OFTSPDOTTAL-PWEWMWTJIOTMEM ~ High-Level – Executives And Professionals – Today – Often Face The Same Punishing Demands On Their Time As Lower-Paid Wage Earners Who Must Work Two Jobs In Order To Make Ends Meet

~ MP-F-DHTDE-N-FTSFJAAATWOAWARR ~ Many People – From – Displaced Homemakers To Downsized Executives – Now – Find Themselves Searching For Jobs At An Age That Was Once Associated With A Restful Retirement

~ ‘CC’-YCDYAC-WAC-NATARALOYS ~ “Career Coaches” – You Can Declare Yourself A Coach – Without Any Credentials – Nor Are There Any Regulatory Agencies Looking Over Your Shoulder – Which Means That

~ IATTOM-AA-‘B’-O-ALA-P ~ I Am To Think Of Myself – As A – “Brand” – Or – At Least A – Product

~ ‘ES’-AT-TF-F-SS-A ~ “Elevator Speech” – A Thirty- To Forty-Five-Second – Self-Advertisement

~ A-POU-IALT-DOCR ~ A – Period Of Unemployment – Is Also Likely To – Damage One’s Credit Rating

~ E-ETLO-NLBTRRAA-TSTWCPSFT-DK ~ Employers – Especially The Large Ones – No Longer Bother To Read Resumes At All – They Scan Them With Computer Programs Searching For The – Desired Keywords

~ TW-CWSTCOTG:TWCFWAA-A-TWAEIJWTWMMTTWT ~ The White-Collar Workforce Seems To Consist Of Two Groups: Those Who Can’t Find Work At All – And – Those Who Are Employed In Jobs Where They Work Much More Than They Want To

~ TIOT-‘WA’-APA-‘A’-O-‘F’-DOWAWSYGW-PR-W-LONAOYPR ~ The Importance Of The – “Winning Attitude” – A Positive Attitude – “Attracts” – Or – “Fulfills” – Depending On Which Author’s Weird Science You Go With – Positive Results – With – Little Or No Action On Your Part Required

~ DM-BCM-C-TLTDTOOTJ-B-‘V’-A-AL-RF? ~ Did My – Boot-Camp Mates – Cause – The Layoffs That Drove Them Out Of Their Jobs – By – “Vibrating” – At – A Layoff-Related Frequency?

~ IS-IC-TT-PWHRSKOPN-TTPI-EOTOM-B-FTPOVOTE-‘W’-TWOPAH-PJ-TVT-OFDEOO-MBRC-IETWSITMFT-WITCOTL-INTWTNC-ITM-IY-NNTT-BT-TWFASE-O-AMH-FCE-O-TBTAA-WAOOE ~ It Seems – Inexcusably Cruel – To Tell – People Who Have Reached Some Kind Of Personal Nadir – That Their Problem Is – Entirely Of Their Own Making – But – From The Point Of View Of The Economic – “Winners” – Those Who Occupy Powerful And High-Paying Jobs – The View That – One’s Fate Depends Entirely On Oneself – Must Be Remarkably Convenient – It Explains The Winners’ Success In The Most Flattering Terms – While Invalidating The Complaints Of The Losers – It’s Not The World That Needs Changing – Is The Message – It’s You – No Need Then To – Band Together – To Work For A Saner Economy – Or – A More Human-Friendly Corporate Environment – Or – To Band Together At All – We Are Our Own Enemies

~ ‘JC’-O-MA-JL-HBI-STIAL ~ “Job Change” – Or – More Accurately – Job Loss – Has Become Inevitable – Several Times In A Lifetime

~ TIITPA-A-HMOTU-MC ~ The Idea Is To Pass As – A – Hereditary Member Of The Upper-Middle Class

~ JS101:AES/APR/N-N-N ~ Job Search 101: An Elevator Speech / A Polished Resume / Network – Network – Network

~ TONW-‘IWHATS’-O-S-“ISUATF’-B-ALOO-IRE-WHOTBLO-A-TRTPUAFDJO-RMSFOE ~ The Old Narrative Was – “I Worked Hard And Therefore Succeeded” – Or – Sometimes – “I Screwed Up And Therefore Failed” – But – A Life Of Only – Intermittently Rewarded Effort – Working Hard Only To Be Laid Off – And – Then Repeating The Process Until Aging Forecloses Decent Job Offers – Requires More Strenuous Forms Of Explanation

~ MTWPOA-CE-WIT-AUR-F-W-CE-ITITYTSSAKYEO ~ Maybe The Whole Point Of A – College Education – Which Is The – Almost Universal Requirement – For – White-Collar Employment – Is That It Trains You To Sit Still And Keep Your Eyes Open

~ WADF-R/W/S/L-NF-SUDAD ~ We Are Designed For – Running / Walking / Squatting / Lounging – Not For – Sitting Upright Day After Day

~ A-G-OAK-FAP-CR/CFAEP/RFAI-EC-IU-IYHSEMOYLMMFSE-YCFAGAJ ~ A – Gap – Of Any Kind – For Any Purpose – Child Raising / Caring For An Elderly Parent / Recovering From An Illness / Even Consulting – Is Unforgivable – If You Haven’t Spent Every Moment Of Your Life Making Money For Somebody Else – You Can Forget About Getting A Job

~ TFIOOCI-Y-POTD-Y-YAS-B-TDRSSIYF ~ The Feeling Is One Of Complete Invisibility – You – Pound On The Door – You – Yell And Scream – But – The Door Remains Sealed Shut In Your Face

~ IIM-R-T-CMTD-O-SAM-PA? ~ Is It My – Resume – That – Consigns Me To Darkness – Or – Something About My – Physical Appearance?

~ S-OYFIT-L-W-S-J-T-TAGCTYWRT-AUTFAMSAPW ~ So – Once You Fall Into The – Low-Wage – Survival-Job – Trap – There’s A Good Chance That You Will Remain There – An Unwilling Transplant From A More Spacious And Promising World

~ IASW-WIMEBIAP-DM-CASO-F/R/S ~ In A Society Where – Worth Is Measured Entirely By Income And Position – Downward Mobility – Carries A Sense Of – Failure / Rejection / Shame

~ HW-WB-RW-MCAS-THNBTOTWC-MOWTAAWIWTER-A-N-IIIUOT-EM-C-TSTCB ~ Hard Work – Will Be – Rewarded With – Material Comfort And Security – This Has Never Been True Of The Working Class – Most Of Which Toils Away At Wages Incommensurate With The Effort Required – And – Now – It Is Increasingly Untrue Of The – Educated Middle-Class – That Stocks Our Corporate Bureaucracies

~ SHHTCDITVSCTHUT ~ Something Has Happened That Cuts Deep Into The Very Social Contract That Holds Us Together

~ T-‘TI’-WIM-NE-T-U-AT-PE-CGT-TECBSFA-W-RD-LPTSKOA-NSDOAO-APSCATEAICGIS-‘ALIKTIANA’-WACR-B-HLCWO!-TAQ-WWILGWIGTCSM?-I-COBICBA ~ The – “Transition Industry” – With Its Many – Networking Events – The – Unemployed – And The – Precariously Employed – Can Get Together – Those Events Could Become Settings For A – Wide-Ranging Discussion – Leading Perhaps To Some Kind Of Action – No Such Discussion Or Action Occurs – Any Potentially Subversive Conversation About The Economy And Its Corporate Governance Is Suppressed – “At Least I Know That I Am Not Alone” – Was A Common Remark – But – How Little Connection Was Offered! – The Aching Question – Why Was I Let Go When I Gave The Company So Much? – Is – Cut Of Before It Can Be Asked

~ B-WDECTPJ-ALTITRGFE-C-TC/PS/LOR-EOCTCFOS-WAAT-TINOWTGJ ~ But – We Do Expect Corporations To Provide Jobs – At Least That Is The Rational Given For Every – Corporate – Tax Cut / Public Subsidy / Loosening Of Regulations – Elected Officials Coddle The Corporations For Our Sake – We Are Always Told – There Is No Other Way To Generate Jobs

~ ASP-TSWNLBATATWOTWHBE-NMHHTT-A-MAMWILTO-E-I-S ~ At Some Point – The Survivors Will No Longer Be Able To Absorb The Work Of Those Who Have Been Eliminated – No Matter How Hard They Try – As – More And More Work Is Left To The – Exhausted – Insecure – Survivors

~ EBPT ~ Empirically Baseless Personality Tests

~ IE-A-B-L-N-F-Z-B-WIEW-ACRW-AUTTTUTFAL-B-ATUH-PBC-A-STWMT-T-TTANFTTHBCOTHBOICAC-PTSA-W-TCEO-‘P’-A-‘A’ ~ I Expected – A – Brisk – Logical – Nonsense-Free – Zone – But – What I Encountered Was – A Culture Riven With – Assumptions Unrelated To Those That Underlie The Fact- And Logic-Based – Addicted To Untested Habits – Paralyzed By Conformity – And – Shot Through With Magical Thinking – Then – There’s The Almost Numerological Faith That Things Have Been Clarified Once They Have Been Organized Into Categories And Counted – Perhaps The Strangest Aspect – Was – The Constant Emphasis On – “Personality” – And – “Attitude”

BARBARA EHRENREICH ~ NICKEL AND DIMED ~ 2001

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~ AATOASJI-‘SW’-ITC-S/S/S/R/R ~ About A Third Of A Server’s Job Is – “Side Work” – Invisible To Customers – Sweeping / Scrubbing / Slicing / Refilling / Restocking

~ MCS-FHAATITW-B-ITJTSTNOEED-EWTNTD-A-TIW-FS-STCBAEAR ~ Managers Can Sit – For Hours At A Time If They Want – But – It’s Their Job To See That No One Else Ever Does – Even When There’s Nothing To Do – And – This Is Why – For Servers – Slow Times Can Be As Exhausting As Rushes

~ INHTGMCTAT-LS-B-H-IAEC-I-TPSO-D-ITL-TFTTFYIOWTARTS ~ It’s Not Hard To Get My Coworkers Talking About Their – Living Situations – Because – Housing – In Almost Every Case – Is – The Principal Source Of – Disruption – In Their Lives – The First Thing They Fill You In On When They Arrive For Their Shifts

~ I-P-AICPIP-SCAE ~ In – Poverty – As In Certain Propositions In Physics – Starting Conditions Are Everything

~ TANSETNTP;OTC-TAAHOSC ~ There Are No Secret Economies That Nourish The Poor; On The Contrary – There Are A Host Of Special Costs

~ IYCPUTTMRYNTSAA-YEUPTTNFARBTW ~ If You Can’t Put Up The Two Months’ Rent You Need To Secure An Apartment – You End Up Paying Through The Nose For A Room By The Week

~ IYHNMF-HI-YGW-RC-O-PD-A-EUPTP ~ If You Have No Money For – Health Insurance – You Go Without – Routine Care – Or – Prescription Drugs – And – End Up Paying The Price

~ T-RP-ITSURR-AUTWOHT-A-EOIFDS-B-TIASVSM-S/PT/TP ~ The – Regulation Poster – In The Single Unisex Rest Room – Admonishes Us To Wash Our Hands Thoroughly – And – Even Offers Instructions For Doing So – But – There Is Always Some Vital Substance Missing – Soap / Paper Towels / Toilet Paper

~ CL ~ Canned Labor

~ ITHFTHP?-Y-B-IT-ADANTTPP-TFI ~ Is There Help For The Hardworking Poor? – Yes – But – It Takes – A Determined And Not Too Terribly Poor Person – To Find It

~ ‘F’-M ~ “Furthermores” – Multiply

~ IYHAAMJ-360+DAY-DSKO-RIOTS-SI? ~ If You Hump Away At Menial Jobs – 360-Plus Days A Year – Does Some Kind Of – Repetitive Injury Of The Spirit – Set In?

~ CJ-M-AWAPM-WAP ~ Changing Jobs – Means – A Week And Possibly More – Without A Paycheck

~ OMI-L-WWIG-THTEOMYFLAP ~ Or Maybe It’s – Low-Wage Work In General – That Has The Effect Of Making You Feel Like A Pariah

~ T-SAD-AA-FDOSOL-TPHDFTCAL-FIPRAIEAWAFIDE ~ The Sitcoms And Dramas – Are About – Fashion Designers Or Schoolteachers Or Lawyers – The Poor Have Disappeared From The Culture At Large – From Its Political Rhetoric And Intellectual Endeavors As Well As From Its Daily Entertainment

~ PWDOTGOOFTLAHSUTPUW ~ People Who Depend On The Generosity Of Others For Their Lodging Always Have Something Untoward To Put Up With

~ ‘TT’-DAOTWDCT-AAA-TOOTI-N-H-AI ~ “Time Theft” – Doing Anything Other Than Working During Company Time – Anything At All – Theft Of Our Time Is – Not – However – An Issue

~ ALO-ST-HB-GW-A-ATLOF-N-W-IE-QSE ~ A Lot Of – Small Things – Have Been – Going Wrong – And – At This Level Of Finances – Nothing – Wrong – Is Ever – Quite Small Enough

~ BNJIAEAILTTU ~ But No Job Is As Easy As It Looks To The Uninitiated

~ NJ-NMHL-IT-‘U’ ~ No Job – No Matter How Lowly – Is Truly – “Unskilled”

~ TPORIEFAN-EASEL-WW-ITM-S-WTRATPCFHOTOM-TPDSAC-TRCAOT-TPHNBFIHTI-ME-MD-O-MDFTPOW ~ The Problem Of Rents Is Easy For A Noneconomist – Even A Sparsely Educated Low-Wage Worker – To Grasp: It’s The Market – Stupid – When The Rich And The Poor Compete For Housing On The Open Market – The Poor Don’t Stand A Chance – The Rich Can Always Outbid Them – The Poor Have Necessarily Been Forced Into Housing That Is – More Expensive – More Dilapidated – Or – More Distant From Their Places Of Work

~ L-WPWDHCAODOARWIWTDTOAPTUA-ED ~ Low-Wage People Who Don’t Have Cars Are Often Dependent On A Relative Who Is Willing To Drop Them Off And Pick Them Up Again – Each Day

~ FTLOETW-T-‘P’-NTBWIATO-B-IAWEWAWHTTBWOM-A-FICR-TIAVSAUR-T-‘MT’-AMFPWFOTE ~ For The Laws Of Economics To Work – The – “Players” – Need To Be Well Informed About Their Options – But – Information About Who Earns What And Where Has To Travel By Word Of Mouth – And – For Inexplicable Cultural Reasons – This Is A Very Slow And Unreliable Route – The – “Money Taboo” – A Major Factor Preventing Workers From Optimizing Their Earnings

~ ITPIOTBP-TBHTRTEIC ~ If The Purse Is On The Boss’s Property – The Boss Has The Right To Examine Its Contents

~ DT-I-ARI-‘US’ ~ Drug Testing – Is – Another Routine Indignity – “Unreasonable Search”

~ A-P-EPT-T-TLODI-IIU-ATVL-TGASATT-LYS-DAYU-TAOSOIMOTS ~ Add – Pre-Employment Personality Tests – To – The List Of Demeaning Intrusions – It Is Unsettling – At The Very Least – To Give A Stranger Access To Things – Like Your Self-Doubts And Your Urine – That Are Otherwise Shared Only In Medical Or Therapeutic Situations

~ RA-‘G’-OE-‘T’-MIHTAOGTP-O-SYBSD-TEOWIAGETBAC-TWDSOOLOFLUP-SAHTSOTWAUC-O-YMBF ~ Rules Against – “Gossip” – Or Even – “Talking” – Make It Hard To Air Our Grievances To Peers – Or – Should You Be So Daring – To Enlist Other Workers In A Group Effort To Bring About Change – Those Who Do Step Out Of Line Often Face Little Unexplained Punishments – Such As Having Their Schedules Or Their Work Assignments Unilaterally Changed – Or – You May Be Fired

~ S-IL-WWDNABIAERW-TIA-FA-WA-CD-IIB-TDIAPTIN-F-NIAW-D ~ So – If Low-Wage Workers Do Not Always Behave In An Economically Rational Way – That Is As – Free Agents – Within A – Capitalist Democracy – It Is Because – They Dwell In A Place That Is Neither – Free – Nor In Any Way – Democratic

~ ADTAPTOIS-IYATAA-UP-PS-DA-O-T-YMBTFLTY-IYACROY-LPITSH-WB-IM-OB-APOIR-YBTATUS ~ Any Dictatorship Takes A Psychological Toll On Its Subjects – It You Are Treated As An – Untrustworthy Person – Potential Slacker – Drug Addict – Or – Thief – You May Begin To Feel Less Trustworthy Yourself – If You Are Constantly Reminded Of Your – Lowly Position In The Social Hierarchy – Whether By – Individual Managers – Or By – A Plethora Of Impersonal Rules – You Begin To Accept That Unfortunate Status

~ IYMTFUE-YMCTTTWYPIWYAAW ~ If You’re Made To Feel Unworthy Enough – You May Come To Think That What You’re Paid Is What You Are Actually Worth

~ S-C-UPI-A:CPSFTP-WASRTCAT-‘SW’-WIEMHI-PAC ~ Society – Caught – Up In A – Cycle: Cutting Public Services For The Poor – Which Are Sometimes Referred To Collectively As The – “Social Wage” – While Investing Ever More Heavily In – Prisons And Cops

~ TPOSMM-A-SOE ~ The Poverty Of So Many Millions – A – State Of Emergency

~ TPCSTAEE-OT-OTCOM-B-TARSTP-TALALLTSSASWTP ~ The Poor Can See The Affluent Easily Enough – On Television – On The Covers Of Magazines – But – The Affluent Rarely See The Poor – They Are Less And Less Likely To Share Spaces And Services With The Poor

~ TATL-WWDLPOOPWBTATIMHB-IHT-ACM-MA-P-B-S-TS-HTOSSADTAIIH ~ To Acknowledge That Low-Wage Work Doesn’t Lift People Out Of Poverty Would Be To Admit That It May Have Been – In Human Terms – A Catastrophic Mistake – Media Accounts – Persistently – Bright-Side – The Situation – Highlighting The Occasional Success Stories And Downplaying The Acknowledged Increase In Hunger

~ NOESTYCWH-HETYETP-A-SFYSEDIPAD ~ No One Ever Said That You Could Work Hard – Harder Even Than You Ever Thought Possible – And – Still Find Yourself Sinking Ever Deeper Into Poverty And Debt

BARBARA EHRENREICH ~ NATURAL CAUSES ~ 2018

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~ OIRIW-OETD-IDTIWAOENTIAM-S-A-O-B-ITPOALL ~ Once I Realized I Was – Old Enough To Die – I Decided That I Was Also Old Enough Not To Incur Any More – Suffering – Annoyance – Or – Boredom – In The Pursuit Of A Longer Life

~ ACMCT-PMETTPIRMFAP-HM-IC ~ A Cynic Might Conclude That – Preventive Medicine Exists To Transform People Into Raw Material For A Profit-Hungry Medical-Industrial Complex

~ O-IBTBRAAPHP-A-ISRTAA-‘E’ ~ Overdiagnosis Is Beginning To Be Recognized As A Public Health Problem – And – Is Sometimes Referred To As An – “Epidemic”

~ INOAP-HMSTDOAO-IC-TI-FAPP-MDTTAETAMSITFIIBW ~ It’s Not Only A Profit-Hungry Medical System That Drives Overtesting And Overdiagnosis – Individual Consumers – That Is – Former And Potential Patients – May Demand The Testing And Even Threaten A Malpractice Suit If They Feel It Its Being Withheld

~ ‘PA’-G-HSUT-‘B’-DODAPTNFS-TGOATIG-‘A’-MAWTUTAS ~ “Patient Advocacy” – Groups – Have Sprung Up To – “Brand” – Dozens Of Diseases And Publicize The Need For Screening – The Goal Of All This Is Generally – “Awareness” – Meaning A Willingness To Undergo The Appropriate Screening

~ MPJTODVBT-‘POM’-TSC-EOCOTWRFPR ~ Many Physicians Justify Tests Of Dubious Value By The – “Peace Of Mind” – They Supposedly Confer – Except Of Course On Those Who Receive False Positive Results

~ ‘MOD’-TBCAT ~ “Medicalization Of Dying” – Tethered By Cables And Tubes

~ B-OETD-I-AA-N-AD-A-TFIBIWC ~ Being – Old Enough To Die – Is – An Achievement – Not – A Defeat – And – The Freedom It Brings Is Worth Celebrating

~ ROH ~ Rituals Of Humiliation

~ TEIOR ~ The Emotional Impact Of Ritual

~ TMOM ~ The Madness Of Mindfulness

~ TSSSTHSTW ~ The Small Screens Seemed To Have Swallowed The World

~ TDTWSTMUSAMCTOHWAMWOM-C-‘NB’-A-‘MM’ ~ The Devices That Were Supposed To Make Us Smarter And More Connected To Other Humans Were Actually Messing With Our Minds – Causing – “Net Brain” – And – “Monkey Mind”

~ M-MM-BTRO-LAB-NA-B-SU-C-A-DOARTTT-M-IISASF-HSF-BJANUFOTVL-A-‘PT’-OW ~ Mass-Market Mindfulness – Began To Roll Out – Like A Brand-New App – Buddhism – Sliced Up – Commodified – And – Drained Of All Reference To The Transcendent – Mindfulness – In Its Sleek And Secular Form – Has Spread Far – Becoming Just Another Numbingly Ubiquitous Feature Of The Verbal Landscape – As – “Positive Thinking” – Once Was

~ WBTH-WSAE-A-POTFACA-ADOS-AEOEA-ETVHOH ~ When Bad Things Happen – We Seek An Explanation – And – Preferably One That Features A Conscious Agency – A Deity Or Spirit – An Evildoer Or Envious Acquaintance – Even The Victim Him- Or Herself

~ WHRTTHODTDFTMFTUT-HTNIRRAP-O-ITCV-HTSCAIFM?-CWLA-TWHUATSF? ~ We Have Returned To The Habit Of Dissecting The Dead For The Moral Failings That Undid Them – Had They Neglected Important Religious Rituals And Prohibitions – Or – In The Contemporary Version – Had They Smoked Cigarettes And Ingested Fatty Meats? – Can We Learn Anything – That Will Help Us Avoid The Same Fate?

~ LONWS-EBTMBCAG-APECOCMRLHRT ~ Little Or Nothing Was Said – Even By The Major Breast Cancer Advocacy Groups – About Possible Environmental Carcinogens Or Carcinogenic Medical Regimes Like Hormone Replacement Therapy

~ CFTPUC-TWC-A-C ~ Concern For The Poor Usually Comes – Tinged With Criticism – And – Contempt

~ TCOCBUCFE-TWF-B-WA-T’W’F? ~ There Can Of Course Be Unfortunate Consequences From Eating – The Wrong Foods – But – What Are – The “Wrong” Foods?

~ TCO-E-‘F’-CBJADA-APORESATCLA ~ The Consequences Of – Employee – “Flexibility” – Can Be Just As Damaging As – A Program Of Random Electric Shocks Applied To Caged Laboratory Animals

~ THNBGWFW-CP ~ Things Have Not Been Going Well For Working-Class People

~ P-IEAT-B-CWC-A-FPMIPFWPDTT-K-B-O-RC ~ Pain – Is Endemic Among The – Blue-Collar Working Class – And – Few People Make It Past Fifty Without Palpable Damage To Their – Knees – Back – Or – Rotator Cuffs

~ NODW-TAF-B-WRTTWIMW-TANVTOMANEATOWOC ~ Not Only Do We – Think And Feel – But – We React To The World In Microscopic Ways – That Are Not Visible To Our Minds And Not Easily Accessible To Our Willpower Or Control

~ ‘HADD’-WSFIC-HDIT-A-SCBAAUEWTINT ~ “Hyperactive Agency Detection Devices” – We See Faces In Clouds – Hear Denunciations In Thunder – And – Sense Conscious Beings All Around Us Even When There Is Nothing There

~ IWTNONAA-P-UI-M-TWTM-A-PTBOTHEM-T-‘DON’-TTNWFA-C-TOTP-I-ARTBE ~ It Was The Notion Of Nature As A – Passive – Ultimately Inert – Mechanism – That Was The Mistake – And – Perhaps The Biggest One That Humans Ever Made – The – “Death Of Nature” – Turned The Natural World From A – Companionable – Though Often Threatening Place – Into – A Resource To Be Exploited

~ ‘SA’-‘AA’-‘HA’-‘PA’-‘VA’-‘A-A’-‘AW’-U-TGIAFFUOETF ~ “Successful Aging” – “Active Aging” – “Healthy Aging” – “Productive Aging” – “Vital Aging” – “Anti-Aging” – “Aging Well” – Unfortunately – The Gurus’ Instructions Are Far From Unanimous Or Easy To Follow