Andrea Batista Schlesinger

Will the fact of economic inequality trickle down like the economics that created it?

I got a phone call the other day. Well, not one. Approximately 35.

Roberta got her hands on a recent report of the organization I work for, which graded members of Congress based on their votes on legislation of importance to the current and aspiring middle class, and she was angry.

She was angry that we didn't support tax cuts for the wealthy, angry about our advocacy for an increase in the minimum wage, angry about our rejection of a bankruptcy bill written by the credit card industry. Roberta was 35 calls and 10 voice mails angry.

It felt ironic to have this conversation with Roberta, a working-class Republican from Pennsylvania who didn't graduate from college but worked hard at minimum wage jobs, on the same day as the first speech by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.
The position of Treasury Secretary for this White House is often characterized as chief public relations officer, which made Paulson's remarks all the more striking. While making a case for the overall strength of the economy, he also acknowledged that "Many Americans simply aren't feeling the benefits. Many aren't seeing significant increases in their take-home pay. Their increases in wages are being eaten up by high energy prices and rising health-care costs, among others."

It's not just "many," it's most. Poll after poll reveals Americans' profound anxiety about the state of the economy.

So why the anger? My hunch is that it's because Roberta is proud of what she's managed to accomplish despite tough economic circumstances. And she should be. Like my parents, she started with little and worked her way up into a position from which she could raise her family with pride. How do we confront the challenges of today's economy while acknowledging the people like Roberta who have worked hard deserve to be addressed with dignity?

Telling everyone that we are all doomed isn't the answer. I'm tired of professional doomsayers declaring the American Dream dead. It is precisely because we see that the Dream is possible that we fight for it.

But, yes, it is too hard to achieve, and too hard to maintain. The Dream is so fragile that with one accident or health care crisis, it's gone. One pink slip for Roberta's husband, and it's gone.

After Roberta called, I better understood my challenge. We cannot create a tipping point in our consciousness until Roberta can both be recognized for how hard she has worked and feel in solidarity with the factory worker whose job was offshored, the couple who had to apply for bankruptcy because one of them got really sick, the dad who can't figure out how to send his kid to college because public university tuition has gone up nearly 50% in the last four years.

Our challenges fall on a continuum, and none of them are inevitable. The poor American struggles to move up, the middle-class American struggles to hold on. As economist Jared Bernstein puts it, there are two models: YOYO economics - You're On Your Own - or WITT-- We're In This Together. Until I can make a successful argument to Roberta that she is part of the "we," we're all on our own.

Andrea Batista Schlesinger: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 8:39 AM, Aug 12, 2006 in Economic Opportunity
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