Posted on Mar 17, 2023
'Poverty, By America' shows how the rest of us benefit by keeping others poor
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https://www.npr.org/2023/03/17/ [login to see] /poverty-by-america-book-review-matthew-desmond-evicted
After Matthew Desmond won the Pulitzer for Evicted, about families struggling to stay housed, the Princeton sociologist realized he still didn't understand why the U.S. has more poverty than any other advanced democracy.
His new book Poverty, By America, provides a provocative and compelling answer: It's because the rest of us benefit from it, and act to keep it that way.
Desmond admits it feels rude to accuse ordinary people of exploiting others, especially as many don't even realize they're doing it. But he says to understand poverty requires examining not just the relentlessly demonized 1% but "ourselves... we the secure, the insured, the housed, the college educated, the protected, the lucky."
After Matthew Desmond won the Pulitzer for Evicted, about families struggling to stay housed, the Princeton sociologist realized he still didn't understand why the U.S. has more poverty than any other advanced democracy.
His new book Poverty, By America, provides a provocative and compelling answer: It's because the rest of us benefit from it, and act to keep it that way.
Desmond admits it feels rude to accuse ordinary people of exploiting others, especially as many don't even realize they're doing it. But he says to understand poverty requires examining not just the relentlessly demonized 1% but "ourselves... we the secure, the insured, the housed, the college educated, the protected, the lucky."
'Poverty, By America' shows how the rest of us benefit by keeping others poor
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