Working For Change has posted a must-read BuzzFlash interview with Barbara Ehrenreich about her new book "Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream." Here's a quote:
A lot of our young people -- college students, who are encouraged to major in things like management or marketing. The most popular major in the United States on our campuses today is business -- it's business-related majors. Today's students think that this way, they'll be secure. The thinking is, don't go into art history or philosophy, which might be more interesting to you, but stick to what should pay off, and then go into that corporate world and play by the rules, and conform to all the detailed expectations, and do reasonably well -- and you should be comfortable for life.
But that's not how it works out any more. The whole relationship between corporations and their white-collar employees has broken down since the beginning of the nineties. Now people are tossed off, out of their jobs for the slightest reason, or just because it's part of making the CEO look good because he's made the corporation leaner and meaner.
Ehrenreich is right on target about the thinking of college age young people. I heard my underemployed Rice graduated son employing similar logic about business-related majors as he was enrolling in graduate school. I plan to buy him a copy of Ehrenreich's book.
1 comment:
I've seen just those scenes with upper and middle management, where they are escorted out of the building by security and someelse cleans out the office. It happens even in Hospitals. I'm in a needed role, but managers are a dime a dozen. Another great book is "Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert Kkdfjfjkfjldkjsky. The poor dad goes to school (he's a teacher), gets a job and is supposed to be set until retirement with a pension. Even now with companies going banckrupt, even retires are getting scr...d.
Not sure what the answer is.
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