November 15, 2024
A respected journalist explores the evolution of work and its social meaning. Work has always been a central part of the American character, with the idea that success comes from effort, persistence, and ingenuity. But Chandler, a journalist and an author, argues that much of this is a myth. Climbing the socioeconomic ladder has never been as easy or as common as its advocates claim, and in the past two decades it has become almost impossible. The majority of working Americans are stuck in low-income jobs, Chandler says, and job security has been replaced by unfair contracts and the gig economy. He covered some of these issues in his 2019 book, Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through the Heart of America's Fast-Food Kingdom, and it is certainly true that the minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation. As we saw during the pandemic, it made more financial sense for many to collect unemployment benefits and stimulus checks than to look for work. The book can at times make for grim reading, but Chandler argues that social crises have often presaged wide-ranging reforms. He favors a Universal Basic Income, although there does not yet appear to be much support for it. However, his thesis is valid: Work is simply not working--for many, if not most, Americans. Some new thinking is needed. A welcome call for a return to fairness and common sense.
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December 13, 2024
Journalist Chandler (Drive-Thru Dreams) presents a book that shows the enduring impact of American colonists' belief that toil would put them among God's chosen. The author asserts that today, people working in the United States clock longer hours, take fewer vacations, move for job opportunities, and retire later than people living in other developed nations. Extended work hours still confer status and importance in the U.S., including among the wealthy. Even celebrities keep busy with side hustles. This book contrasts U.S. workers, often living to work above a social safety net, to French workers who are "working to live" instead of living to work, supported by subsidized daycare, paid time off, paid parental leave, and pensions at age 62. The book indicates that the French work fewer hours, get more sleep, and live longer. Chandler travels to various U.S. towns to hear from small business owners, immigrants, and nonprofit leaders about their working lives, with particular focus on the years surrounding the COVID pandemic. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, distribution of government aid was comprehensive, transcending the customary suspicion of the poor and unemployed. The aid also set a hopeful precedent that caregiving could count as well-paid labor. In recent years, most of the aid programs have expired; however, Chandler notes some regional pilot programs that are trying similar universal basic income schemes. VERDICT An articulate critique of rags-to-riches mythology and government policies about labor in the United States.--David R. Conn
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