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The American Way Of Poverty: How The Other Half Still Lives (2013)

by Sasha Abramsky(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1568587260 (ISBN13: 9781568587264)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Nation Books

review 1: I wanted this book to effect me. I wanted it to open my eyes not only to some of the causes of poverty, but also the people behind the poverty. I wanted it to provide bipartisan solutions AND give the reader something they could do today to help alleviate any of the suffering. But it didn't do any of these things for me. To be fair, I didn't completely finish the book. I went halfway. Perhaps the solutions were found at the end. I felt, however, that the author's biases and political opinions colored their entire view of the situation. In that way, credibility was lost and I became quickly annoyed with the finger pointing. The subject matter is important. I intend to find other books that will enlighten me as to how "the other half" lives.
review 2: That I woul... mored classify this book as demoralizing is not the fault of the author. Abramsky cogently and clearly makes that case for how "[a]s a community,, we strengthen ourselves when we find ways to protect our most vulnerable" (317). The verb "strengthen" is not merely abstract; it is tangible, verifiable, and material. The dispiriting effect of the book lies in the comprehensive portrait of its subject, which documents the depth and breadth of poverty in this country, poverty that has been made worse by the systematic erosion of the already-porous social safety net that took place at very moment the economy was tanking. From a standpoint of affordability, Abramsky's solutions, such as The Basic Income Guarantee or education endowments for every newborn, are not far-fetched or onerous in terms of tax increases. What makes these solutions depressing is knowing that until the U.S. has some shift in basic thinking, until we stop thinking of poverty as crime and punishment at once, his solutions have no chance of making it off the page. less

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