A Must Study Say Obama, Oprah And Book Clubs. They Are Right
Book Review
By Robert Weiner and Patricia Berg
It’s no wonder why former President Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey recommended it, and why it’s been on the Washington Post Best seller-list for months. “Poverty, By America” is a must-study for experts and the rest of us alike.
In and out of The PuLSE Institute as a nationally leading anti-poverty think-tank and action organization whose founding was inspired by the acclaimed equity author and guru Bankole Thompson, this book is a keeper. The stunning revelations in the book underscore why organizations like The PuLSE Institute must continue to be at the forefront of the fight for economic justice in our nation, and especially in Detroit, one of the largest concentrations of income inequality.
Pulitzer-prize winning author Matthew Desmond tells us the harsh numbers of poverty, the reasons poverty exists– and what to do about it. He’s not wrong about some of the reasons and solutions– like the Reagan, Bush, and Trump tax breaks for the wealthy paid for by the rest of us, and the country’s laws that guarantee that the wealthy keep the benefits paid by the poor in housing, health care, and business.
But his simply saying we should abolish those inequities is pie in the sky unrealistic politically when many of them were compromises that good faith congressional and national leaders had to absorb holding their noses to get other good programs to save the economy from crashes or help people — and which powerful wealthy constituencies will never, ever, agree to cut back.
However, some solutions, like advertising and reaching out to TELL people what programs exist to help them and how to use them, when Desmond points out the numbers have increased 20-40% and in some cases even tripled when advertised, are obviously so good that we are each and every one of us crazy not to push every state and local government, and the Congress and White House, to adopt these. They are a must-include into political platforms and action plans at all levels. He urges everyone to become “poverty abolitionists” and “empower the poor”, “invest in ending poverty”, and build “prosperity without poverty.”
Every book club should include this book. Phyllis Lee, the Prince George’s County liaison and organizer for the Camp Springs Md Senior Activities Center Book Club, pointed out that author Desmond, born to lower-middle parents, demonstrates that “the rate of poverty has remained pretty much the same over the last 50 years but funding has continued to surge.” At a recent meeting, she and other Club members argued that we pay both ways, in tax breaks for the rich and in government programs that wind up generating a later pay-for that benefits the wealthy more than the poor.
Desmond discovered that “billions of dollars set aside for the poor remain unclaimed by those who qualify… America’s poverty is not for lack of resources.”
He argues, in a central contribution by the book, “THE LOW HANGING FRUIT HERE IS TO MAKE SURE AMERICANS GET CONNECTED TO THE AID FOR WHICH THEY QUALIFY.” In one case, “One intervention tripled the rate of elderly enrolled in food stamps by providing information about the program and offering sign-up assistance.” California had found that a third of residents who qualified were not using them.
It’s not what people think is the reason for non-use– stigma. Desmond states, “The bulk of the evidence indicates that low income Americans are not taking full advantage of government programs for a much more banal reason: We’ve made it hard and confusing.”
At the Camp Springs club, Jim called the book “positive and depressing, learning that the problems are true today and 30–40 years ago.”
Roslyn noted that “the country is capitalist… people don’t acknowledge that poor people have needs.” She added, “One problem is unions have lost power. If there’s a union, employers act differently.”
Sandy pointed out, “The poor have to pay for everything–even getting checks cashed– just to survive. The message is ‘Don’t be a Mother with kids and single’. “
Phyllis said that the book tells us, “The country doesn’t want to do away with poverty. A bank says no loan, so payday loan people double up interest rates. Then, banks underwrite and then profit from the payday loans.”
She added, “Congress always pushes block grants versus direct grants– with more money to homeowner subsidies than housing for the poor.”
Wanda, from West Virginia, wondered how Senator Manchin blocked child tax credits for poor families, which for its short time in existence cut child poverty in half–when many families in that state have “for a hundred years lived without water or plumbing. They don’t know better-it’s not advertised.”
Sandy said we need to fight “tipflation”: She said., “Americans resent that employers pay unfair wages” and effectively “ask customers to make up the difference.”
Marjory asserted that :”interest rates of credit cards are exorbitant– 20-29%, but if you are short on food, you use a credit card.” She added, “We used to have usury laws to stop exorbitant interest rates. Who gets rich from interest rates? Banks.”
Wanda put it together: “If you can fight the government, fine. But if you can’t, the next person must help. It’s the moral thing to do.”
Desmond demonstrated that there is a major racial element to poverty, including disproportionate justice enforcement and imprisonment.
The book catalogues the details on every point.
Brenda urged that “everyone in any organization should read this book.” All in the Club agreed, as the book urges, “We have to be “poverty abolitionists.'”
Robert Weiner is a member of the PuLSE Institute National Advisory Board, a former Clinton and Bush White House spokesman, former Spokesperson under Chairman John Conyers for the House Government Operations and Judiciary Committees, and senior aide to Cong. Charles Rangel, Ed Koch, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and Gen. Barry McCaffrey.
Patricia Berg, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita at the George Washington University, former senior fellow at the National Institutes of Health, elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Senior Editor and Chief Scientist for Robert Weiner Associates News and Solutions for Change Foundation, and Weiner’s wife. Both Dr. Berg and Weiner are members of the Camp Springs Seniors Book Club.
Bankole Thompson is the founding executive dean and editor-in-chief of The PuLSE Institute, Detroit’s national anti-poverty think tank. A nationally renowned journalist and standard-bearer for economic justice, he was recently named to the national board of directors of the historic Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the signature civil rights organization co-founded by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who served as its first president and which led the Civil Rights Movement. He is a twice-a-week opinion columnist at The Detroit News, where his column on the presidency, public leadership and socioeconomic issues appears on Mondays and Thursdays in the newspaper. His latest book is titled, Fiery Conscience. For submission inquiries about guest columns and articles in The PuLSE Institute write to him at info@thepulseinstitute.org
