While Lovely Warren campaigned for mayor, she made a compelling observation about the city that resonated with many voters. Her description of “two Rochesters”— a city divided by economic and political power — was one of the most important narratives of the mayoral election. Warren tapped into a sense of anger about wealth disparity.
But Warren could have been speaking to voters in dozens of cities across the country. According to a recent New York Times article, 22,000 children in New York City are homeless — the highest number since the Great Depression.
NYT writer Andrea Elliott tells what it’s like to be homeless through the eyes of young Dasani and her siblings in a city where extravagance is a main allures. It’s a gripping read about America’s growing underclass, the predatory nature of poverty, and how the city’s housing policy decisions under Michael Bloomberg have adversely impacted its most vulnerable citizens.
A second piece is a speech by David Simon, creator of The Wire television show, that appeared in The Guardian. Simon describes two Americas — a country so dominated by capitalism and free-market principles that it has lost sight of its responsibilities to a greater society.
“People are saying I don’t need anything but my own ability to earn a profit.” Simon said. “I’m not connected to society. I don’t care how the road got built, I don’t care where the firefighter comes from, I don’t care who educates the kids other than my kids. I am me. It’s the triumph of the self.”
Unbridled capitalism is rewarding some Americans handsomely and damaging others in its wake, Simon said. Even worse is a perception held by many that the wealthiest Americans are benefiting from the struggles and sacrifices of those at the bottom.
Simon notes that socialism has become a dirty word in American culture — the non-identical twin of communism. But many of the social and economic issues that we’re wrestling with today – economic disparity, concentrated wealth and political power, high unemployment, and a dysfunctional judicial system – are some of the very same problems that gave birth to European socialism.
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2013.
Do you really think we have “unbridled capitalism” in New York State? The highest-taxed and most business-unfriendly state in America? If there is anywhere that socialism should have solved income disparity it’s the tax-and-spend, wealth-redistributor and liberal utopia known as New York. So what is the solution to the problem? Should we “bridle” that pesky capitalism and try to get the population comfortable with the notion of “socialism”?
Karl: Yes
Karl,
If our paid-for politicians would stop sharing all that tax money with their corporate (capitalist) sponsors, we (the people … the taxpayers) would have plenty of cash to resolve a lot of social problems. NYS is VERY “business-friendly” … to the businesses who pay (kickbacks … not taxes) to play anyway.
God bless unbridled capitalism, and don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. It has not been tried in the USA for a very long time — much less in New York State.
Economic growth is the only way to improve material well-being, and for the last half-decade it’s been virtually non-existent thanks to Prof. Obama’s disastrous incompetence and extremist anti-growth ideology.
Meanwhile, politicians pour a TRILLION of your hard-earned dollars every year into welfare programs that accomplish nothing but to perpetuate poverty!
The only solution for these circumstances is for citizens to WISE UP!
If you want to know what unbridled capitalism can do, ask a Chinese worker who dreams of buying a Buick, whose parents dreamed of buying a refrigerator, and whose grandparents dreamed of not starving to death.
Oh, and ask her if she gives a fig about “inequality”.
Go to Youtube and search for Walter E. Williams, Thomas Sowell and Milton Freidman and their thoughts on capitalism, the free market and fairness
According to the report, the poverty rate for intact families in Monroe County is just over 3%. For deadbeat dad households with young children, it’s just under 52%.
Do you really need somebody to draw you a picture?