Poverty and Public Comment

https://www.amazon.com/Poverty-America-Matthew-Desmond/dp/0593239911

Here is an extensive quote from the book I borrowed from a friend and read in a few sittings.

"First, allow elites to hoard a resource like money or land. Second, pretend the arrangement is natural, unavoidable-better yet, ignore it altogether. Third, attempt to address social problems caused by the resource hoarding only with the scarce resources left over. So instead of making the rich pay their taxes, for instance, design a welfare state around the paltry budget you are left with when they don’t Fourth, fail. Fail to drive down the poverty rate. Fail to build more affordable housing. Fifth, claim this is the best we can do. Preface your comments by saying, ‘In a world of scarce resources…’. Blame government programs. Blame capitalism. Blame the other political party. Blame immigrants. Blame anyone you…”

I can’t summarize a book in a sentence, but basically the idea is that by suppressing wages, corporations gain greater benefits for their shareholders. Raising wages gives landlords leverage to raise rents, so wage gains don’t really “help”. The best predictor of success is sadly your zip code. The best way to improve your lot in life is to live in a better neighborhood. Period. Let me repeat that, “The best way to improve your lot in life is to live in a better neighborhood”

Another takeaway goes to the public comment piece of the title. Sometimes when we have a room full of people at city council and they speak on a topic (visitors, zoning, parking, permits, etc.) they think they are, in their numbers representative. That is a myth. The people who are not in the room also need representation. But their voice is suppressed for any myriad of reasons. Entire books have been written on this topic but I’m glad I read this by Desmond. I vow to be a voice, at times, for the voiceless. I will fail, but I will try. So, if you ask me who I’m representing I may just say “those who can’t be here to speak on their own behalf”. From our survey results and input I can at least tell you that it is students, renters, immigrants, young, old, etc. A bunch of people who don’t look like me or have what I have, but are no less deserving. Golden residents ALL. They will be in my mind.