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Not sure if my experience counts as "working class":
1) Parents were both college-educated immigrants (dad had PhD), made a little more than average income.
2) Family was pretty frugal but didn't have too much financial education (hence motivating me to study Finance)
3)
Quote:
"Work is seen as necessary drudgery, not a means to personal fulfillment."
- True to some extent. Work is seen as a ticket to remain in America.
4)
Quote:
"College is OK if it leads to a job, but you'd better get a scholarship, and parents can't help you navigate the labyrinth of applications, SATs, tutoring, and financial aid."
- No, college was seen to make or break our futures.
5)
Quote:
"Don't think you're better than other people." Mistrust of "pretense," "elitism," and "fancy stuff." What's familiar (sports teams, neighborhoods, religions, race) is good. For example, domestic beer>boxed wine>any foreign stuff (unless there's an ethnic connection, i.e., Guinness if you're Irish-American). Food should be cheap & plentiful; healthy eating, not smoking and taking care of yourself is weak.
A lot of mistrust of both American products AND products made in their home countries.. European and Japanese products seen as more superior.
6)
Quote:
Not knowing "the Code." Tendency to over/under dress for the occasion, speak too frankly among wealthier people.
Although rarely verbalized, there has been an undercurrent of distrust of the wealthy.
You Know You're From a Working Class Background If ....
I spent my entire working life in manufacturing and I still get excited if I can get on a tour of another factory or get to see a TV show on manufacturing.
I would rather tour a factory then see the most popular movie in the theaters. I'm retired now but still can't get enough of manufacturing.
If a movie has a manufacturing theme then I want to see it.
If there is a scandal in manufacturing management then I have to read everything about it.
After retiring, I worked for the US government for 4 years so I have some experience. I consider all government employees to be on the dole. Government is where you go when you can't make it in the private sector. When I was working in the factory and we hired a former military or government worker they would rarely make it more then a year in the factory. They ether could not perform or quit because of the hard work they had to do.
I had studied mechanical engineering but decided to change my major after working in some metal shop in the summer (required by my university).
I hate everything about manufacturing. Operating a lathe is worse than doing my laundry.
My parents were both firmly working class. Both worked in a non-union factory, Dad was a machinist and Mom wound wire electrical coils, then moved on to putting together circuit boards. They stayed at their jobs for well over 30 years and retired from there. Dad was one of 12 and had to quit HS when his father was killed in an auto accident. He was in the CCC, then went into the service for the entire length of WWII and then to the factory. My Mom was 1 of 5 and went directly to the factory after HS.
I was the first of all the immediate family to go to college, and probably only because I was an only child. I was actually encouraged to read and do well in school so I could get at least some kind of scholarship. I went to the local university, stayed at home, and worked part time to pay for all my books and fees and the upkeep on my 10 year old used car. My parents paid for the tuition only, and at that time it was only about $300/semester. I did get a couple scholarships, but not a lot of money for each. We did have family vacations, but my parents did watch their funds so we could do that. We had relatives everywhere, so never really had to pay for a hotel unless we were traveling to my aunt's in California. They didn't inherit a cent from any of their parents.
Anyway, I felt I had a great childhood with plenty of cousins to play with and 2 grandmother's that were wonderful. In fact, my parents never worried about retirement like we all have to do now. They had a small pension and SS and in fact had a good retirement. Both DH and I have college educations, but neither ever made extremely high money. We are very lucky that our daughter is extremely smart and has a fantastic job and future so we don't have to worry about her.
I had studied mechanical engineering but decided to change my major after working in some metal shop in the summer (required by my university).
I hate everything about manufacturing. Operating a lathe is worse than doing my laundry.
Why? I love the manual lathe. You can create a work of art with this type of equipment if you have some imagination and know how. It's also a good practical skill. When I lived in Michigan, I used to make parts that went to various types of mechanical equipment that was discontinued. People still needed parts when things went bad though. I had a blast doing this, although it certainly won't make you rich. Turned a fair number of pistons and automotive parts too, and it was always a thrill to see things achieve functionality.
Admittedly, doing this kind of stuff for a living can be dry at times. It's not as much fun when your making someone elses junk, and don't have any freedom in the process. But an engineer with practical machine shop experience (knows how stuff is made) is worth a pretty penny these days.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rothbear
My parents were both firmly working class. Both worked in a non-union factory, Dad was a machinist and Mom wound wire electrical coils, then moved on to putting together circuit boards. They stayed at their jobs for well over 30 years and retired from there. Dad was one of 12 and had to quit HS when his father was killed in an auto accident. He was in the CCC, then went into the service for the entire length of WWII and then to the factory. My Mom was 1 of 5 and went directly to the factory after HS.
Back in those days, machinists were among the higher income earners, at least in the blue collar trades. Took a lot of skill to make it to the top, and those guys were sought after. My grandfather was a mold maker, non union, and put in 30 years after the war. Made enough to fully fund their retirement, with very little need for my grandmother to work. They both watched their money, but they always had enough for new cars, and plenty to give to family for holidays, etc. They both lived well into their 90's. When they both passed, they left behind 2 houses and over 1 million dollars in the bank. These days, all those jobs are gone. Most when to China, where the quality sucks, but customers don't care. They just want their crap cheap, while they complain about jobs paying crap, and their products performing poorly..
Government is where you go when you can't make it in the private sector. When I was working in the factory and we hired a former military or government worker they would rarely make it more then a year in the factory. They ether could not perform or quit because of the hard work they had to do.
Yes, because the military is generally considered easy work, so they would not be able to take working at a factory. It is perhaps your factory paid poor compensation compared to better job opportunities available, which is why they quit; who would stay at a job that paid less compensation than another one available?
You admitted you worked in the government; could not make it in the private sector? Many people working in the government worked for the private sector before and vice-versa. The government has unique and interesting jobs that are not available in the private sector.
I think the better statement would be companies wanted larger profit margins, and cheap labor is an easy way to do it. The competitive atmoshere of the market then drove prices down as they had the profit margins to undercut comeptitors, which led to a cold war style of price reductions.
But not all off shored products are cheap; just look at something like a Coach handbag or some Nike shoes, expensive due to brand power.
Are rednecks a subset of the working class, or are they a separate class altogether? I understand that rednecks define an intellectual as anyone who can read without moving his lips. And an "exclusive school" means you have to be sent there by a judge. A few rednecks missed 8th grade graduation because they had jury duty.
Yes, because the military is generally considered easy work, so they would not be able to take working at a factory. It is perhaps your factory paid poor compensation compared to better job opportunities available, which is why they quit; who would stay at a job that paid less compensation than another one available?
There are two styles of factory... One that pays well, but works their workers hard. They have significant turnover because people can't deal with the stress, the workloads, the demands of their employers. They also hire and fire quite frequently in search of the worker who is the right fit. Also more of a requirement in independent thinking and reasoning. Basically, here's a chunk of material, here's the blueprint, go and make it. Then there are the BS factories that pay garbage, and will never fire anyone willing to work for so little. They usually attract drug addicts, illegals, and so forth. Where I work, we have to go through 3-4 people until we find someone capable of doing the work without any hand holding.
There are plenty of reasons for high turnover besides pay. In our case, we are pretty well sure there is a shortage of high skill labor, while there is a glut of low/mid skill labor. It ain't the money when the company is offering +$30/hr with unemployment running around 9% locally.
Quote:
Originally Posted by boxus
I think the better statement would be companies wanted larger profit margins, and cheap labor is an easy way to do it. The competitive atmoshere of the market then drove prices down as they had the profit margins to undercut comeptitors, which led to a cold war style of price reductions.
But not all off shored products are cheap; just look at something like a Coach handbag or some Nike shoes, expensive due to brand power.
A lot of companies like Nike, Apple, Coach, are selling a name. I own a Mac and do think it's a quality product. I certainly don't think a Macbook is worth over a grand though. I've already bought a windows based product to replace my Mac when it kicks the bucket. Companies like this are making money hand over fist. Part of that is due to cheap labor. The rest is, they do not have to slash prices, as people continue buying at top dollar. Donno what Air Jordan's fetch these days, but one can be certain the costs of manufacturing the shoe are a fraction of the price on the tag. In this case, the consumer really isn't getting the benefit of the cheaper labor, the corporation is.
I like my Redwing boots though. They last forever, they are comfortable as hell, very rugged, and made in the United States. Company isn't making fat profits, but they are turning out a product that beats the heck out of the cheap labor alternatives. I keep hearing that China can produce quality goods... Seen very few examples of this over the years. They can screw up something as simple as making a screw that most apprentices could make after a few months of trade school.
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It is perhaps your factory paid poor compensation compared to better job opportunities available, which is why they quit; who would stay at a job that paid less compensation than another one available?
