Intro
Everyone one has their
own definition of the American dream, one being “the ideals of freedom,
equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American”.
In The Working Poor written by David
K. Shipler, he explains the obstacles one has to face in order to live the
American Dream sharing the stories of different characters struggling in their
everyday lives. Which is why they are used as symbols to show that despite all
the hard work, avoiding poverty through employment without an education and
dealing with discrimination because of gender or status cannot always result. Making
it clear that with very little opportunities, discrimination and being limited
to low wages, these characters cannot reach the American Dream, or even avoid
poverty. The author uses Caroline as a device to show how the American Dream is
dead.
Education
Shipler states how the
American Dream vanishes with the lack of education, particularly when one
suffers from learning disabilities. He does so by using Caroline’s life story explaining
the importance
of education in the working environment. Unfortunately moving
from school to school in short periods of time made a huge impact on Caroline’s
learning which resulted in learning disabilities, making it difficult for her
to excel in her job. Shipler addresses: “According to the Department of
Education’s 2003 National Assessments of Adult Literacy, 43 percent cannot
summarize the experience required in a job ad, 34 percent cannot follow
directions with a map, and 22 percent cannot figure earnings from hourly wages
“(Shipler 139).
Shipler explains how simply the lack of Literacy results in less professionalism making it harder for individuals to stand out from the rest and being able to find, keep or even succeed in a job. Which comes to show how the American Dream can be far from reaching for those with very limited education.
Gender
Shipler explains how simply the lack of Literacy results in less professionalism making it harder for individuals to stand out from the rest and being able to find, keep or even succeed in a job. Which comes to show how the American Dream can be far from reaching for those with very limited education.
Gender
With no equality there are fewer opportunities to grown
and maintain a stable career. Shipler describes the struggles Caroline faces on
an everyday basis in her employment with Walmart. No
matter how long and how
hard she works, men always get rewarded and descended. However, when it’s not a
men being descended it’s a young good looking lady. Which is why older women
have a harder time trying to make something out of their lives, because without
the looks and equality it is harder to find a job where one can actually grow
to be something. As Olsson points out, in the article Up Against Wal-Mart, “The retailer also faces a
sex-discrimination lawsuit that accuses it of wrongly denying promotions and
equal pay to 700,000 women” (Olsson). Women cannot live the American Dream when
they are not being paid fairly according to their job and skills., which is one of the main reasons why for Caroline the American dream is far from reaching with all the discrimination she has to deal with in her everyday job, Walmart.
Low Wages/ Welfare
With low wages it is nearly impossible for Caroline to have enough money for her and her families everyday needs. Bouncing back and forth between jobs that got here nowhere and welfare make it a lot harder for one to have a stable and successful life. Even though, welfare provides help, one cannot depend on it because later on it can lower the befits when one seems to finally be doing great at a job. As Shipler explains, “Many who do find jobs,” the Urban Institute concluded in a 2002 report, “lose other supports designed to help them, such as food stamps and health insurance, leaving them off-and sometimes worse off-than when they were not working” (Shipler 40).
Conclusion
Works Cited
Low Wages/ Welfare
With low wages it is nearly impossible for Caroline to have enough money for her and her families everyday needs. Bouncing back and forth between jobs that got here nowhere and welfare make it a lot harder for one to have a stable and successful life. Even though, welfare provides help, one cannot depend on it because later on it can lower the befits when one seems to finally be doing great at a job. As Shipler explains, “Many who do find jobs,” the Urban Institute concluded in a 2002 report, “lose other supports designed to help them, such as food stamps and health insurance, leaving them off-and sometimes worse off-than when they were not working” (Shipler 40).
Conclusion
Over all it is very clear that with very limited
education, no opportunities due to gender discrimination and very low wages the
possibilities of getting a good career in order to succeed in life are very low.
No matter how hard one works with all these obstacle following them on their
everyday lives the American Dream is slowly vanishing and is becoming a lot
harder to reach and even believe in it. This why shipler uses Caroline and he
life story as a device to show how the American Dream is dead.
Works Cited
"American
Dream." Dictionary.com Unabridged.
Random House, Inc. 02 Oct. 2015. <Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/american dream>.
Olsson,
Karen. “Up Against Wal-Mart.” Mother Jones. March/April 2003. Web. 27 Sept.
2015.
Shipler,
David K. The Working poor: Invisible
in America. New York: Vintage Books, 2005.
Print.
