In Nickel and Dimed: On Not Making It in America, Barbara Ehrenreich gives an accurate, inside look at how living the bottom of the social ladder, those who earn their living through minimum wage jobs. Although some discrepancies are discussed, Barbara provides a unique perspective on individuals living at or below the poverty line. This article will critically analyze Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America, discuss two major themes of the book, and ultimately connect it to some points from Political Science 204. Ehrenreich begins his experience in Key West, near the place where she used to lives (Ehrenreich 25). Working as a waiter at a low-end restaurant, she soon realizes that to have enough money to make ends meet usually requires working two jobs, and soon chooses another. Eventually, she ends up leaving one, realizing she doesn't have the physical capacity to work two shifts in a row. Her next phase of her undercover work takes her to Portland, Maine, where she begins to see how poorly people are treated. the lower class. Working as a housekeeper, she is looked down upon by other members of society and treated even worse by her boss, who completely extorts her colleagues. Here she realizes that people are completely stuck in their jobs and have to work every day, just to make ends meet (Ehrenreich 119). Eventually his travels took him to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Ehrenreich worked as a salesman at a Walmart, the largest private employer. Here she struggles to find a place to live and eventually has to live in a very expensive motel. However, she is offered the highest payment option, $10 an hour, but turns it down because she believes... middle of paper ... furthermore, that low-income people are actually difficult. workers and are stuck in their socio-economic class. Finally, this article explains how this relates to our PS 204 class and how we can connect the ideas from this class with those from the book. Issues like equality raised in the book, and others like electoral participation, which is an issue raised by this author, are major issues in our country today. These issues need to be addressed so that people like Gail and Holly don't have to worry if they get hurt on the job because they know they will be taken care of. Confucius says it well: “In a well-governed country, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a poorly governed country, wealth is a shame.” (quote site). Our country has the capacity to help these people, the question is: what are you going to do about it ??