Barbara Ehrenreich, RIP

One of the reasons Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed hit home so hard upon its publication in 2001 is that it came at a moment when both the Democratic and Republican parties had abandoned to the poor. The only time the poor got any attention in the media is when politicians decided to punish them some more, such as Bill Clinton’s welfare “reform” program. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a time when people thought Bill and Hillary Clinton were remotely good for working class people but a lot of people convinced themselves it was true. Meanwhile, the poor lived in great poverty and the media, which cheerleader the punishment of the poor and the rise of neoliberalism with great vigor, completely ignored what was happening on the ground. And then Barbara Ehrenreich decided to figure it out. She wrote many books in a very long career. But none had the impact of Nickel and Dimed, even today one of the most important books about contingent labor and poverty one can read. RIP.