Disney no doubt wants people who focus on their various parks to pay attention to the Marvel-themed and Star Wars-themed exhibits that they're constructing. The last thing the House that Mickey built needs right now is for the mystique of the Magic Kingdom to be dragged back to earth by the grubbiness of, say, controversy over claims that they engage in exploitative labor practices.
Hence the big story from Friday: Protesters surrounded Disneyland to protest the park's allegedly unfair working conditions.
As protest organizer Jeanine Robbins told The Guardian, "Disney, we feel, is a contributor to the homeless problem here in Anaheim. There are Disney employees who live on the street. They live in their cars. They live in unstable housing."
Unfortunately, Robbin noted that many pedestrians are hostile to their cause, arguing that they claim "if they aren’t making enough money, ‘why don’t they go work somewhere else? Why don’t they go live somewhere else if they can’t afford to live here?’"
A Disneyland worker also told the site, "I see a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck. I see a lot of people living in long-term motels or living in their cars. I love my job. It’s not the job that’s the problem; it’s the pay."
Although a Disneyland spokeswoman told The Guardian that Disney has offered "support a number of nonprofits [in the community] and have donated millions of dollars to support their efforts," a policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union of southern California insists that "Disneyland is nowhere in the picture" when it comes to addressing the homelessness crisis.
It's a shocking reminder how little has been done to make wages meet the rising cost of living, even in the cases of highly profitable businesses who can afford to pay their workers well. Disneyland, incidentally, is listed as the number-one employer in Orange County
If you can find metaphor for — and example of — the slow death of the American dream that tops Cinderella living in her car, please let us know.
By Matthew Rozsa
Matthew Rozsa is a professional writer whose work has appeared in multiple national media outlets since 2012 and exclusively at Salon since 2016. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012, was a guest on Fox Business in 2019, repeatedly warned of Trump's impending refusal to concede during the 2020 election, spoke at the Commonwealth Club of California in 2021, was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022 and appeared on NPR in 2023. His diverse interests are reflected in his interviews including: President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (1999-2001), animal scientist and autism activist Temple Grandin, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (1997-2001), director Jason Reitman ("The Front Runner"), inventor Ernő Rubik, comedian Bill Burr ("F Is for Family"), novelist James Patterson ("The President's Daughter"), epidemiologist Monica Gandhi, theoretical cosmologist Janna Levin, voice actor Rob Paulsen ("Animaniacs"), mRNA vaccine pioneer Katalin Karikó, philosopher of science Vinciane Despret, actor George Takei ("Star Trek"), climatologist Michael E. Mann, World War II historian Joshua Levine (consultant to "Dunkirk"), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (2013-present), dog cognition researcher Alexandra Horowitz, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson (2012, 2016), comedian and writer Larry Charles ("Seinfeld"), seismologist John Vidale, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman (2000), Ambassador Michael McFaul (2012-2014), economist Richard Wolff, director Kevin Greutert ("Saw VI"), model Liskula Cohen, actor Rodger Bumpass ("SpongeBob Squarepants"), Senator John Hickenlooper (2021-present), Senator Martin Heinrich (2013-present), Egyptologist Richard Parkinson, Rep. Eric Swalwell (2013-present), Fox News host Tucker Carlson, actor R. J. Mitte ("Breaking Bad"), theoretical physicist Avi Loeb, biologist and genomics entrepreneur William Haseltine, comedian David Cross ("Scary Movie 2"), linguistics consultant Paul Frommer ("Avatar"), Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (2007-2015), computer engineer and Internet co-inventor Leonard Kleinrock and right-wing insurrectionist Roger Stone.
Shares