The Case for the Maximum Wage
For classist put-downs, a maximum wage just may be the ultimate antidote. How raw can class contempt get? Take a look at the venom that... Read More
Janus v AFSCME:
What the Supreme Court May Strip from Workers The roar of the approaching storm can be both heard and felt in workplaces across the United... Read More
Oh No He Didn’t!
Check biased behavior before it keeps your holidays from being merry and bright. As I thought last week about Thanksgiving dinner and hosting my extended... Read More
Health doesn’t come cheap
Healthcare in this country is not meant for those who are sick. If you’re in good health, you are credited for that good health. The... Read More
“Undercover Boss”: More TV Class Unrealities
Undercover Boss is a prime time reality show on CBS. The concept is that the CEO of a company is disguised and then goes “undercover”... Read More
“Sixteen Tons” brings mine wars of ’20s and ’30s alive
“Are the mules okay?” Not to diminish hard-working mules, but the mine boss’s urgent question after an accident captures the cruel reality thrust upon generations... Read More
Grassroots Voices Rising for a New Economy
Imagine an event where the people in control were the house cleaners, the nannies, the family farmers and the unemployed! A little over two weeks... Read More
Solutions for servers subsisting on tips
There are plenty of industries out there that we wish would do better by their workers, but the restaurant industry poses a very specific problem.... Read More
Relying on diners’ good will
I recently started waitressing at a neighborhood sports bar, where I quickly found that my idealistic image of leaving work at the end of a... Read More
Pension Cutbacks: The New Normal or Fightback?
We should be as wary now of the mainstream media as Marx was in 1871 when he wrote the following: “The daily press and the... Read More
Isn’t it Time for All Workers to Have More Job Security?
The United States is alone among industrialized countries in allowing workers to be considered “at will” employees and dismissed for any reason – justified or... Read More
Class in the Skies
Some time ago, I read a New York Times Opinionator piece, “Class Struggle in the Sky.” Reading about the growing class divisions was particularly disheartening... Read More
Why I became an adjunct (against the advice of everyone that I knew…)
When I was finishing my master’s degree in creative writing I started telling my professors and family members that when I graduated I wanted to... Read More
10 Ways a Corporate Workplace is Worse than a Casino
1. A Casino is legally required to post the odds of each bet. Corporate workplaces can lie about your chances of rising to the top.... Read More
Tales from the Pink Ghetto
My own experiences related to classism are set in the administrative world of work. Frankie Valli once crooned, “If you go for your diploma, you... Read More
Crossing the Gap in 5 Minutes
How can a physician easily work with the poor and earn their respect, trust, and affection? The key is feeling genuine respect. I have worked with... Read More
The law in our heads
I don’t want to sound like a Paul Simon song, but in my little town I grew up believing in the rule of law. I... Read More
Who Is Stressed Out?
I regularly facilitate a Stressed Out! workshop for Job Seekers in a non-profit organization serving a wide range of customers and clients in search of... Read More
The Anthropologist in the Organic Store
The drive on I-90 on the way to the Organic Store is picturesque. That’s the only word that can quantify the margarine yellow and red... Read More
A Forty Hour Week From the Other Side
As this election nears, I find myself passionate about a local issue: San Jose, following the stronger leads of San Francisco, Seattle, and Albuquerque, is... Read More
Class Divide in Internships
Last summer I was hired as an intern for an education advocacy group in Seattle. It was my first time working as an intern and... Read More
Classism in Academia
A little over two years ago, a student called me a ‘cunt’ in front of 38 other students. My academic employer did little to protect... Read More
Anatomy of a cross-class breakdown at a youth shelter
Last spring my friend J got a job at a shelter for homeless young adults. She has an associate’s degree in Social and Human Services... Read More
Is Classism a Hate Crime?
Classism is the new acceptable discrimination. It’s a phenomenon I met while growing up poor and continually saw in the physical facts of life—food, clothing,... Read More