Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In an experiment, journalist and author Barbara Ehrenreich tried to see if she could survive by working at low-wage jobs. She had to find an entry-level job, housing, and food in each of the three cities she lived in, and manage to eat and stay safe, for a month. Could she do it? Answer: not very well. In each case, the rents were too high, the pay too low, the conditions appalling (at least for someone coming from a comfortable middle-class background).

Her attempts took place around 1999-2000, when the economy was doing much better than it is now, when there was very low unemployment and many open jobs were waiting for workers. I remember her saying in an interview in the last year or so (for the 10th anniversary) that there is no way she could do this now - there just aren't any jobs out there. Which just makes the situation worse, and makes some of her conclusions seem like tragic predictions.

A very quick read, and eye-opening, even to someone who has read about/ worked with/ known about poverty and the perils of being part of the working-poor. It also makes me even angrier now when I hear Republicans talking about how we have to preserve the incomes of the very wealthy and put more of the burden on the poor.

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I don't believe you

Over the last few days, I have heard several different "experts" (mostly politicians of various stripes) say variations on the following:

"U.S. nuclear facilities are all safe and have been built to withstand any sort of natural disaster that might occur."*

This bothers me on several levels. First, I don't believe you. Politicians are always saying things like that to protect themselves and placate people. Anyone here old enough to remember George Bush (the first one) saying "Read my lips: No new taxes!"? And even if they are in earnest, it isn't possible to plan for everything that could occur. Nature always has something new and unexpected up her sleeve.  One official here in Arkansas said that the Dardanelle nuclear plant was built to withstand up to a 6.0 earthquake. Yes, Arkansas gets earthquakes; no, they aren't anywhere near as big as the Japanese earthquake. But that doesn't mean they won't be someday, or that something else could happen. So, in effect, that plant is not as safe as the authorities are saying.

And second, if the quake, which was a 8.9 - the biggest since they have been keeping records, and the following tsunami, overwhelmed Japan, I doubt our officials are any better prepared. Japan is pretty much the most earthquake ready country on the planet - they have yearly mass drills, their buildings have been built to withstand quakes, they KNOW they will have frequent strong earthquakes. When U.S. politicians say, "That wouldn't happen here," it smacks of cultural egotism and elitism, like "They are foreign and a funny color, so of course they are having problems." This was a massive quake, not something that people are prepared for anywhere, not to mention the tsunami that wiped away cities of tens of thousands of people. I hope that the actual experts are paying attention and learning something, so that the lessons of this horrible tragedy are not wasted.

I know that nuclear power is controversial for all sorts of reasons. It is ecologically pretty friendly, at least when compared to coal and oil power, so some environmentalists like it. And once the plant is built, the electricity and other power can be produced fairly inexpensively. But, and I always return to that but in my own mind, when something goes wrong, it goes really wrong. I don't think I am ready to take that risk.

*Update: Here is a NYTimes article about just that. Still not feeling reassured.

What I did this weekend

I got a new tattoo, my second. It is a phoenix, and how geeky am I? So geeky that it is from the cover of a book of literary criticism by D. H. Lawrence. Oh yeah, I am an English Major all the way to the core.  It is on my right ankle, and it hurt more than my first tattoo, which is on my left arm, because it was over more bone (and there really isn't any padding on your ankle). But I like it.

I also went to a union and Wisconsin support rally at the Capitol Building. It wasn't anywhere near as large as some of the rallies in other states, but for conservative, right-to-work Arkansas, it was pretty good.

I have never been to any political rally before, apart from a party in someone's driveway to watch the presidential debates in 2008, but I have been getting more and more angry at the way politicians continue to ignore the people, and at the conservatives who want to balance the budget on the backs of the middle-class and poor, especially women.

I wrote an email to Tim Griffin, my congress-critter, asking him to reconsider his support for the bill that denies funding to Planned Parenthood, and I got a tone-deaf form letter back: "That is why I signed up to co-sponsor H.R. 217, the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which was introduced by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, and which prevents funds from going to Planned Parenthood" and "As your Congressman, rest assured that I will always fight to protect the lives of the unborn."  But he doesn't seem to support the children who are actually born. Nor do most Republicans - check out this wonderful editorial column from Charles M. Blow in the NY Times last week. 

So it was rather heartening to see so many people who support the working class, who know that the problem isn't the high pay given to teachers and the regular state employees like me - 'cause none of us go into this to be rich - but the lack of corporate taxes, and too many subsidies given to those same companies.

In some cities, there were also rallies for reproductive rights, and if there had been one in Little Rock, I would have gone to that too. 

We liberal progressives need to stand up, make our voices heard, take ownership of the struggle, move beyoned Twitter and Facebook and get outside.

Pet Peeve

Here is my pet peeve of the moment: politicians who say that "the American people have spoken" about any and all issues, as if the American people could agree on any one thing.  They can't. Not about what kind of soda to drink, or diet to try, or car to buy. This peeve is primarily a failing of Republicans, because they are the ones who are supposedly the party of change now (ha! don't get me started on that claim...). Most of these claims are about issues that poll 52-48 or something similar, which means that almost half of the American people have spoken in the opposite direction. So, Mr. Boehner, when you say that "the American people" want the new healthcare act to be repealed, you are wrong. Some of the people do, but some of us don't, and we are Americans too, unless you plan to take away our citizenship for disagreeing with you.

Wassup?

Found this on the NPR blog Vox Politics. Tragi-comic humor and a message. It's great

Ms. Maverick says that John McCain is no Maverick

It's true, there is an actual Maverick family, descendants of Samuel A. Maverick (see above), the man who's name came to be used as we know it today to mean someone who is independent minded. And they are NOT endorsing John McCain, in fact, their family has long (and by long I mean centuries) been associated with progressive politics and causes. Read all about it in the NY Times article.

This is a maverick.

This is a bunch of bull****

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