HIST 128 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Reagan Coalition, Temporary Work, Walmart
Document Summary
Families who once had comfortable lives had difficulties making ends meet. Temporary work that only paid a fraction of what father was making in wisconsin steele. Lives not limited to workplace resilience of the community. Cascading impact built around the shutdown of the steel mill. Growing # of laid off workers found work in retail (i. e. mcdonalds) but making less than they were making in the factories. Fostered new kinds of social relationships: widened gap between ordinary workers and corporate executives. During post war, middle class expanded - if gap is growing, it means the middle class is shrinking. Reminiscent of turn of the century area bc of gap between rich and poor. By the end of 80s service sector corporations restructure to make themselves more efficient. Lost affluence which they had taken for granted. Affluence became available to smaller sector of society: wealth and prosperity persisted but the distribution of it changed. Blossomed with election of ronald reagan (1980)
