As you may have noticed, I'm reading "Nickle and Dimed," by Barbara Ehrenreich. Its a disturbing look at how people don't get by in America. Ms. Ehrenreich actually went out into the workforce as a low-wage employee and worked as a waitress, a Merry Maid, a WalMart employee, etc. Her wage averaged around $7/hour. Her intent was to demonstrate what a single mother, recently disqualified from welfare, might be going through. You can't live like that. She trimmed all possible expenses, living hand-to-mouth as she was conducting her experiment. And then she was lucky enough to return to her real home--a successful author who knew where her next meal was coming from.
I recently heard it said that a Republican was someone who was into foreign aid, and a Democrat was someone who was into domestic aid. I've never been able to decide which type of aid was more right, but reading this book certainly tells me that something needs to change.