American Poverty Is Our Problem To Fix

At Liberty

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4.8 • 585 Ratings

🗓️ 21 September 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

“The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why?” That’s the question that underscores Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist Matthew Desmond’s new book, “Poverty, by America.” America is a country that purports equality as one of its highest values. Economic opportunity and the long touted American dream have driven millions to emigrate and settle here for centuries. In reality, however, gross economic inequality undergirds every facet of American life: education, the criminal legal system, health care, and housing. Affordable housing is foundational to American life. Because America is rife with poverty, it’s also rife with housing inequality. This is Desmond’s focus of study. Desmond’s work at Princeton University’s “Eviction Lab” and his 2016 book, “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” continue to shape the conversation about housing and poverty today. His new book takes his exploration one step further, seeking to examine and address the roots and responses to housing insecurity and its threat to American life. Today, we are running a conversation between Desmond and the ACLU’s Sandra Park, senior staff attorney for the Women’s Rights Project, who also works on these issues. Together, they’ll break down the complexities of American poverty and how poverty as a societal force threatens the accessibility of our civil rights and civil liberties.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the ACLU, this is at Liberty. I'm Kendall Seasmeyer, your host.
0:13.6	The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? That's the question
0:25.4	that underscores Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist Matthew Desmond's new book, Poverty by America.
0:34.2	America is a country that purports equality as one of its highest values.
0:40.0	Economic opportunity in the long-touted American dream have driven millions to emigrate and settle here for centuries.
0:49.4	In reality, however, gross economic inequality undergirds every facet of American life, education,
0:57.3	the criminal legal system, health care, and housing. Affordable housing is foundational to
1:04.7	American life. Because America is rife with poverty, so too it's rife with housing inequality. This is Matthew's
1:15.7	focus of study. Matthews work at Princeton's Eviction Lab and his 2016 book, Evicted, Poverty and
1:24.3	Profit in the American City, continues to shape the conversation about housing and
1:29.8	poverty today. His new book, Poverty by America, takes his exploration one step further, seeking to
1:39.1	examine and address the roots and responses to housing insecurity and its threat on American life.
1:46.0	Today, we are running a conversation between Matthew Desmond and the ACLU's very own
1:50.9	Sandra Park, a senior staff attorney for the Women's Rights Project, who also works on these
1:56.8	issues. Together, they'll break down the complexities of American poverty, and how poverty as a
2:03.2	societal force threatens the accessibility of our civil rights and civil liberties. With that,
2:09.5	I give you Sandra Park and Matthew Desmond. Hello, everyone. My name is Sandra Park. I'm a senior
2:15.9	staff attorney in the ACLU Women's Rights Project.
2:18.3	Today, I have the honor of welcoming and being in conversation with my friend and collaborator Matthew Desmond.
2:25.3	Matt is a professor of sociology at Princeton University and the founding director of the Eviction Lab,
2:31.3	as well as the author of the incredible Pulitzer Prize-winning
2:35.6	Evicted, Poverty and Profit in the American City. Our conversation today will focus on his latest book,
	...

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