Forum Network
Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas
Mill Talk: Work, Democracy, & Your Paycheck: What Paystubs Can Tell Us About American Democracy & American Capitalism
When’s the last time you checked your paystub?
Most Americans don’t anymore. It can be hard to find them on HR websites. But Americans really should be checking their paystubs. Each of those deductions is a monument to fierce battles over what life should be like, on and off the job. They are also a reminder, every few weeks, that so much of what it has meant to be a citizen has been tied to the work that Americans have done.
Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, a professor of history at the University of Georgia, speaks at the Charles River Museum on the history behind the deductions on our paystubs and their connections to American democracy and capitalism.
Most Americans don’t anymore. It can be hard to find them on HR websites. But Americans really should be checking their paystubs. Each of those deductions is a monument to fierce battles over what life should be like, on and off the job. They are also a reminder, every few weeks, that so much of what it has meant to be a citizen has been tied to the work that Americans have done.
Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, a professor of history at the University of Georgia, speaks at the Charles River Museum on the history behind the deductions on our paystubs and their connections to American democracy and capitalism.
Just Published
In The News Now
