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I cannot understand why the author felt that the equity was stolen from her. Moreover, one can get six channels, including PBS, over the air.In summary, I was hooked on this book and I finished reading it in a few days. This is a very well-written book. Like other reviewers mentioned, he tried not to take side. I have a number of friends/family members that do not have cable and they seem to be doing just fine. She had maintained and improved the house sensibly for the long term. The federal grants of $17,000 for lead paint removal and new siding required pro-rated reimbursement if the house was sold within ten years and five years respectively, she had to pay back nearly $16,000." after telling us a sad story about the house owner who had to sell her house.
I disagree with the author on this. As another example, he wrote "So much of modern American culture now comes through television that the poor would be further marginalized without the board access that cable provides." after mentioning one of his interviewee monthly expenses.
For example, he wrote "The responsibility that she had demonstrated as a homeowner had lifted the value and, ironically, had stolen her equity. Did the author feel that the federal grants should be forgiven even though she stay there less than the required number of years.
I suppose this is not a surprise from a Pulitzer Prize winning author. Did the author feel that the mortgage don't have to be paid back.
I think after you have read this book, many of you will probably complain less about your own life. For example, in the last chapter, he wrote "The villains are not just exploitative employers but also incapable employee,.,not just bureaucrats who cheat the poor but also the poor who cheat themselves." On the other hand, I have a feeling that the author does think that much of the responsibility belongs to the society.
She still owe $34,000 on the first mortgage, and the second mortgage $19,000 carried a pre-payment penalty, which forced her to pay just over $20,000 to get out of it.
Overall, the book manifests harsh truths while reaffirming humanity. Humanizing poverty, turning a statistic into a face, is the invaluable contribution Shipler accomplished with The Working Poor: Invisible in America. Awareness is the fundamental principle provided by Shipler. And maybe, as it has achieved for this reader, a desire for resolve will invoke action. Thus, an intricate cycle is perpetuated that results in more questions than ideas for solving. In The Working Poor: Invisible in America, Shipler (2004) delivers candid insights from a vulnerable population underrepresented in the mainstream media. He illustrates how necessity overrides any type of luxury in the lower socioeconomic rungs. No pointing of fingers occurs, but rather a walk through individual case examples layered with direct quotes that start sounding more and more alike regardless of race or geographic location.
Living with a sense of community and belonging where human kindness is exhibited grants some the necessary boost to survive. If a readiness to embrace actuality exists, then this is the read for you. Four stars out of five are awarded for the impartial, vivid depiction of poverty. The battle against poverty does not enjoy simple solutions as Shipler recognizes and although awareness is indispensable, clarifying societal roles with specific expectations is paramount. He encourages everyone to meander outside their creature comfort zones and consider current societal realities.Successful programs for the poor are described related to parenting and work training; however, overarching details of welfare's pitfalls detracts from the hopeful interventions. An organized summary of workable programs along with outcomes data and first-hand accounts could help better serve poverty and fuel reform initiatives. Basic survival outweighs physical or mental health, among other important requisites, and the predicament of poverty consumes those afflicted.
Essential implications for policy makers and corporate America abound. Some of the interactions with employers, supervisors, teachers, and social workers prove to be meaningful and others deleterious. Shipler conveys a myriad of perspectives without subjecting ideological or political agendas onto the reader. Members of the middle-class are represented as both willing and unwilling participants in the daily lives of those living in poverty.
It seems to me that in our country, we need to find a balance between personal and social responsibility, and lately we have lost sense of the latter. Shipler does not engage in sociological analysis, but gives case studies of individuals, who have to struggle to make ends meet, work long hours, and through circumstances both within and beyond their control, are left out of opportunities (i.e., college education) that are available to others. I highly recommend this book so that we can at least have a conversation about how to better strike that balance and give more Americans better opportunities and a better quality of life. On this Thanksgiving Day, I reflected on the fact that I am part of an interdependent society, and that the work and circumstances of many people made my own life possible. "Working Poor" by David Shipler illustrates how things people take for granted, from plastic bags to clothes to carpets come to us through the hard work of low-wage workers.
I think the author goes too much into the boring details. Expect to read how certain individuals spent $10 on this, and $4 on that, and how they couldn't pay their medical bills, etc. In this book you should not expect to find any outlines of how unjust the economic system in America is, nor any suggestions what should be done about it. There is only numerous short stories about the lives of the working poor.
I read segments of it to my college students --the parts that emphasize how easy it is to fall into the crevasses of the working poor by either not obtaining a college degree or by not getting training in a field with demand. Dozens of interviews have produced a truly heartrending, and sometimes hopeful tableau, of what it means to live on the edge. This is an important book. The poor are very visible in our society. I recommend this book highly to anyone and as a must read for anyone thinking about dropping out of school or a training program. Pulitzer Prize winning author David Shipler has done a marvelous research job giving flesh to problems many of us may think we have some handle on. What's far less visible is "The Working Poor", people who have jobs, but who face consistent problems of lower health,low income,no benefits,little education and training, single parenthood,and so on. After reading his outstanding book, I found that I hardly had a clue.
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