Frankie Machine Writes A Letter

Dear Mr. Brooks:

I write to correct you on misconceptions you presented in your New York Times column of August 3, 2006 (“Bye-Bye, Bootstraps”).

You omit a key part of the quotation you attribute to Christopher Priga. While you quote him as saying “To be honest, I’m kind of looking for the home run. There’s no point in hitting for base hits,” you do not inform your readers that he added, “I’ve been down the road where I did all the things I was supposed to do, and the end result of that is nil.”

This is an important distinction to understand. I speak from my own experience on this topic. Because of federal budget cuts, I was laid off by a government contractor, having held an editorial position of expertise and responsibility.

After a yearlong depressing and disillusioning job search, I had to take a job that paid 25% less than I was making, with a 45-minute commute that cannot be done by public transportation. What is my primary task at my new job? Checking the spelling on food packages.

Like you, I hold a degree from the University of Chicago. I did everything “right.” I put money away into my 401k and other saving vehicles from my first paycheck at my first post-college job. I did not own a car until I was 30. I lived in cheap apartments in bad parts of town. I showed up at the office every day, worked the long hours, went on the road trips, and put my own personal plans behind that of my employers.

Admittedly, on my current salary, I am also paying most of the expenses for my fiancée and myself. She is a graduate student at a large public university, studying public health. Despite what has traditionally been a good bet for raising one’s income, her extra education makes our economic chances look slim. Between us, at the end of each month, we find ourselves another increment toward being penniless. Slowly, the tide is overtaking us. With gasoline costing more than $3.00 a gallon, and food, electricity, and rent likewise rising in cost, I doubt I could support only myself on my new salary, much less two people.

Even for all my effort, we are about to be financially broken. I have no problem or resentment toward those who, like Mr. Priga, decide to live a life of leisure in the face of such a future. Life is short enough, and the pursuit of wealth has proven itself to be pointless and a lie. Why not liquidate the assets, draw on some equity, and enjoy the days reading wonderful books and writing stories? Nelson Algren was right. It’s a rigged ballgame, but the game’s not over yet.

Rather than admonish those who chuck it all as being lazy and un-industrious, you should have focused on the following facts of the modern working world:

1. An undergraduate degree is nothing more than a union card. Employers do not distinguish between a third-tier and top-ten college or university; all the B.A. represents is sticktoitiveness and the willingness to work any position to pay off student loans.
2. With senior citizens continuing to work and not retiring, this creates a massive crunch for fewer and fewer higher-level positions. Case in point, myself: at 31 years old, I am the youngest person at my company. With eight years work experience, I am also the lowest on the corporate totem pole.
3. The economy has shifted, in the last six years, from needing educated and intelligent people to being a service-based, low-skill economy. With the benefits of education and employment diminishing day by day, and people having to get by on less and less, this situation is soon to reach dismal levels.

That you did not address any of these points, and decided to write in a moralizing tone that recalls Weber’s Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, indicates that you don’t understand what is happening out here. It is bad, Mr. Brooks. With our nation’s energy, resources, and tax dollars being used in the war on Iraq, the shame of the wasted potential grows.

You attempt to wax nostalgic by saying, “Once upon a time, middle-class men would have defined their dignity by their ability to work hard, provide for their family and live as self-reliant members of society.” You fail to understand that those days are almost gone. I, and millions like me, work hard, but our ability to provide for our family and be self-reliant is diminishing rapidly. I assure you, Mr. Brooks, the situation you point to with Puritan self-righteousness did not arise from lack of trying. As I said, it is bad. And it’s going to get a lot worse.

Thank you for your time. I doubt I'll ever get to a U of C reunion, at this rate.

Sincerely,

Frankie Machine