Archive: Jack Metzgar
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WCP: Biden and Social Wages
Far too many Americans work full-time and still struggle to get by. In Working-Class Perspectives this week, Jack Metzgar argues that several parts of President Biden's American Family Plan can chang
Categories: News, Working-Class Perspectives
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WCP: Is Neoliberalism Dead? Class Struggle and a Wealth Tax
The first months of President Joe Biden's term offer hope that we may soon see the end of neoliberalism. Instead of cutting taxes for the rich in the hope that wealth will somehow "trickle down" to
Categories: News, Working-Class Perspectives
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WCP: Cultural and Political Diversity in the White Working-Class
All too often, political commentators describe working-class whites as if they were all the same -- ignorant, backward, deplorable. But as Jack Metzgar writes in Working-Class Perspectives this week,
Category: News
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WCP: Jobs and Medicare for All
The idea of Medicare for All is gaining attention and support in American politics — so much that it’s now getting careful analysis of its benefits and costs. In Working-Class Perspectives this week, Jack Metzgar considers the most significant cost: jobs for workers in health care and the insurance industry. A better health plan, he argues, must be accompanied by a just transition policy for workers.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Middle-Class Influence vs. Working-Class Character
Children start learning the culture of their social class early on, and those lessons shape not only their own behavior and opportunities but also the way others respond to them. In this week’s Working-Class Perspective, Jack Metzgar reviews Jessica Calarco’s book on how middle-class children learn to negotiate for better opportunities, while working-class children are taught to be deferential.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Becky and the Grind
Working one’s way out of poverty, once an attainable ambition for the working-class, has now become a practical impossibility. In this week’s Working-Class Perspectives, Jack Metzgar details the story of Becky, a working-class single mother who struggled to do all she could just to not fall deeper into poverty, and the complex social dynamics of a family trying to support her.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Social Class and Trump Voters
More than a year after the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, journalists are still making sense of the role of social class in the outcome. In this week’s Working-Class Perspective, Jack Metzgar focuses on a recent Politico article that made waves to show how reporters often misdefine “the white working class,” leading many progressives to learn the wrong lessons from Trump’s election.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Equal Opportunity Is Not Enough
There has been no shortage of explanations and proposed solutions to America’s growing class divide. A recent effort by Richard Reeves’ Dream Horders expands blame from the top 1% to the top 20% of incomes for manipulating the system to benefit their children. In this week’s Working-Class Perspective, Jack Metzgar critiques Reeves’ solutions for reflecting classist attitudes and neglecting transformational policies to generate shared prosperity.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: Fear of Hygge and Working-Class Social Capital
The Danish concept of hygge associated with coziness, peace of mind, and communality has received much attention and scrutiny from commentators in the United States. In this week’s Working-Class Perspective, Jack Metzgar argues that hygge is quintessentially a working-class ethic that eludes Americans due to an increasingly rigid professional culture and the absence of robust social welfare.
Category: Visiting Scholars
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WCP: The Working Class at the Oscars
Portrayals of working-class people in popular culture often depend on stereotypes, yet this year's Oscar-nominated films are a pleasant exception. In this week's Working-Class Perspective, Jack Metz
Category: Visiting Scholars