Waltzing with the Ghost of Tom Joad

Waltzing with the Ghost of Tom Joad PDF Author: Robert Lee Maril
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806134284
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
In Oklahoma, eighth-poorest state in the nation, poverty is a pressing social problem. Even so, Robert Lee Maril’s Waltzing with the Ghost of Tom Joad is the first comprehensive analysis of poverty in the state. Skillfully combining ethnography with statistical analysis, Maril portrays the lives of poverty-stricken Oklahomans, many of them children, minorities, and the elderly. Exploring myths about the poor and discussing the facts behind these myths, Maril discusses the real causes of poverty in the state, especially low-wage labor. He concludes by presenting a public-policy agenda that would benefit the poor directly and, in so doing, improve the lives of all Oklahomans. From the Foreword by Robert McCormick: Why did my grandparents and many Oklahomans of their generation escape from poverty while many others did not? The reasons are not clear. Nor do we have easy explanations for those present-day Oklahomans fighting the same struggle. Robert Lee Maril’s compelling account shows the plight of hundreds of thousands who remain poor even though conditions in the state have vastly improved. Blaming the victim is not an option for intelligent and caring Oklahomans. The question before us today is, what will we do as citizens to reduce the level of poverty in our state? From my vantage point as someone who has fought for increased opportunities for Oklahomans. I have seen a common thread that runs through story after story of individuals who make the move from poverty to prosperity: that thread is access to and support for education. Inherent inequalities in economic and family backgrounds often dissipate before doors that education routinely opens. One wonders in reading Dr. Maril’s accounts of Oklahomans in poverty how different their stories might have been had someone cared enough to see to it that their underlying condition of poverty did not interfere with their opportunity to get an education.

Waltzing with the Ghost of Tom Joad

Waltzing with the Ghost of Tom Joad PDF Author: Robert Lee Maril
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806134284
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Get Book Here

Book Description
In Oklahoma, eighth-poorest state in the nation, poverty is a pressing social problem. Even so, Robert Lee Maril’s Waltzing with the Ghost of Tom Joad is the first comprehensive analysis of poverty in the state. Skillfully combining ethnography with statistical analysis, Maril portrays the lives of poverty-stricken Oklahomans, many of them children, minorities, and the elderly. Exploring myths about the poor and discussing the facts behind these myths, Maril discusses the real causes of poverty in the state, especially low-wage labor. He concludes by presenting a public-policy agenda that would benefit the poor directly and, in so doing, improve the lives of all Oklahomans. From the Foreword by Robert McCormick: Why did my grandparents and many Oklahomans of their generation escape from poverty while many others did not? The reasons are not clear. Nor do we have easy explanations for those present-day Oklahomans fighting the same struggle. Robert Lee Maril’s compelling account shows the plight of hundreds of thousands who remain poor even though conditions in the state have vastly improved. Blaming the victim is not an option for intelligent and caring Oklahomans. The question before us today is, what will we do as citizens to reduce the level of poverty in our state? From my vantage point as someone who has fought for increased opportunities for Oklahomans. I have seen a common thread that runs through story after story of individuals who make the move from poverty to prosperity: that thread is access to and support for education. Inherent inequalities in economic and family backgrounds often dissipate before doors that education routinely opens. One wonders in reading Dr. Maril’s accounts of Oklahomans in poverty how different their stories might have been had someone cared enough to see to it that their underlying condition of poverty did not interfere with their opportunity to get an education.

Sharing the Dream

Sharing the Dream PDF Author: Dominic Pulera
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 9780826416438
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
White males, 100 million strong, constitute approximately 35 percent of the U.S. population, a percentage that declines slightly each year. They matter very much to discussions of race, ethnicity, and gender in the US due to their numbers and the enormous influence they have wielded—and continue to wield. In this highly original and readable work, Dominic Pulera offers the broadest and most balanced treatment of the white male experience in America to date. He contends that virtually all white males are sharing the American dream with women and people of color, in response to the nation's changing demographics and the multicultural mindset that informs policies and attitudes in our nation. Some white males are sharing the dream voluntarily; others are doing so involuntarily. The author also explores the heterogeneity of white male America, taking into account such factors as age, ethnicity, ideology, social class, regional background, occupational status, and sexual orientation. This timely work relies on a broad range of sources, including extensive field research and hundreds of interviews along with the best primary and secondary sources available. It includes original historical treatments, discussion of contemporary dynamics, and comparative material that takes into account the experiences of peoples in other countries. In doing so, Pulera places white males in the context of America's ongoing transition from a predominantly white country to one where people of color are increasingly numerous and consequently becoming more visible. Dominic J. Pulera is an independent scholar who lectures and writes about issues related to race, ethnicity, and gender. In the wake of his first book, Visible Differences: Why Race Will Matter to Americans in the Twenty-First Century, he spoke at 13 universities on 4 continents and appeared on a one-hour segment of Book TV (C-Span). He has been a frequent guest on radio and television programs in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath PDF Author: John Steinbeck
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1440637121
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 530

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Book Description
The Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression, a book that galvanized—and sometimes outraged—millions of readers. First published in 1939, Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads—driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one man’s fierce reaction to injustice, and of one woman’s stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck’s powerful landmark novel is perhaps the most American of American Classics. This Centennial edition, specially designed to commemorate one hundred years of Steinbeck, features french flaps and deckle-edged pages. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Alternative Oklahoma

Alternative Oklahoma PDF Author: Davis D. Joyce
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806138190
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Contrarian Sooner views of Oklahoma history

We Take Care of Our Own

We Take Care of Our Own PDF Author: June Skinner Sawyers
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 1978835728
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 99

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Book Description
We Take Care of Our Own traces the evolution of Bruce Springsteen’s beliefs, beginning with his New Jersey childhood and ending with his most recent works from Springsteen on Broadway to Letter to You. The author follows the singer’s life, examining his albums and a variety of influences (both musical and nonmusical), especially his Catholic upbringing and his family life, to show how he became an outspoken icon for working-class America—indeed for working-class life throughout the world. In this way, the author emphasizes the universality of Springsteen’s canon and depicts how a working-class sensibility can apply to anyone anywhere who believes in fairness and respect. In addition, the author places Springsteen in the historical context not only of literature (especially John Steinbeck) but also of the art world (specifically the work of Thomas Hart Benton and Edward Hopper). Among the themes explored in the book include community, a sense of place, America as the Promised Land, the myth of the West, and, ultimately, mortality.

Economic Abundance

Economic Abundance PDF Author: William M. Dugger
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317472675
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Most principles of economics texts are predicated narrowly on the concept of scarcity as a fundamental force, but that is only one aspect of economics. This supplemental text for basic and intermediate level undergraduates provides a serious discussion of the concept of abundance - what it means, how we can move toward it, and what keeps us from doing so. The authors first outline the development of the concept of abundance and its meaning with discussions of the roles of population, resources, and the environment. Then they consider why abundance escapes us, focusing on the detrimental roles of four predatory behaviors - classism, nationalism, sexism, and racism. As a remedy, they propose a policy of universal employment as a replacement for full employment, and explore the effects of pushing the unemployment rate down to absolute zero.

Fishers At Work, Workers At Sea

Fishers At Work, Workers At Sea PDF Author: David Griffith
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 9781566399111
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Based on a sample survey of 102 households. Focuses on Puerto Rican fishers who also engage in paid employment in the USA.

One Nation, Underprivileged

One Nation, Underprivileged PDF Author: Mark Robert Rank
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780198026181
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
Despite its enormous wealth, the United States leads the industrialized world in poverty. One Nation, Underprivileged unravels this disturbing paradox by offering a unique and radically different understanding of American poverty. It debunks many of our most common myths about the poor, while at the same time provides a powerful new framework for addressing this enormous social and economic problem. Mark Robert Rank vividly shows that the fundamental causes of poverty are to be found in our economic structure and political policy failures, rather than individual shortcomings or attitudes. He establishes for the first time that a significant percentage of Americans will experience poverty during their adult lifetimes, and firmly demonstrates that poverty is an issue of vital national concern. Ultimately, Rank provides us with a new paradigm for understanding poverty, and outlines an innovative set of strategies that will reduce American poverty. One Nation, Underprivileged represents a profound starting point for rekindling a national focus upon America's most vexing social and economic problem.

Standardized Childhood

Standardized Childhood PDF Author: Bruce Fuller
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804763283
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
A array of childcare and preschool options blossomed in the 1970s as the feminist movement spurred mothers into careers and community organizations nurtured new programs. Now a small circle of activists aims to bring more order to childhood, seeking to create a more standard, state-run preschool system. For young children already facing the rigors of play dates and harried parents juggling the strains of work and family, government is moving in to standardize childhood. Sociologist Bruce Fuller traveled the country to understand the ideologies of childhood and the raw political forces at play. He details how progressives earnestly seek to extend the rigors of public schooling down into the lives of very young children. Fuller then illuminates the stiff resistance from those who hold less trust in government solutions and more faith in nonprofits and local groups in contributing to the upbringing of young children. The call for universal preschool is a new front in the culture wars, raising sharp questions about American families, cultural diversity, and the appropriate role of the state in the lives of our young children. Standardized Childhood shows why the universal preschool movement is attracting such robust support—and strident opposition—nationwide.

Patrolling Chaos

Patrolling Chaos PDF Author: Robert Lee Maril
Publisher: Texas Tech University Press
ISBN: 9780896725942
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
Focuses on twelve typical Border Patrol agents over a two-year period.