In a nation comprised of citizens of varying class levels, ranging from the affluent, economic elite, to the poverty-stricken, working-class poor, each class has needs and wants particular to that class: the affluent want to stay affluent, and the poverty-stricken want to raise their standards of living beyond that of poverty. As citizens of a government created "by the people," and "for the people" we should hold the government accountable for facilitating the means by which to meet those needs. Yet the reality is that the working-poor, marginalized and underrepresented, find that while they work to meet the needs of the middle and upper class, their needs go largely ignored, leaving many of them trapped below the poverty line as the income gaps between the working rich and working poor expand. Poorly enforced work regulations, low minimum wages, high housing costs, inadequate healthcare and welfare reform are just some of the ways in which government policy (and a lack thereof) has impeded the working poor from rising out of destitution. In the book "Nickel and Dimed," and in the movies Matewan, Norma Rae, and Kramer v. Kramer, one can see the important role that government policy has in shaping the lives of its citizens, and how a lack of government initiative leaves those citizens subject to industry dictatorship. .
Matewan and Norma Rae, both inspired by actual events, show the damaging impacts that arise in the absence of government regulation. In Matewan, the miners were subject to a feudal society under the Stone Mountain Coal Company (SMCC) monopoly. Although they received wages the lack of competition meant that townspeople had little to no choice but to work in the mine. The miners and their families were completely dependent on the SMCC for survival, they lived in company homes, paid rent to the company, and purchased food and supplies from the company store using company "script", a type of money with no value apart from the company.
