Working Hard -- And Forgotten : EJ Dionne,Jr.

[jbfam4]

Working Hard -- And Forgotten

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48408-2004Jan1.html

By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, January 2, 2004; Page A21


Here's a hope for 2004: that this is the year when we remember the forgotten.



We pay lip service to the forgotten. We praise our men and women in uniform. But how much do we think about the reservists whose lives have been so disrupted by tours of duty extended far beyond anything they signed up for? How much attention do we pay to those who have lost limbs in Iraq or Afghanistan? Politicians who have never served in battle give lovely speeches about patriotism. How often do they think about the sacrifices being asked of those who carry out their policies?

We praise hard work all the time. But as a society, we do very little for those who work hard every day and receive little reward for what they do. Beth Shulman, a former vice president of the United Food & Commercial Workers union, has written a powerful book on the subject, "The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans." Attention should be paid to her indictment.

She points out that one in four U.S. workers earns $8.70 an hour or less. That works out, at the high end, to $18,100 a year, roughly the current official poverty level in the United States for a family of four. Contrary to a lot of propaganda, Shulman notes that "low-wage job mobility is minimal" and that "low-wage workers have few career ladders."


And where public policy is concerned, they are nothing. We don't worry that they lack health insurance coverage. We're not concerned that their children lack child care or that they get little or no vacation time. You have to admire the gall of free-market economists who, in articles so often written during summer breaks in places like Martha's Vineyard or the Rockies, tell those who earn so little to work harder.


The forgotten are forgotten because the media pay little attention to them. Much notice is given to the wealthy and the well-educated, to the CEOs, to those who are seen as fashionable, beautiful and articulate. The rest are sent away empty. The devoutly religious in white evangelical or African American churches don't get much press. Union activists rarely get good press. Business pages and business broadcasts talk far more about stock prices and takeovers than wages and benefits. The cops who patrol dangerous neighborhoods get into the papers only when something goes terribly wrong. Good teachers get the occasional friendly feature story but usually see their profession discussed in relation to failure.

This is an election year. It's the moment to challenge politicians as to whether what they say bears any relationship to what they do for those whose votes they so devoutly seek. In an election year, the forgotten have the majority of the votes. They should use them to demand that they not be forgotten.

[montanacowboy]

1. Good for E.J.

He has continually been a bright light of the WAPO. Just watching "Metropolis" last night on TCM brings it all back even in more black and white. The poor work in the underground while the rich live in the upper world. Art imitating life a long time ago, everything old is new again folks.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

2. Beat me to it

Just reading this on the Post's site; made me so angry that I'm tearing up. :nuke: I only hope we're all paying attention.

:nu

[JPace]

3. 1% of the population owns over 40% of the nations wealth,

and they are getting greedier everyday.
They now work on brainwashing the lower
classes to vote for parties and candidates
that favor their agendas. Sad part of it
all is that it is working. Its called
persuasion, people like Rush Limpballs
and Fox news that pound the left day
and night instilling fear and hate for
anything called "liberal". They persuade
the common person to vote against their
own best interests.

Why don't we have any persuaders in the
democratic party? Why don't we have any
media outlets devoted to reaching the
common person? Why don't we have think
tanks that guide the left toward missions
of increasing their numbers?

The only candidate that seems to have the
skill of persuasion is Dean....that is why
he has the supporters he does.

[R3dD0g]

4. Reminds me of a story

from the '92 campaign. Seems Clinton was appearing before a big fundraiser and spent a good bit of time lingering in the back of the room talking to the waiters lining the walls. Of course the media elites were put out that they were kept waiting. In fact I think one of the things that got Clinton off on a bad footing with the press was his tendency to be late, caused by taking the time to care what the 'forgotten' think.