ForumGarden

I’m reading an article and it reads, “…with working people struggling to pay their bills…”

Working people, working Americans, who are they? When America was an agriculture based economy, when it was driven by heavy industry, perhaps we could assume that they field hands, steelworkers, assembly line workers were all working Americans, but today there are a lot of hard working people who work primarily with their brains. Do they enjoy the accolades for the “working people”?

Or, does working American refer to income level, can you not be a working American if you make more than $50,000? Are teachers working Americans? Can you be a working American with a college education?

I think being called a working American is an insult, I think assuming you are not a working American is an insult. I think the only people who use the term are politicians and the press who don’t care who they may be insulting as long as the people being addressed don’t’ figure it out.

I admire people who are skilled with their hands, I can’t change a washer without having to call a plumber, I admire people who work at dangerous, hard manual work, I work in a comfortable office. But I also admire programmers, financial analysts, professors, nurses, scientists and managers; I have no training in a specialized skill.

Aren’t we all working Americans, why do we allow ourselves to categorize for someone else’s purposes? Is “working American” just a pseudonym for poor or low income?

QUINNSCOMMENTARY;1042148 wrote: I’m reading an article and it reads, “…with working people struggling to pay their bills…”

Working people, working Americans, who are they? When America was an agriculture based economy, when it was driven by heavy industry, perhaps we could assume that they field hands, steelworkers, assembly line workers were all working Americans, but today there are a lot of hard working people who work primarily with their brains. Do they enjoy the accolades for the “working people”?

Or, does working American refer to income level, can you not be a working American if you make more than $50,000? Are teachers working Americans? Can you be a working American with a college education?

I think being called a working American is an insult, I think assuming you are not a working American is an insult. I think the only people who use the term are politicians and the press who don’t care who they may be insulting as long as the people being addressed don’t’ figure it out.

I admire people who are skilled with their hands, I can’t change a washer without having to call a plumber, I admire people who work at dangerous, hard manual work, I work in a comfortable office. But I also admire programmers, financial analysts, professors, nurses, scientists and managers; I have no training in a specialized skill.

Aren’t we all working Americans, why do we allow ourselves to categorize for someone else’s purposes? Is “working American” just a pseudonym for poor or low income?


It's that old class crap Quinn, and it drives me up the wall. The American Working Man. Are we talking about a guy in sweat stained overalls and cap, with calloused hands and dirty fingernails? Blue collar vs. White collar?

Politicians still seem to want to put people into niches and drive a wedge between them. Forget income disparity, a plummer and electrician make as much or more than most accountants. Assembly line workers will make more than most bank tellers.

Lon;1042181 wrote: It's that old class crap Quinn, and it drives me up the wall. The American Working Man. Are we talking about a guy in sweat stained overalls and cap, with calloused hands and dirty fingernails? Blue collar vs. White collar?

Politicians still seem to want to put people into niches and drive a wedge between them. Forget income disparity, a plummer and electrician make as much or more than most accountants. Assembly line workers will make more than most bank tellers.


Good points.

Would those "Working Americans" be the ones that are paying taxes. Versus non tax paying individuals? :-3

"bingo"!