Desmond's previous book, Evicted, looked at a pervasive social issue (the lack of affordable housing) through specific stories about entire communities. This book tackles the more general issue of poverty in a more journalistic way, with studies and statistics. Both of them ask the question "What if the problem of poverty is that it’s profitable to other people, including ourselves?"
Poverty, by America reminded me of a series on income inequality I read many years ago on Slate: looking at various possible explanations for poverty and debunking them with data. Desmond concisely summarizes the ways that we exploit the poor, in employment, housing, education, financial resources, and argues that none of these situations are inevitable. He demonstrates how rich Americans receive more government assistance than poor Americans, with the assistance to rich Americans less visible (due to tax breaks for example) so that we can pretend it doesn't exist.
Frankly, I didn't learn anything new from Poverty, by America. I'm fairly well read on the subjects of housing, gentrification, and the economies of poor neighborhoods, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has provided similar summaries of, for example, payday loans. I was disappointed with the conventional nature of Desmond's suggested remedies. After clearly showing the insidious and intertwined nature of the problem, he recommends the standard progressive response to individual areas (raise the minimum wage, encourage unionization, change zoning laws, regulate cash checking services). The specific examples of exploitation all flow from a comprehensive American worldview, so I wanted a more comprehensive proposed solution.
One major point he does make is that we could enact the necessary changes without increasing the federal budget, by redirecting assistance from rich folks to poor folks.
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