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Post by freecharlie on Dec 30, 2018 1:08:22 GMT
McCaskill stated while addressing the newly elected Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, "But I hope she also realizes that the parts of the country that are rejecting the Democratic Party, like a whole lot of white working class voters, need to hear about how their work is going to be respected, and the dignity of their jobs"
I just want to know who is the "white working class"
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Post by Linda on Dec 30, 2018 1:12:55 GMT
I don't know about white specifically - but working class = working poor to me...they have jobs but don't make enough to be middle class - service industry primarily...folks doing the jobs other people don't want and tend to look down on but they are hardworking respectable people doing their best for the most part.
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Post by busy on Dec 30, 2018 1:22:55 GMT
I’d say it’s generally jobs that are physical labor intensive, even positions like skilled trades that financially can be somewhat lucrative. I think “working class” has a lot to do with mindset, not just income. Often view higher education as unnecessary or even undesirable. Tend to put more value on immediate community’s needs and less on a national or global perspective. Likely to look at government with general distrust.
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sassyangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,456 
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Post by sassyangel on Dec 30, 2018 1:30:33 GMT
Interesting question, generally traditionally it always seems to be applied to those of more manual/service variety jobs? But maybe you could really extend it to those that live check to check or work a couple of jobs to make ends meet? People that literally work just to keep their head above water are referred to as working poor. It didn’t realize there was a racial demographic component to it, though - I’d akways thought it was defined solely by economics, firstly.
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Post by Merge on Dec 30, 2018 1:36:54 GMT
I'd say it's roughly defined as white adults without a college education. Not a hard and fast definition by any means.
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Dec 30, 2018 1:45:27 GMT
McCaskill stated while addressing the newly elected Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, "But I hope she also realizes that the parts of the country that are rejecting the Democratic Party, like a whole lot of white working class voters, need to hear about how their work is going to be respected, and the dignity of their jobs" I guess she forgets that Ocasio-Cortez was working as a bartender .. |
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Post by myshelly on Dec 30, 2018 1:48:40 GMT
I’d say it’s generally jobs that are physical labor intensive, even positions like skilled trades that financially can be somewhat lucrative. I think “working class” has a lot to do with mindset, not just income. Often view higher education as unnecessary or even undesirable. Tend to put more value on immediate community’s needs and less on a national or global perspective. Likely to look at government with general distrust. I do agree with this. That the phrase “working class” has been co opted to mean a mindset more than an economic position or set of jobs. |
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Post by supersoda on Dec 30, 2018 1:58:58 GMT
I would say that I grew up “white working class.” My mother was a retail store manager and my dad was a machinist. Other family members worked in construction, truck driving, on the line in factories, as mechanics, and in secretarial positions. I think only one person in the generations before me when to college. My grandfather told me to learn to type because I was smart enough to make someone a good secretary one day (I’m a lawyer now). Maybe a third of my generation and below have completed college.
Some live paycheck-to-paycheck, but not all. No one drives luxury cars or takes extravagent vacations. They’re meat and potatoes people and a nice restaurant is a chain. They tend to be able to take care of things like car and home repairs themselves. It’s almost disgraceful to pay someone to do something you can do yourself.
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Post by frenchie on Dec 31, 2018 3:22:49 GMT
McCaskill stated while addressing the newly elected Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, "But I hope she also realizes that the parts of the country that are rejecting the Democratic Party, like a whole lot of white working class voters, need to hear about how their work is going to be respected, and the dignity of their jobs" I guess she forgets that Ocasio-Cortez was working as a bartender .. She was working as a bartender, but she has a degree from Boston University. |
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Post by annabella on Dec 31, 2018 3:25:23 GMT
I'd say it's roughly defined as white adults without a college education. Not a hard and fast definition by any means. That's what I was thinking. |
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Post by lisacharlotte on Dec 31, 2018 4:14:15 GMT
People in jobs that do not require a university degree but are not entry level service jobs. Things like skilled labor. Blue collar does not mean poor or low pay. Some skilled labor jobs pay much better than white collar jobs.
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Post by workingclassdog on Dec 31, 2018 4:27:15 GMT
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Post by tracyarts on Dec 31, 2018 4:53:01 GMT
People in jobs that do not require a university degree but are not entry level service jobs. Things like skilled labor. Blue collar does not mean poor or low pay. Some skilled labor jobs pay much better than white collar jobs. This is true. My dad was a machinist and earned more than my husband, who is an insurance adjuster. Entry level industrial jobs pay much better than entry level office jobs here. Between the ports and plants/refineries, blue collar work is where the money is at where I live. |
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Post by manda on Dec 31, 2018 8:50:31 GMT
I'd say it's roughly defined as white adults without a college education. Not a hard and fast definition by any means. I’m white with no degree yet I make a 6 figure salary. I doubt people would consider me working class. My fiancé is in a blue collar job with a secondary degree (also 6 figure salary almost double what I make) and I would not consider him working class either though I guess many would based on his job. I acknowledge he and I are anomalies but I don’t think degree has a thing to do with “working class” status. I think of working class as involving service, retail, manufacturing, or physical labor. Roughly 30% of Americans over the age of 30 have a degree so I don’t think degree has anything to do with this term. I also have no clue who is being quoted in the OP. |
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Post by Linda on Dec 31, 2018 13:46:17 GMT
People in jobs that do not require a university degree but are not entry level service jobs. Things like skilled labor. Blue collar does not mean poor or low pay. Some skilled labor jobs pay much better than white collar jobs. This is true. My dad was a machinist and earned more than my husband, who is an insurance adjuster. Entry level industrial jobs pay much better than entry level office jobs here. Between the ports and plants/refineries, blue collar work is where the money is at where I live. This is true - the factory workers at DH's job make more (wages + bonus) than the office workers (engineering/drafting/sales etc...) - I know sometimes the factory workers apply to move into the office but the paycut deters many of them (most that switch do so because they can no longer work in the factory due to injury/age - it's a young man's job for the most part) |
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Post by Linda on Dec 31, 2018 13:49:27 GMT
I'd say it's roughly defined as white adults without a college education. Not a hard and fast definition by any means. I’m white with no degree yet I make a 6 figure salary. I doubt people would consider me working class. My fiancé is in a blue collar job with a secondary degree (also 6 figure salary almost double what I make) and I would not consider him working class either though I guess many would based on his job. I acknowledge he and I are anomalies but I don’t think degree has a thing to do with “working class” status. I think of working class as involving service, retail, manufacturing, or physical labor. Roughly 30% of Americans over the age of 30 have a degree so I don’t think degree has anything to do with this term. I also have no clue who is being quoted in the OP. Dh has a 2-yr degree and a whitecollar job (one that typically requires a 4-yr degree but he's been in the field a long time and worked his way up w/o the degree - he can't go any further though because the next step requires engineering license and w/o the degree, he isn't eligible to test for one). We're middle class NOW but we've been working poor in the past. I have a 4yr degree but I've never worked anything other than minimum wage jobs (retail/service). |
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AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,968
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Post by AnotherPea on Dec 31, 2018 15:06:23 GMT
I’d say it is the group of non-professionals that are getting a regular paycheck. Race has no part of it.
I wouldn’t even put a whole lot of importance on gross salary. I would have considered coworkers at my former job working class even though they made $40 K more a year than the engineers.
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The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,944
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Dec 31, 2018 15:48:41 GMT
The way it is being used: I agree with the state of mind definintion. Working class is different than working poor.
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Country Ham
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,313
Jun 25, 2014 19:32:08 GMT
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Post by Country Ham on Dec 31, 2018 15:57:19 GMT
See I consider us working class and do not meet the requirements listed here. My husband works 2 full time jobs plus a part time job and we still do not have a 6 figure salary. But he does have his masters and works in the education field, and pastors 2 churches. He works his ass off so we don't have to live pay check to pay check. Many parts of the world the jobs and hours he puts in would give us a much higher income bracket. Without his part time job we would struggle to pay for insurance especially with his having cancer twice.
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