On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane

by Emily Guendelsberger

I’ve seen so many ghost towns and shuttered factories in Kentucky, Indiana, and North Carolina—just drive twenty minutes in any direction, they’re everywhere—and it gives me a better understanding of Trump’s appeal. Politicians of both parties are almost universally positive about global trade—the concept was that free, efficient markets know best and that the loss of most of America’s manufacturing jobs would be outweighed by how much cheaper prices would get for everyone. The thing is, the many Americans whose jobs and communities were the collateral damage of globalization don’t feel like anybody asked if they’d like to exchange their functional but inefficient local economy for a much more efficient Walmart. Nobody asked Butch Patty if she’d like to trade her $20-an-hour job making furniture for a $10-an-hour job at Convergys plus the ability to buy a T-shirt for five dollars. And I can’t really blame them for feeling forgotten. Global trade would affect their lives the most and benefit them the least—at $10 an hour, you just don’t have much money to spend. Trump’s the only major politician I’ve heard say plainly that global trade’s benefits weren’t worth it, actually calling NAFTA “the worst trade deal in the history of the world” on the campaign trail. It’s not surprising to me that so many people who’ve spent twenty years watching their communities erode as a result of vast forces beyond their control were so desperately grateful when someone, anyone, finally said w...