Two Tire economy

There is a persistent and terribly damaging myth about our economy, namely, that American economy poverty can, in principle, be eliminated -- if only there is better education, more jobs, more opportunity, and if people will just work hard, save, invest, and pull themselves up by their boot-straps. This is simply false. Our economy as it is presently structured requires substantial poverty.

The present American economy requires that certain jobs have low wages: cleaning houses, caring for children, preparing fast food, picking vegetables, waiting on tables, doing heavy labor, washing dishes, washing cars, gardening, checking groceries, and so on. In order to support the lifestyles of three-quarters of our population, one quarter of our work force must be paid low wages. These are the people who make two-income families possible, because they take care of the house and the children, allow fast food outlets, restaurants, and hotels to exist, and perform other tedious unpleasant, unsafe, and physically difficult jobs that support middle', upper-middle, and upper-class life.

It is a myth that all the people so employed can life themselves up by their bootstraps, get educated, spend thriftily, save, invest, and get out of poverty -- that is, to get decent housing in a safe neighborhood, adequate food, health care, and education for their children. Even if all the present lower-tier workers moved into the upper tier, the country would still need a quarter of the population, working at low wages, to take care of the children, clean the house, work in fast food places, pick the lettuce, weed the lawns, wait on tables, wash the cars, and so on. This economy absolutely relies on hard-working people whose pay does not reflect their contribution to the economy.

In short, those on the ground floor of our economy are holding up those on the upper floors -- and they work hard to do so. But the structure of our economy does not allow their pay to be commensurate with their contribution to the economy as a whole. ~ Page 420/421