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Home » Opinion » Book review
Poor folks in America just can't win for losing
By Wan Lixin |
January 3, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A HUGE amount of polemics has been dedicated to global poverty, and the relief thereof, but few realize that the majority of the world's poor are destined to poverty no matter how hard they work.
David Shipler's "The Working Poor: Invisible in America" is an exhaustive study of the American poor left behind by the economic boom. In 2004 when the book was published, the boom had yet to turn to bust.
"While the United States has enjoyed unprecedented affluence, low-wage employees have been testing the American doctrine that hard work cures poverty," observes Shipler, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and correspondent for The New York Times (1966-1988).
In this National Book Critics' Circle Award nominee book, Shipler uses his experience as a journalist and marshals evidence to show that in the highly exploitative American economy there is little room for the unsophisticated and unskilled to "succeed."
Labeled the "working poor," these folks can't get ahead by taking advantage of the opportunities enjoyed by others.
"Poverty is like a bleeding wound. It weakens the defense. It lowers resistance. It attracts predators," Shipler concludes.
He blames a combination of factors "conspiring" to prevent the poor from achieving financial stability.
For instance, the poor may stretch their budgets by skimping on food, at the cost their children's health.
"The amount a family spends on food is elastic; it can be expanded or squeezed to fit whatever cash is left after the unyielding bills are paid. The result is an array of malnourished children in America," Shipler says.
He even invents a vicious circle to suggest that seemingly insignificant incidents can trigger a series of disasters.
A roach-infested house triggers a child's asthma, which necessitates a visit to hospital, which leads to steep medical bills, payment problems and a poor credit report. The mother is late for work, for she is unable to buy a car on credit, which forces the family to live in even poorer housing and eat lower quality food, further damaging their health and earning power.
This is a sophistic way to illustrate the point that poor decisions exacerbate grueling conditions, and this does not help substantiate the book's inquiry into the inner workings of poverty.
The author does display occasional flashes of insight, and it would be more enlightening if the author could sustain these efforts and resist the temptation to digress.
For instance, the author realizes that poverty is the inevitable result of competitive market forces.
"The economics of the garment industry, like the market forces that govern much American enterprise, work against decent wages at the bottom because competition is fierce, margins are razor thin and many employees feel vulnerable," the author says.
Poverty is essential to the perception of prosperity.
The very concept of poverty in its modern sense is a clever invention to stimulate nonstop consumption.
Many people on our planet lived in contentment for thousands of years, in total harmony with nature and each other, creating a rich legacy of culture.
Today this illustrious period is simply dismissed as an age of poverty.
The human beings today, assumed to be on a higher level of existence, no longer know contentment, but are constantly reminded of their privations.
The message from advertisers impinge on the consciousness of the poor and rich alike, and the media bombards them with images of luxury and glamour.
In the resulting orgies of consumption, everybody is kept very busy, and the trick is to label as "poor" anyone who dares not to be caught in the rush.
As consumption is at the very heart of modern capitalism societies, when consumption flags, all state establishments are thrown into a state of panic. All other considerations -- culture, values, the virtue of frugality, the environment -- pale into insignificance.
No event reveals more about the essence of capitalist human existence than Western reaction to the sudden economic slowdown: They are willing to do anything -- including waging a war -- to stimulate consumption.
David Shipler's "The Working Poor: Invisible in America" is an exhaustive study of the American poor left behind by the economic boom. In 2004 when the book was published, the boom had yet to turn to bust.
"While the United States has enjoyed unprecedented affluence, low-wage employees have been testing the American doctrine that hard work cures poverty," observes Shipler, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and correspondent for The New York Times (1966-1988).
In this National Book Critics' Circle Award nominee book, Shipler uses his experience as a journalist and marshals evidence to show that in the highly exploitative American economy there is little room for the unsophisticated and unskilled to "succeed."
Labeled the "working poor," these folks can't get ahead by taking advantage of the opportunities enjoyed by others.
"Poverty is like a bleeding wound. It weakens the defense. It lowers resistance. It attracts predators," Shipler concludes.
He blames a combination of factors "conspiring" to prevent the poor from achieving financial stability.
For instance, the poor may stretch their budgets by skimping on food, at the cost their children's health.
"The amount a family spends on food is elastic; it can be expanded or squeezed to fit whatever cash is left after the unyielding bills are paid. The result is an array of malnourished children in America," Shipler says.
He even invents a vicious circle to suggest that seemingly insignificant incidents can trigger a series of disasters.
A roach-infested house triggers a child's asthma, which necessitates a visit to hospital, which leads to steep medical bills, payment problems and a poor credit report. The mother is late for work, for she is unable to buy a car on credit, which forces the family to live in even poorer housing and eat lower quality food, further damaging their health and earning power.
This is a sophistic way to illustrate the point that poor decisions exacerbate grueling conditions, and this does not help substantiate the book's inquiry into the inner workings of poverty.
The author does display occasional flashes of insight, and it would be more enlightening if the author could sustain these efforts and resist the temptation to digress.
For instance, the author realizes that poverty is the inevitable result of competitive market forces.
"The economics of the garment industry, like the market forces that govern much American enterprise, work against decent wages at the bottom because competition is fierce, margins are razor thin and many employees feel vulnerable," the author says.
Poverty is essential to the perception of prosperity.
The very concept of poverty in its modern sense is a clever invention to stimulate nonstop consumption.
Many people on our planet lived in contentment for thousands of years, in total harmony with nature and each other, creating a rich legacy of culture.
Today this illustrious period is simply dismissed as an age of poverty.
The human beings today, assumed to be on a higher level of existence, no longer know contentment, but are constantly reminded of their privations.
The message from advertisers impinge on the consciousness of the poor and rich alike, and the media bombards them with images of luxury and glamour.
In the resulting orgies of consumption, everybody is kept very busy, and the trick is to label as "poor" anyone who dares not to be caught in the rush.
As consumption is at the very heart of modern capitalism societies, when consumption flags, all state establishments are thrown into a state of panic. All other considerations -- culture, values, the virtue of frugality, the environment -- pale into insignificance.
No event reveals more about the essence of capitalist human existence than Western reaction to the sudden economic slowdown: They are willing to do anything -- including waging a war -- to stimulate consumption.
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