So Rich, So Poor

So Rich, So Poor

I think there's one thing we can agree on, other than the
inevitability of death and taxes. The rich are getting richer. The
poor are getting poorer. The inbetween is getting smaller and smaller
in size. What we disagree on is the why. For conservatives it boils
down to lack of personal responsibility. If anything needs to be done
it's crack down more on those entitlement minded lazy folks. Liberals
see policy shortcomings and lack of opportunity as playing a role and
dictating a need for societal response.
Peter Edelman's So Rich, So Poor: Why It's So Hard To End
Poverty In America takes the second approach. He says things are not
as bad as they could be. Programs like SNAP (formerly food stamps)
and Medicaid make life more tolerable for a lot of people. But we're
very much on the wrong track. We have tens of millions of people
living in poverty and extreme poverty (less than $9,000 a year for a
family of three). Can you believe there are six million people whose
only income is food stamps?
Why are so many so poor? Edelman points to a number of
reasons. Bill Clinton ended welfare as we knew it, putting harsh
limitations on what had been a lifeline for disadvantaged women and
children. Corporations have sent the manufacturing jobs that helped
sustain a healthy middle class overseas. Many replacement jobs can't
lift families out of poverty even with two parents working. Not to
mention those many one parent households. While all this has been
going on, the wealthiest one percent has managed to grab up ever more
of the nation's GDP and resist paying taxes on it. "In a way we have
not seen since the Great Depression, the rich and the powerful are
adding every day to the bricks that make up the wall of their
seperation from everyone else"
If things keep going in this direction they can get a lot
worse. Edelman challenges us to realize that middle income folks have
a lot more in common with the poor than the ultra rich. There are
more of us than there are of them. If we can work together that's the
only way we can achieve a United States with jobs that provide
liveable incomes and adequate education to prepare for these jobs. It
will involve hard work and commitment. But it hasn't been the first
time in our nation's history this kind of effort has been called for.
If you have concerns about the fiscal direction the United
States is headed in, So Rich, So Poor is a really good book to read.
On a personal note, yesterday was a very good fathers day in our family.
A great big shout out goes out to all the dads who deserve their
special day.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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