''Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream'' is a book by Adam Shepard, a graduate of

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a private Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. Its campus has grown to a campus with nearly 40 bu ...

, about his attempt to live the American Dream. It was conceived as a refutation of the books ''

Nickel and Dimed ''Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America'' is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Written from her perspective as an undercover journalist, it sets out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the working poor in t ...

'' and ''

Bait and Switch Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud used in retail sales but also employed in other contexts. First, customers are "baited" by merchants' advertising products or services at a low price, but when customers visit the store, they discover that the a ...

'' by

Barbara Ehrenreich Barbara Ehrenreich (, ; ; August 26, 1941 – September 1, 2022) was an American author and political activist. During the 1980s and early 1990s, she was a prominent figure in the Democratic Socialists of America. She was a widely read and awar ...

Background

While Shepard states that his story is not politically motivated, he did intend it to be a rebuttal to

's books ''Nickel and Dimed'' and ''Bait and Switch'' on a socio-economic level. He writes, "Ehrenreich attempted to establish that working stiffs are doomed to live in the same disgraceful conditions forever … my story is a search to evaluate if hard work and discipline provide any payoff whatsoever or if they are, as Ehrenreich suggests, futile pursuits." In achievement of his goal, Shepard resolved not to use his college education, credit history, or any of his previous contacts to help himself. Additionally, he would not beg for money or use services that were not available to others.

Social issues

Along the way, Shepard explores controversial premises, such as: *Why the book ''Nickel and Dimed'' was flawed from the beginning. *Why raising the minimum wage does not stimulate the economy of the lower class. *Why immigration and job outsourcing are not the causes of decreasing opportunity in the American workforce. *How certain individuals are profiting from the consumer's fear of the death of the American Dream.Article on Official Website
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Final outcome

A February 11, 2008, article about the book in ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

'' states, "During his first 70 days in Charleston, Shepard lived in a shelter and received food stamps. He also made new friends, finding work as a day laborer, which led to a steady job with a moving company. Ten months into the experiment, he decided to quit after learning of an illness in his family. But by then he had moved into an apartment, bought a pickup truck, and had saved around $5,300." While he achieved his goals through hard work and discipline as well as privileges such as

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With roots ...

male privilege Male privilege is the system of advantages or rights that are available to men solely on the basis of their sex. A man's access to these benefits may vary depending on how closely they match their society's ideal masculine norm. Academic studi ...

, and being

able-bodied {{Short pages monitor