Author: Matthew Desmond
Poverty, by America is a book by Matthew Desmond, a professor at Princeton University, that makes an argument that poverty exists not because the poor want to be poor, or because they are not doing enough not to be poor, but because of choices by those who are not poor and who, according to the author, benefit from poverty.
Desmond, thus, frames poverty as a systemic condition actively produced and maintained by the mainstream society, particularly the middle and upper classes, saying that poverty is generated and sustained.
Desmond’s central argument is that affluence and poverty are fundamentally linked because the prosperity of some depends on the deprivation of others. He then develops this argument by writing about exploitation of low-wage labor (workers being underpaid to keep them in poverty while supporting corporate and consumer comfort); housing inequality and rent extraction (the poor often pay a higher proportion of their income in rent, which subsidizes landlords and the housing market); opportunity hoarding (middle and upper classes benefit from tax breaks, exclusive zoning laws and access to better schools and neighborhoods), and political choices (policy decisions, from weakened labor protections to limited welfare support, both of which actively shape poverty outcomes).
The third argument was the most compelling one for me, particularly the part where the author talks about his own experiences of living in poor areas. There, he develops a narrative of community and how people helped one another (e.g., cleaning snow for the whole area, then eating breakfast together) and shared what little they had. As opposed to that, now that the author lives in a more affluent area, he says the sense of community is practically non-existent, and he makes an argument that the upper and middle classes are alone and entrenched in materialism because that is all they have, stuff, but no friends or community; people do not help one another and are generally distant. I was struck by this argument because I immediately remembered some areas in London where I lived. I also lived in a middle-class area in London, and I live in a middle-class area now that I am in the US. I ended up flabbergasted as to how true what the author says is. Indeed, when I was in poorer areas, I always had a sense of community. In Wood Green in London, I’ve got so much free food that I cannot even remember all of it. The same in Ilkley in London, where nice Indian ladies who owned off-license shops always made me eat some tasty cakes. In those multicultural areas, I was never alone, and when I received a package from Croatia, I brought those treats to others who had given me food before that. I haven’t had bad experiences in middle-class areas, before or now, but it is truly not the same. The author also makes an argument for breaking symbolic walls that separate us and merging communities to equalize opportunities and engage with one another more.
The book is also very nicely written. The writing style is the most compelling one I have seen in a long time, and the author backs up his claims with plenty of references, but not in an excessive way. There is a nice blend of studies and personal experiences in the book, and it truly reads well. Whether you agree with Desmond or not, you should read this book because it is, without doubt, one of the best (if not THE best) nonfiction books I’ve ever read.
Thank you for reading!