Elizabeth Warren - on the middle class as a Thanksgiving turkey
Elizabeth Warren has long warned that the middle class was under extreme stress. In 2003 she co-authored the “The Two income Trap” in which she and her daughter painted a vivid description of the financial tight-rope that the middle Class find themselves on. She recently appeared in Michael Moore’s film “Capitalism: A Love Story”.
Ms. Warren is currently chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the TARP funds. As such, she has been a refreshingly frank and uncompromising voice in the nation’s capital.
Why is this relevant to America’s brain drain? The dissolution of the middle class has a great deal to do with the breaking of the American brain trust. After all, an American scientist, engineer or academic has more in common with a UAW worker than it does with bankers, stockbrokers and sales people - at least when it comes to compensation. Actually, I take that back, UAW workers probably fare a lot better financially in the grand scheme of things. At the very least, they were not burdened by years spent out of the work force to complete an extensive education.
Thus the brain drain has everything to do with the dissolution of the middle class. Make no mistake, scientists and engineers are employees. They are working people - and as such their prosperity is linked to the prevailing trends of the work place.
The video is short, but on-point. Likening the middle class to a Thanksgiving turkey is a powerful and unfortunately - a very apt metaphor.
Further Reading:
Blogs where Elizabeth Warren is a contributer:
The Two-Income Trap by Elizabeth Warren &Amelia Warren Tyagi
© 2009 Ruthmarie G. Hicks, http://www.AmericasBrokenBraintrust.com. All rights reserved.
