Barbara Ehrenreich-“Research”
Toniann German
Soc: #9
I personally agree that Barbara Ehrenreich could have done her research from her study. I don’t feel that she necessarily had to live the life of a worker to understand how they survive off of the little wage they earn. I also feel that by giving herself limitations she didn’t not allow herself to fully understand or experience the hardships they must deal with as a result of their pay. I feel her half-gained experience was not necessary for the calculation of numbers. Most of her work could have been done threw calculation, interviews, and shadow observations.
I do however believe that it is important for her to have these experiences so that she may understand how finical hardship can have a strain on one’s life, emotionally, mentally and physically. From her study Barbara could have seen that it is nearly impossible to survive off of such minimal wage. However, when looking at it from this perspective we tend to micro manage others money and make judgments on what they spend, deciding for them what it is a necessity or not. Through her experience I feel she understood that it is easy for one to micromanage anothers money however when you are in their shoe’s you begin to realize the hardship and sacrifices one must make.
I do not agree with the parameters the she set up for her “Research”. If you are really trying to understand the way that a person on minimum wage survives then you must have no rules or parameters and let your self be vulnerable to the real and brutal world we live in. She had luxuries such as being able to use her car, where most people making such a small wage take public transit and cannot afford a car yet alone meet their basic needs. Another rule she set for herself was finding a place to live that offered security and privacy. I didn’t agree with this rule of hers because many people do not have the luxury of having a secure place, it factors in to all the other stresses in their life and is most times a direct result of the wage they are making.
I give her credit for trying but the truth behind it is (in-which she admits) that because she had a better life she was never any real fear, or danger. The things she went through were not real in a sense, because they were happening as an experiment and not as something that she really had to worry about.
