Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Barbara Ehrenreich

Quote by Barbara Ehrenreich

Work

Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream

This book delves into the complexities of the American Dream, highlighting the tactics employed by companies to lure customers with promises of a better life, only to deliver subpar products or services. The author analyzes the psychological and economic impacts of these practices on individuals and society as a whole. more

Author

Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara Ehrenreich is an American political figure born on August 26, 1941. She is known for her activities in labor movements, social justice, and gender equality. more

You May Also Like

“This is the dark part of the American story, the kind of thing we work to hide. Mobility means discomfort, because so much has to change; one can’t allow for the satisfactions of stasis: You prick yourself and move, digging spurs into your own hide to get going, forcing yourself to forget the comforts of the barn. In this country, we speak grandly of this metamorphosis, never stopping to consider that for many class travelers with passports stamped for new territory, the trip is nothing less than a bridge burning.”

“I do not believe in the American Dream, but I believe in American daydreams. The American Dream keeps you working for a future that never comes built on a past that never happened. It is not so much a dream as a value judgement. A pretense of patriotism at a price few can pay and at a cost few can bear. But daydreams don't carry that burden, daydreams are a protected realm free from expectation. They soften things that are hard and bad letting you imagine a past that went better than it did and a future that could go better than it will. Day dreams are private and pointless. No one expects day dreams to come true yet sometimes to one's joyous surprise, they do.”