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What surprised and offended me most about the low-wage workplace (and yes, here all my middle-class privilege is on full display) was the extent to which one is required to surrender one’s basic civil rights and — what boils down to the same thing — self-respect.
By Barbara EhrenreichNovember 2022June 2022To earn one’s bread by the sweat of one’s brow has always been the lot of mankind. At least, ever since Eden’s slothful couple was served with an eviction notice. The scriptural precept was never doubted, not out loud. No matter how demeaning the task, no matter how it dulls the senses and breaks the spirit, one must work. Or else.
Studs Terkel
A new feature in the magazine, A Thousand Words features photography so rich with narrative that it tells a story all on its own.
January 2022Soybeans look like a foot of water on the field in April / When you’re ready to plant and can’t get in
By Thomas Alan OrrDecember 2021August 2020I grew up hearing over and over, to the point of tedium, that “hard work” was the secret of success: “Work hard and you’ll get ahead” or “It’s hard work that got us where we are.” No one ever said that you could work hard — harder even than you ever thought possible — and still find yourself sinking ever deeper into poverty and debt.
Barbara Ehrenreich
Featuring Richard Wolff, Poe Balantine, Sharon Hays, and more.
August 2020I think the pandemic is changing people’s idea of what the government should and could do. It’s definitely made them frustrated with what it can’t do.
By Finn CohenAugust 2020Are you thirsty? Do you like to drink water? Are you from a generation that thinks it’s OK to drink water out of single-use plastic bottles? Then the world works for you!
By Daniel UncapherMarch 2020Personal, political, provocative writing delivered to your doorstep every month—without a single ad.
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