Sunday, February 26, 2017
Serving in Florida
I think Barbara Ehrenreich would disagree with the idea of everyone in America already having an equal opportunity to be successful. Ehrenreich discusses her experiment in which she experiences the life of a lower class minimum wage worker. She delves into a local area in Florida in which the local residence share most of the same struggles; money being the the primary struggle. She would disagree with the claim that everyone has an equal opportunity by using the fact that certain circumstances are limited by environment. During her experience Ehrenreich discusses the limited availability of prospect employment opportunities as well as insufficient living quarters in the local vicinity. Without the initial opportunity of a viable employment there is no opportunity for somewhere to live. Ehrenreich gives the example of the Key West area, where the experiment takes place, having only flophouses and trailer homes- like the one, a pleasing fifteen-minute drive from town, that has no air-conditioning, no screens, no fans and no television (Ehrenreich 918). This example shows the truly deficient availability of residency on the island. Insufficient compensation also follows the acquisition of one of the few jobs in the area. Minimum wage in a high expense area is no where close to covering monthly financial responsibilities. Ehrenreich compiles a list of her coworkers living situations most of which are rooming with one or several other people. The reason for all of these disadvantages can be contributed to the region. Obtaining a stable livelihood in a remote region such as an island can be very difficult. With no savings and no higher education to help someone job opportunities grow smaller. It is this fact in a disadvantage that Ehrenreich illustrates through her experiment of becoming a minimum wage worker that not everyone in America has an equal opportunity to be successful compared to another region advantaged with better opportunities.
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I would disagree that America doesn't provide an equal standpoint for people to progress within their lives. Yes the kind of environment does have a major impact but, it is embedded within the law that all youth are to attend school. Providing an even layout of opportunity to help change someone's current status. Sharing the power of education to broaden the horizon for the majority and not the minority. People just don’t understand how the system works and need to figure it out in their own way so they can be independent in a dependent society. We as people can not control fate, we don’t know where we start or end. It is up to individuals to figure it out among themselves rather than play victim. Instead of wondering why people won’t help why not solve the problem yourself instead of waiting for assistance to appear. America has provided the tools to use and it’s time to figure out how to use them. Applying to what you are taught instead of being lost in your thoughts or doing things without a specific meaning. Ehrenreich doesn’t see this because, she is trying to develop a perfect society and their is no such thing as perfect society. No matter what human nature is the reason why we can not come to equal terms. There are certain things that we can not agree upon but that shouldn’t stop us from proceeding as a society.
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