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COVID Exposes: The Danger of a Near Destitute Working Class

Michael Francis
6 min readMar 26, 2020

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(Image Credit: Tom Parsons/Unsplash)

This article is the first of an ongoing series exploring the flaws in our society the current pandemic is exposing, in the hopes that we demand more than just a return to “normal” when this crisis passes. And this too shall pass.

For being the richest nation in the world, the working class of the United States sure is poor.

Like, really poor.

A recent study showed that 40% of Americans don’t have the cash on hand to cover a $400 expense. Another study showed that just 48% could cover a $1000 expense, without borrowing or selling their possessions.

This article does a great job explaining how our current populous is little more than neo-serfs, laborers that enrich others, few finding a way to get ahead themselves.

How did we get here?

Wage Stagnation

Wages for the working class of America haven’t moved much in half a century. You read that right. For fifty years, despite many items’ costs spiralling way up — namely college, housing — our wages have remained as they were.

The green line shows that, once adjusted for inflation, our wages have hardly moved at all. (Source: PEW Research Center/U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

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Michael Francis
Michael Francis

Written by Michael Francis

Trying to live and promote an examined life.

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