In the first essay I read, Blue Collar Brilliance, by Mike
Rose, the author speaks in depth about work ethic as well as the amount of
intelligence different types of jobs take. He gives good examples and seems
very credible because everything that he talks about has happened to him and
his family and he was able to witness all of this with his own two eyes. He speaks
about how he watched his mother work through her job in a diner and how he
would watch the cooks and waitresses as well as listen to their conversations
and observe their work patterns and how they get things done. I think Mike Rose
is trying to make the point that some jobs, although they may be considered in
the lower class, take a certain amount of knowledge and skill that most people
have to pick up themselves through hard work rather than high school or even
college educations. In the second article that I read, “Why the Rich are Getting
Richer and the Poor, Poorer” By Robert Reich, he explains how some work fields
are declining faster than others right now because of the growing amount of
competition out there caused by the more and more people that are entering the
field. Robert Reich explains how blue collar job holders stand no chance any
longer and how white collar jobs are now soaring through the roof. He explains
very well how the rich are prospering while the poorer, lower class people are
still struggling and how that struggle is likely not going to get better. Both articles
were very good reads and I enjoyed both, however I agree with, “Why the Rich
are getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer” by Robert Reich slightly more than “Blue
Collar Brilliance” as written by Mike Rose.
In the narrative “From Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich, she illustrates the life and struggles working for a service agency called “The Maids’”. Ehrenreich uses the details of her work to emphasize the means and conditions under which minimum wage workers perform. She compares the $25 per hour the company receives to the $6.65 the maids earn. She introduces to the audience the life of a maid as toiling work by relaying the pain felt after working for numerous hours. Moreover, the maids, are described as poor, barely being able to scrounge up $2 collectively for a sponge, let alone enough to satisfy the amount of calories needed to balance out the amount of work performed. Yet and still at the end of her narrative, Ehrenreich gives a dollar to a band playing along the beach to make a bit of cash which she equates to her own station. In “Blue Color Brilliance,” an essay by Mike Rose he uses concrete example from his own life to explain why the blue-collar worker is just as smart and tactical as any of the professions we praise as ‘white-collar’. Though both stories seek to explain that regardless of their position in life, both blue-collar workers are just as intelligent and their work should be valued for its complexity just as much as any other profession. Ehrenreich uses a story to illustrate her purpose leaving less room for argument, as it is someone’s experience. It is a warmer approach that familiarizes the audience by drawing them into her world with vivid details. But Rose, uses multiple reliable accounts, explains the processes behind each of the jobs, and further backs his info by introducing his extensive amount of research.
ReplyDeleteIn the article “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer” by Robert Reich, though I found it to be quite a long article, Reich basically explains that the jobs people consider to be low end and not worth working are the ones receiving the most competition. With this being said, this certain field of work is experiencing a steady decrease in job openings faster than others. While further explain his point, Reich compares the success rate of both blue collar jobs and white collar jobs. In shorter terms, Reich comes to the conclusion that because of such competition for blue collar jobs there has been a high need for white collar jobs and they have been having a much better success rate. In “Blue Collar Brilliance” by Mike Rose, Rose brings the average day American citizen to better understanding of how job that are to be considered as low income takes certain skill and comprehension. I agree when you stated that Rose’s personal experience with these type of jobs makes his story more credible because readers can know that he is speaking from experience and not just observation. I can also attest to his theory because I too have worked at a fast food place and it requires a lot of communication and people skills. Therefore, those who tend to be more one the reserved end and like to isolate themselves from others would not do so well with these type of jobs and better offer in the typical nine to five cubical setting.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading both of the readings I do agree with everything you say about both of them. Mike Rose talks about his own experience and him and his family had to go through I order to support each other. His mother did not have this fancy job like a higher-class person would have. But she still managed and used to knowledge in order to have that job and keep it. And he thinks that you don’t need an education in order to get a job it is all about gaining knowledge by the environment you’re surrounded by. I do think Robert Reich’s story goes with Rose’s essay because Reich talks about how the lower class jobs are declining and the higher-class jobs are taking over. Which leads to that many jobs are taking away because of the people who have more to give. Poor people are already struggling to get a job or even keep it but with the rich taking over, it can all go away. I do agree more with Reich’s essay because as of right now it is true how the rich are taking over the jobs and for the poor it is getting harder to get a job. No-a-days when you’re trying to get a job you have to have some sort of college education but what the problem is that the poor cannot afford that kind of schooling.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading both of the readings assigned, I found both authors had valid points. In, "Blue Collar Brilliance", by Mike Rose, he talks about how blue collar jobs require more intelligence than it seems. He argues that intelligence isn't measured from how much school one has gone through, but how much the individual has learned from real world experiences. He provides first person examples in his work by telling us about his mother that worked as a waitress and how she had to memorize everyones orders and know how to satisfy the customers. He also talks about his uncle who worked in the GM factory and how it takes more intelligence than one would think. In the other reading, "Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer", by Robert Reich, he argues that the rich have control over the poor. He says the rich control the poor peoples jobs. The rich will replace the already poor worker with a piece of machinery because it reduces the cost of labor. He compares the local classes to that of a sinking boat, saying that the poor are sinking fast, while the rich are steadily afloat and show no signs of sinking. I see both authors perspectives, however i disagree with both to an extent. Rose says that you don't need a college degree to be successful which i agree with, however i believe a college degree enhances your chances of success enormously. It isn't necessary to get a degree in our society today, but it definitely helps. On the other side, Reich argues that the rich have a control on the poor which is somewhat correct, but i feel it is possible to break away of this and make a good living for yourself even if your already poor. You just have to seize the opportunities that come your way and take advantage of them. I believe that everyone in America has the capability of being rich, it whether you seize your opportunity or not.
ReplyDeleteIn the reading, "Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich she explains the lives of maids, comparing how much they maids make as individuals verses the company as a whole and how the maids barely had enough money between themselves to make an entire $2.00. Through this reading we can get an idea of how seemingly lower class jobs get paid less money, when they perform days worth of labor over and over again, and the actual company itself gets paid more than twice as much. In the other article “Blue Color Brilliance,” an essay by Mike Rose, he gives examples from his own life and personal experience to illustrate how there is no difference between people who work "blue collar" jobs or "white collar" jobs, getting a job is all about a person's knowledge from life experience and not necessarily education. In life, we need to take more into consideration, that its hard enough for people to get a job nowadays in this society, but the job that you have shouldn't be able to affect how a person is seen as an individual, because the average worker is getting paid very little, and it is very difficult to get a job. Most people are just trying to get any job they can, to make any money they can.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the passages, I have noticed that both readings involve some type of money or economics issues. In the article of “Why the rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer” Reich is talking about how the industries have been a very important factor to the economic situation in America. Reich also says that the rich people are willing to employ the poor people and the foreign immigrants because they have more workers and cheaper wages. This has made the poor people poorer; the middle class just barely has it good, and the richer keep getting richer. This has caused the economy to suffer because this is making the other working field are compete too much and making it harder to work on the industry. On the other hand, in the article of Blue-Collar Brilliance by Mike rose, one of his biggest argument is that he believes that we as society should not put down a person with lower education. His opinion is that a person not going to a higher education like college does not make a person less intelligent. Everyone is the same; for example, the waiter in Blue- collar Brilliance he said that working for so long in the same place he had everything memorized in his head. As we can see, not just because he did not keep going to school made him less intelligent. In the article, I like when he says that if “we reinforce social separations and cripple our ability to walk across cultural divides.” I agree with that because we discriminate and the intelligence of people does not always have to be based on their education level.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on pretty much everything you said about both passages. Mike Rose’s passage is very interesting to me. He takes a very opposite approach to the norm on the topic of blue collar workers. Like you said Rose is very credible because he was in the mix of it all first hand. He was in the restaurant observing his mother and his knowledge of assembly lines comes from his uncle. The main point that I received from Rose’s passage was that the blue collar workers are over looked. He pointed out the various skills that his mother and uncle had to acquire by just going to work every day. Blue collar workers exude great intelligence and multitasking skills. They worked hard physically and gain great social skills. Rose made a comment about how most of his family didn’t get upper education. Rose’s mother and uncle learned the skills they had by hands on training and being in the work force. In Robert Reich’s article “Why the Rich are getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer” He uses the symbol of boats to represent each class. The poor is sinking fast, the middle class is gradually sinking and the rich is soaring high. Why Reich does believes this? Well he gives us basically his main argument. There is too much competiveness amongst the working poor. The need for white collar jobs is getting bigger. Reich believes that this is a continuing trend and is the reason for the social classes’ deficit.
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