Appreciation: Barbara Ehrenreich showed us how much it cost to be broke

Somebody has to grow and harvest the food in the fields. Somebody has to clean the carcasses, drive the trucks and unload the haul. Somebody has to process the food, prepare it, cook it, serve it. There's always somebody minding the register, stocking the shelves, wiping the counters, mopping the floors, scrubbing the toilets — even on workers' holidays like Labor Day. They smile at strangers, chase out troublemakers, lock the doors and wait for the bus in the dark.

America is run by the somebodies and hasn't known a day without their help. They make as little saw them, learned their names and had their backs. She thought it was the responsibility of white-collar workers like herself in the "professional-managerial class" — a term she helped coin in the 1970s — to recognize the struggle of blue-collar workers, and to join forces.