The American Ruling Class
In this selection, Lewis Lapham, editor of Harper’s magazine, interviews
journalist Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting
By in America. While sitting in a booth at an IHOP, she describes how
service workers typically work for extremely low wages and barely maintain a
subsistence standard of living, even when they hold multiple jobs. These people
are barely visible, but their low wages subsidize relatively low-priced services
for the middle and affluent classes.
Freeheld
Police lieutenant Laurel Hester, dying of lung cancer in Ocean City, New Jersey, fights to leave her pension to her domestic partner. While employees of the state of New Jersey can share their benefits with same-sex partners, Hester was employed by the county, which could legally withhold them. Her partner faced the possibility of losing their home after Laurel passed away.