Sleeping Giant by Tamara Draut Book Review. Essay.

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Sleeping Giant by Tamara Draut Book Review
Tamara Draut's Sleeping Giant's outlines the ways in which the opportunities and living standards of the working-class individuals have declined. Such is most evident in jobs that do not require an individual to have a college degree for them to get employed in that position. The main cause of the decline is the turning back of the gains that were being made during the post-colonial era by the organized business. According to the author, two main changes have taken place. The initial change is the shifts happening from industrial jobs to service jobs. As a result, the shift contributes to a substantial decline in wages. For instance, the working-class jobs pay $ less than what they used to pay in the 1980s. Such changes in wages have been made to accommodate the recent rate of inflation. In the past few decades, the American working class was considered to be the nation's backbone. However, such has changed a lot since today's working-class doesn't have any economic, political, or moral authority. In addition, the working class is characterized by the marginalization of different groups and the ignorance of such groups by politicians. Draut refers to today's working class as a sleeping giant. She analyzes the role that the new working class would play in the future of the American economy. Based on various historical backgrounds and individual narrations, it is clear that the current working class consists of energized workers who will be able to change America for the better (Draut 2016).
The author further examines the various causes of today's' invisibility of working classes. Among such causes are gender and racial exclusions. She describes today’s working class as the people that attend to daily activities such as taking care of their children, parking cares, and cleaning offices. As well, it will turn out to be impossible to ignore today’s working class. Some parts of the nation are winning the fight for the $15 minimum wage. Economic equality has also become one of the major issues that ought to be addressed in regard to today’s economy. The book presents such a transformation through the provision of inspiring details. Draut is the director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos, and therefore, her work is based on credible research. In the past, she has written a lot about the main economic issues that face current America. In addition, Draut has conducted research on America’s household debt.
The book is an eye-opener to the inequality of today’s labor market. Marginalized groups and women ought to be given a larger consideration when it comes to the allocation of job opportunities. However, this is not the case since the rate of unemployment among the whites is lower as compared to that of other marginalized groups. The working class needs to open their eyes to the reality of the world. The labor market pays low wages and has poor terms of employment. It is only when individuals have woken up to their political potential that they will be able to fight for changes in working conditions and wages. Draut explains how little American citizens have an understanding of their economy. However, in some cases, people choose to turn a blind eye to avoid facing the sad reality of our economy. The book describes plenty of such situations where people choose to ignore to avoid feeling the impacts of poor choices. Besides, by reading the book, people will be able to realize that a change can only be achieved by awakening their thoughts and accepting reality. She gives hope to people that they can change the future regardless of how messed up the economy is. American corporations often get away with bad actions despite the availability of la...