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| Michael Harrington (Wikipedia) |
He exposes the side of America that many Americans were unaware of - the poverty of the rural poor and that of the inner cities. The Other America states that there exists a culture of poverty that prevents those caught in its grip from being able to rise above their state. Harrington's analysis also shows that the poor are poor not because of any personal failure of their own but rather because this is what the general society produced. The programs instituted in 60's and 70's have helped significantly but poverty and hunger are still factors of life for tens of millions of Americans.
The Great Recession, the result of several decades of supply side economics and deregulation, has thrown millions of Americans into poverty. As of September 2011, there were 46.2 million poor - the greatest number in the 52 years these statistics have been kept.
The right have a tough time distinguishing cause from effect. To hear the arguments popular on the right, it is as though the victims of the culture of poverty are actually the perpetrators. Protect the wealth of the richest and attack those who would help those who need it most (e.g., "the food stamp President"). Insist on returning to the policies that led us into the current mess and ignore the Keynesian fiscal policies that kept us out of serious depression for many decades. Focus on the deficit when the real issue right now is jobs.
Backed by hundreds of millions of dollars from those that will benefit most and egged-on by the "fear and loathing" of the right wing media echo-chamber, these extremists have hijacked the national conversation . The "Third Way" politics of the center has been an inadequate response to the challenge posed by the radical right and their wealthy corporate backers.
Michael Harrington died in 1989. Since then there have been precious few progressive voices that challenge the conventional wisdom of the center and precious few centrists that challenge the lunacy of the right. And, after yesterday's primaries, there is one less progressive voice on the national stage. Dennis Kucinich was gerrymandered out of his district by Ohio's Republican-held legislature. He ran against a long term Democratic incumbent in another district and lost. I am truly sorry to see him leave Congress. Dennis will be missed - especially in the midst of the Iran debate as we hear the war hawks spitting out their timeless stupidities and as we slowly drift towards what would be another terrible and disastrous war in the Middle East.
Links:
The Lost Decade (NYT)
The Poverty of An Idea (Isserman, NYT)
Rereading Michael Harrington's The Other America (Dissent, 2002)
Note: An earlier version of this post sent you to an out of date website for the Michael Harrington Center for Democratic Values and Social Change.
