Matthew Desmond

I think a lot of us do benefit from poverty in ways we don't realize, right? We soak the poor in the labor market, the housing market. We continue to have a government that gives the most to families that need it the least by subsidizing affluence instead of fighting poverty. We continue to live in segregated lives.

I think a lot of us do benefit from poverty in ways we don't realize, right? We soak the poor in the labor market, the housing market. We continue to have a government that gives the most to families that need it the least by subsidizing affluence instead of fighting poverty. We continue to live in segregated lives.

A lot of us are connected to that problem, but it also means we're connected to the solution. I don't think we have to live with all this poverty in America.

A lot of us are connected to that problem, but it also means we're connected to the solution. I don't think we have to live with all this poverty in America.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So if you take everyone below the poverty line and lift them above it, that's about $177 billion a year. And it's a super rough estimate, but it gives us a sense of what we're talking about when we're talking about ending poverty, because that's so utterly attainable for us, right? That's less than 1% of our GDP.

So if you take everyone below the poverty line and lift them above it, that's about $177 billion a year. And it's a super rough estimate, but it gives us a sense of what we're talking about when we're talking about ending poverty, because that's so utterly attainable for us, right? That's less than 1% of our GDP.

So a study came out that showed that if the top 1% of Americans just paid all the taxes they owed, Just the ones they owed. Just the ones they owed and not got taxed at a higher rate, just paid what they owed, we would net about $175 billion a year. So we could just about close the poverty gap.

So a study came out that showed that if the top 1% of Americans just paid all the taxes they owed, Just the ones they owed. Just the ones they owed and not got taxed at a higher rate, just paid what they owed, we would net about $175 billion a year. So we could just about close the poverty gap.

Yeah, right, yeah.

Yeah, right, yeah.

So I think we have to recognize that the things that we are doing to fight poverty now really, really matter. Medicaid, food stamps, housing assistance. These are lifesavers. These programs are lifting millions of folks above the poverty line every year. We also have to recognize that we have to do more, because the problem's getting a lot worse.

So I think we have to recognize that the things that we are doing to fight poverty now really, really matter. Medicaid, food stamps, housing assistance. These are lifesavers. These programs are lifting millions of folks above the poverty line every year. We also have to recognize that we have to do more, because the problem's getting a lot worse.

So over the last 50 years, we've had wages stagnate for too many workers. We've had housing costs soar. We now have the lowest wages, some of the lowest wages in the industrialized world, in the richest country in the history of the world.

So over the last 50 years, we've had wages stagnate for too many workers. We've had housing costs soar. We now have the lowest wages, some of the lowest wages in the industrialized world, in the richest country in the history of the world.

They're not just higher. Like, our child poverty rate is double what it is in Canada, Germany, South Korea. You go to Europe, Europeans have this phrase, like, American-style deprivation.

They're not just higher. Like, our child poverty rate is double what it is in Canada, Germany, South Korea. You go to Europe, Europeans have this phrase, like, American-style deprivation.

By what percent? So the third rescue plan, the third rescue bill under Biden, signed it in March, right? We dropped child poverty by 44% in six months because of that intervention.

By what percent? So the third rescue plan, the third rescue bill under Biden, signed it in March, right? We dropped child poverty by 44% in six months because of that intervention.