To build her moral case against welfare reform, she turned the idea of dependency around, pointing out that the current economic boom is a result of the labor of former welfare recipients and other low-wage workers. This, she said, amounts to a dependency of the wealthy on other people's underpaid labor. You can become an activist for social and economic justice. After her speech, Ehrenreich was asked what gives her hope. She said that at the Wal-Mart where she'd worked, people had seemed dazed, beaten down.
Defiance is contagious.