Negative Aspects of Industrialization

After the depression of the 1890's the United States experienced a monumental economic surge. This was primarily due to an innovative structure of production and distribution, also known as industrialization. The life of an average worker altered dramatically as industrialization took place. Typically, these alterations benefited the obscenely rich, and disintegrated workers' morale. Industrialization had a negative impact on the working people by facilitating minority subordination, persuading a loss of culture, and removing the power of skilled trades.

Unequal treatment of minorities did not start during industrialization, but its acceptance was strengthened considerably. This message was spread very efficiently because of the large amount of people involved in industrialization, poor and rich alike. Society collectively internalized racist and sexist views; making these views seem like facts. This was a time that could have taught tolerance on a large scale, but instead chose discrimination. The method that created these inequalities best was occupation. Being a woman, a racial minority, or both at this time meant second-class work. Each of these groups had their specific niches in which industrialization more or less placed them. All of the occupations were not absolutely degrading, but even if the occupation was somewhat glamorous, individuals could not count on being treated equally. These are the roles that taught America where minorities should belong.

The minority newest to the workforce were white women. Initially, this group was not viewed as an essential ingredient for employers, and in turn earned very poor pay. Reasoning behind the subordinate view and unfair earnings of women lay in some store owners' opinion that "their wages were appropriate because women who worked part time needed only to supplement their families' income. " In reality, "most part-time saleswomen eked out a meager living for years, hoping to be hired as part of the regular staff. "

As an educated white woman, one could aspire to rise to a more prestigious occupation than other minority groups. A field that occasionally let in women was commercial travel. This was extremely rare because the job was predominately male and "many companies simply would not hire women to travel. " Desire to work in department stores was high and seemed more attainable due to stories like that of Bessie Harrison. "Bessie Harrison, who began as a duster in the china department of a San Francisco department store, doubled her $4 weekly wage in a sales job five months later. Within ten years she had a buyer's position at $80 a week. " This did not happen every day. The most realistic and prestigious job for an educated white female to acquire would be a low clerical position. "These women generally earned more than other women who worked for wages, but they were subjected to rigid discrimination and segregation. " More readily available work was available in stores and domestic services, but both paid very little.

Minorities were kept at the bottom of society. As an ethnic minority or immigrant, occupations in domestic services were pretty much all that was available. Domestic services worked against both the mind and body. Beulah Nelson told Elizabeth Clark-Lewis about an incident she encountered working in domestic services. "Now, you had to cook the breakfast, you wait on all of them, all the children, and get them ready for schoolÐ'...Ð'....wash all the dishesÐ'...Ð'....Then you had to go make up all the bedsÐ'...Ð'...then you got to go out behind the houseÐ'...Ð'....pick what kind of vegetables you got to haveÐ'...Ð'....wash them and cook themÐ'.... " That was just a taste of the physical aspect to Nelson's job. She also had to deal with psychological abrasives. "But they didn't want no nigger to put they hand on their breadÐ'.....I would have had to pick up the bread out of the pan, and I still would have to take knife or fork to lift it to put in the plate to take to the table, and I know she didn't want me to touch itÐ'...Ð'...Ð'... " Situations like this were happening all over the United States and the children who would one day come into power were learning from them.

At first glance welfare capitalism seems like a great idea. What could be wrong with things like company showers, pay bonuses, and employee picnics? The answer is located in the motives behind creating such events. Joseph Debski describes his experience with welfare capitalism. "The Amoskeag had a textile club; anybody over eighteen who worked there could belong to it. It had a reading room canteen, billiard and pool tables, and card tables; and they used to have dances, probably once a month in the wintertimeÐ'.....During the strike of 1922, the textile club functioned the most because people didn't have anywhere else to goÐ'...Ð'...They didn't draw any lines and say people couldn't come in because of the strikeÐ'....The club kept going. " The YMCA and International Harvester were two other groups that understood it is possible to be an immigrant from a different country, learn about their culture, and still hold on to your own. Evidence of these two groups' goodwill can be seen in 1911 and 1912 when the YMCA inaugurated English classes and International Harvester added extra emphasis to safety, discipline and welfare work. These are three rare cases of genuinely altruistic welfare programs. I say