Think About This... A Country Where There Is No More Poverty

By Vicki Bohlsen
President

I recently had the privilege of hearing Pulitzer prize-winning author Matthew Desmond speak about poverty in America. It was enlightening to hear him outline why he believes the United States – the richest country on earth – has more poverty than any advanced democracy. In essence, he believes poverty in America persists because the rest of us benefit from it.

I’ve really got you thinking, right? Analyze that last sentence again. Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. This means that those of us who are blessed to be financially secure are exploiting the poor, driving down their wages and, thus, forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit.

I agree with him that this is a morally urgent problem! Through his books – Evicted and Poverty, By America – Desmond calls on us all to imagine solutions and to become “poverty abolitionists.” You don’t want to be a passive part of the problem, do you?

After reading his analysis, I am convinced that I am a part of the issue. He says, “those that have amassed the most power and capital bear the most responsibility for America’s vast poverty: political elites who have utterly failed low-income Americans over the past half century; corporate bosses who have spent and schemed to prioritize profits over people; lobbyists blocking the will of the American people with self-serving interests; and property owners who have exiled the poor from entire cities and fueled the affordable housing crisis.”

Maybe you are not a political elite, business owner, lobbyist or property owner, but by misunderstanding how all these things contribute to the fact that 38 million people living in the U.S. can not even afford basic necessities, you may be unknowingly contributing to their basic lack of daily security. After reading his theories, I know there is more I can do.

Poverty, by America isn’t a hopeless read. In fact, at one point he recognizes how consequential the anti-poverty policies passed during the pandemic were. For instance, when COVID-19 spread across the U.S., it triggered a national eviction crisis, which led to the passage of a federal eviction moratorium: the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program. Because of this program – alongside stimulus checks, generous unemployment benefits, expanded Child Tax Credit, and other forms of relief – poverty did not increase during the worst economic downturn in nearly a century. Instead, it actually fell.

Desmond believes the end of poverty would bring a net gain in broad prosperity. I agree wholeheartedly and I want to live in a world where it is possible for all my neighbors to be free of shame and embarrassment and instead driven by their passions and aspirations.

I urge you to read Poverty, By America. It is logical and full of data that outlines things that each of us can do to help end poverty so we can all ascend to incredible and more equitable heights.

I know I don’t go to the polls with as much information on the candidates as I could; therefore, to start, I plan to get more educated overall for the next time I am casting my vote(s). I will embrace policies that foster goodwill and be suspicious of those that kindle resentment and prejudice. And, in the meantime, I am going to be an advocate for those with low incomes and help make them aware of the aid available.