I’m reading a book right now entitled, “The Working Poor” by David K. Shipler
I’m not very far into it, but the first sentence pretty much broke me down…
He writes:
“Most of the people I write about in this book do not have the luxury of rage…”

And so it goes, the oxymoronic term, “working poor” - why those who work generally the hardest (most physical) jobs are often the poorest.
“No one who works hard in America should be poor”, he writes. And I presume anywhere, for that matter.

They do not get the luxury to complain or fight for something better. Most companies know they can hire this labor pretty quickly. 
They cannot save for a better opportunity or afford healthcare.

The working poor are an ER bill or major car problem away from losing their means.
It is far more complex than the word “poverty” even entails, because generally, when most folks imagine people who live in poverty or at the poverty line in the US, are lazy welfare driven men and women who won’t get their act together.

In reality, they are the invisible. 
They wrap your food in large factories and clean up your mess as you check out of your hotel room.

“The man who washes cars does not own one. The clerk who files cancelled checks at the bank has $2.02 in her own account. The woman who copy-edits medical textbooks has not been to the dentist in a decade.”

Something is severely wrong.
I’m not sure what the poverty line in America is, or if I’m there…which, surely, we are close. 
I am though, a doctor’s bill or a major expense away from completely having to rely on family or friends. [And the luxury of having extended family, though they are not necessarily rich, but generous.]

You make it to the next paycheck in hopes that there is nothing radical you must pay for - which just blows my mind that folks with expensive cable and big TVs are considering themselves poor. That new iPhone apparently wasn’t a big deal, eh?

Some of us have the luxury to live simply. We can choose what we want to get rid of out some place of ridiculous excess.
Meanwhile, there are the men and women who grow your food and sew your clothes that are fighting to keep up as we shave unnecessary luxuries from our lives. 
And granted, simplicity is important and I hope is encouraged. Simplicity as legalism is dangerous. This is when our excess shines the most. 

If I’ve learned anything about the poor or working poor, is that it is a constant fight. It is a fight out of homelessness, welfare or addiction. It is a fight to maintain something normal in the midst of various and numerous socio-economic problems.

The person in that tall building somehow gets paid $100,000 more a year than the person cleaning their floor and having to answer to asshole bosses who cut wages and hours to improve profit.
They will most likely never have to worry about feeding their babies or fixing their car because that oil change just wasn’t in the budget. [And it rarely ever is.]

Our value system is severely messed up.
Recession or excess in our country doesn’t matter too much for the working poor. They have no investments nor will they ever have the luxury of saving money for a better opportunity.

My fear is that people just don’t and won’t really get it. There is nothing wrong with making money, but there is something wrong with where our money holds value. It is the same for food culture. People would be able to afford more vegetables and better processed and humanely farmed animal products if we simply did not have all of this government money going to places like T.G.I McFunsters, Sodexo or Monsanto.

Oddly enough, the folks who work under those types of places and companies are in fact, the working poor. 

My hope is that we shift our views on which types of jobs deserve more money. 
There is absolutely no reason a farmer should need to sell their farm to survive. 

They are the invisible.
Look more closely, and you’ll see them. 
They’ll be carrying much more than their workload…

…but you will see them.