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Working Class Neighborhood

Copyright John F. McMullen 2019

Inwood, Manhattan, New York, New York
was, by and large, a working-class neighborhood
My father was NYPD
A friend’s father was NYFD
Another friend’s father was Transit Authority
None made it to college
Yet the three of the children have, in total,
amassed 5 Masters degrees and have had
careers as corporate or government executives

There were many stories like this in the neighborhood
Sons and daughters of working class parents
becoming lawyers, scientists, accountants, engineers.
and even more stories of non-college graduates
beginning at the bottom of an organization and
winding up as corporate vice presidents, labor leaders,
restaurant owners, high-level government officials, etc.
And even more public servants — NYPD, NYFD, etc.

That was then; this is now
College graduates generally enter the workplace
with over $100,000 in debt
There are no more “entry level jobs” from which to rise;
automation has eaten them and promises to eat many more
My generation is, by and large, better off than our parents’
It is understood that the next generation will be
less well off than their forebears.

There is much nostalgia in movies and novels
for working-class neighborhoods
It should be obvious why

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