" I am on Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and both my children are in school. . . . I have graduated from
college with distinction, 128th in a class of over 1000, with a B.A. in English and sociology. I have experience in
library work, child care, social work and counseling.
I have been to the CETA office. They have nothing for me. . . . I also go every week to the library to scour the
newspaper Help Wanted ads. I have kept a copy of every cover letter that I have sent out with my resume; the stack
is inches thick. I have applied for jobs paying as little as $8000 a year. I work part-time in a library for $3.50 an hour,
welfare reduces my allotment to compensate. . . .
It appears we have employment offices that can’t employ, governments that can’t govern and an economic
systemthat can’t produce jobs for people ready to work. . . .
Last week I sold my bed to pay for the insurance on my car, which, in the absence of mass transportation, I need
to go job hunting. I sleep on a piece of rubber foamsomebody gave me.
So this is the great American dream my parents came to this country for: Work hard, get a good education, follow
the rules, and you will be rich. I don’t want to be rich. I just want to be able to feed my children and live with some
semblance of dignity. . . . "

― Howard Zinn , A People's History of the United States: American Beginnings to Reconstruction