American divorce?

The following op-ed essay from David Brooks concerning the growing divide among the American people and Charles Murray's important book, Coming Apart, is worth your time. 

After you've read it, tell me what you think.

The Great Divorce
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: January 30, 2012

I’ll be shocked if there’s another book this year as important as Charles Murray’s “Coming Apart.” I’ll be shocked if there’s another book that so compellingly describes the most important trends in American society.

Murray’s basic argument is not new, that America is dividing into a two-caste society. What’s impressive is the incredible data he produces to illustrate that trend and deepen our understanding of it.

His story starts in 1963. There was a gap between rich and poor then, but it wasn’t that big. A house in an upper-crust suburb cost only twice as much as the average new American home. The tippy-top luxury car, the Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, cost about $47,000 in 2010 dollars. That’s pricy, but nowhere near the price of the top luxury cars today.

More important, the income gaps did not lead to big behavior gaps. Roughly 98 percent of men between the ages of 30 and 49 were in the labor force, upper class and lower class alike. Only about 3 percent of white kids were born outside of marriage. The rates were similar, upper class and lower class.

Since then, America has polarized. The word “class” doesn’t even capture the divide Murray describes. You might say the country has bifurcated into different social tribes, with a tenuous common culture linking them.

The upper tribe is now segregated from the lower tribe. In 1963, rich people who lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan lived close to members of the middle class. Most adult Manhattanites who lived south of 96th Street back then hadn’t even completed high school. Today, almost all of Manhattan south of 96th Street is an upper-tribe enclave.

Today, Murray demonstrates, there is an archipelago of affluent enclaves clustered around the coastal cities, Chicago, Dallas and so on. If you’re born into one of them, you will probably go to college with people from one of the enclaves; you’ll marry someone from one of the enclaves; you’ll go off and live in one of the enclaves.

To read the entire essay click here.

Andrew Jackson and equal protection

President Andrew Jackson made the following remarks during a speech regarding his veto of the controversial national bank bill that had passed by the Congress in the summer of 1832.  Jackson's view of the proper role of government is worth consideration.

"It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.  Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government.  Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth cannot be produced by human institutions.  In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society--the farmers, mechanics, and laborers--who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their Government.  There are no necessary evils in government.  Its evils exist only in its abuses.  If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, as Heaven does it rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, ti would be an unqualified blessing."

from American Lion:  Andrew Jackson in the White House, by Jon Meacham, page 210.

Remembering the wind

Recently, during an important strategy session at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, Dr. Paul Jargowsky, a professor of public policy in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, told a story from his own, recent experience.  It seems that last weekend the good professor took a long and vigorous bike ride.  At the half way point he felt really strong.  He was enjoying a great ride and workout.  He felt extremely alive, like he could have peddled on for a long, long time. 

Then, he turned around. 

At that point the strong, autumn Texas wind hit him squarely in the face. 

No wonder the first half of the ride felt so good.  He enjoyed the benefit of a 25 mile per hour wind at this back!  Peddling home proved much more difficult than and not nearly as exhilarating as the first half of the ride. 

He concluded that most of us don't realize that we've been riding through life with a strong wind at our backs, while lots of others ride directly into a tough gale.  Our peddling has been so much easier.  Our advantage so very clear.  Our understanding so unaffected by our privilege. 

As he told his parable, everyone in the room grew silent.  We knew he was spot on right. 

[Jargowsky, an expert in urban poverty and inner city communities, authored the important book, Poverty and Place: Ghettos, Barrios and the American City (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1997)--Winner of the 1999 Prize for the Best Book in Urban Affairs, Urban Affairs Association; Named "One of the Outstanding Academic Books of 1997" by Choice Magazine.]

Justice for the poor discovered in relationships

The Hebrew prophets seem especially hard on those who deliberately exploit and abuse the poor and vulnerable through selfish greed or corruption of the law. The God of the Bible is not merely a God of charity but a God of justice who holds kings, rulers, judges, and employers accountable for how they treat widows, orphans, and workers over matters of land, labor, and capital. All this is rooted in the call to right relationships, which is at the heart of the biblical notion of justice itself. So reestablishing a right relationship to the poor is the beginning of ending poverty. (p. 105).

Jim Wallis

The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America

It's the neighborhood. . .

We've known it for a long time, just by observation.

Income status, overall well-being and prospects for success in life don't hinge on individual effort alone. The quality of life in a community, in a neighborhood outweigh factors related to the individual.

Malcolm Gladwell said about the same thing when he observed that a child raised in a good family residing in a bad neighborhood had less chance of success in life than did a child raised in a bad family in a good neighborhood.

Now comes a more definitive study conducted by the Pew Charitable Trusts focused on neighborhood impact on long term economic status of African Americans compared to white Americans.

What follows is a report published by The Washington Post (July 27, 2009).

Neighborhoods Key to Future Income, Study Finds
By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 27, 2009

Researchers have found that being raised in poor neighborhoods plays a major role in explaining why African American children from middle-income families are far more likely than white children to slip down the income ladder as adults.

The Pew Charitable Trusts Economic Mobility Project caused a stir two years ago by reporting that nearly half of African American children born to middle-class parents in the 1950s and '60s had fallen to a lower economic status as adults, a rate of downward mobility far higher than that for whites.

This week, Pew will release findings of a study that helps explain that economic fragility, pointing to the fact that middle-class blacks are far more likely than whites to live in high-poverty neighborhoods, which has a negative effect on even the better-off children raised there. The impact of neighborhoods is greater than other factors in children's backgrounds, Pew concludes.

Read the entire report here.

Reactions?

[Later this year and into next, I'll share details and progress on a significant endeavor to revitalize one inner city neighborhood in South Dallas that will involve a creative partnership. More soon!]

Nothing to fear but our own fear. . .

For some reason people find it very easy to fear "the poor."

I suppose my experiences with poor folks over the past 30 years contribute to my lack of patience and my weariness with such ignorance. And, just about every day I gather some bit of new evidence that confirms and deepens my perspective on this matter.

There is no reason to fear "the poor."

Recently, I received a note written by Judy Lawrence, the Properties Manager for the Central Dallas CDC. She is in charge of leasing up our various housing properties, including the big project at 511 N. Akard, CityWalk @Akard that includes 150 affordable housing units and 50 set aside for homeless persons.

As we move closer to opening date, Judy spends much of her day interviewing prospective tenants.

Her reflections provide the latest evidence that our fears are very misplaced:

I've had 3 interviews for CityWalk already this morning. Each interviewee impressed me in so many ways....two young women with awful experiences in their lives - just trying to turn their lives around and one older man, currently living in his truck who, when I mentioned the one community room that was set up as a rehearsal room, eyes lit up and excitement filled his face and resonated in his voice. He was a song and dance man. He still loves to sing and dance - sang at festivals throughout Texas and the prospect of being able to do that again brought tears to his eyes. His voice cracked as he talked about how much he'd love to do that again and he ended by saying...I don't know what to say to which I responded...it is what Rev. King said...keep hope alive. He just left the office and he thanked me for giving him hope. My response, no sir, it is you who give us hope and we need to translate that hope into a reality.

All three people had lost hope - that is what CityWalk is all about. Take the politics out of it. Take the rhetoric out of it. Simply listen to the heart and it says it all.

Thanks, Judy, I needed that!

We just don't need to waste another moment on fearing one another.
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Shane Claiborne's call to "dance"

A meaningful call to joy. . .

Checking the news. . .

Forgive the quality of the image here.

I captured it on the move with the camera in my phone.

The corner is just off Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago.

What you're looking at is a homeless man reading a newspaper he dug out of the trash can.

I noticed him as I approached the corner and as I waited for the traffic light to change. I was there long enough to observe him making his way through several pages of the front section of the newspaper. He was lost in his reading, sort of like me over my cereal in the morning.

It occurred to me to try to record the scene simply because of what it conveys about this one man, homeless persons in general and all of us who walk the streets of cities like Chicago.

Just because this man is among the poorest in his city doesn't mean he isn't interested in finding out what is going on. He couldn't afford to buy a paper, but he found a way to get what he felt he needed.

As I recall the scene with the help of this blurred imagine, it hits me again that we are all about the same when you get right down to it.

Thoughts?

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Wealth and spending in 2009

The Dallas Morning News published a story yesterday lifted from the Chicago Tribune entitled, "Rich hold tight to money" (Thursday, July 9, 2009, 13A).

As a result of the current economic crisis, "luxury spending" is down by 10% so far this year. Evidently, a proven indicator of our economy's resurgence can be found in the spending habits of our wealthy neighbors. According to the report, businesses selling luxury items shouldn't expect a "full recovery until 2012."

Here's an interesting fact: the richest 10% of us in this country account for 50% of all consumer spending. And, according to the Federal Reserve, consumer spending fuels 70% of the nation's GDP.

The report includes a brief analysis of the losses incurred by the mega-wealthy since the collapse of 2008. But then, it adds, "One school of thought is that the well-heeled shoppers are holding back because they are self-conscious about their wealth."

That's interesting, don't you think?

I know at CDM we continue to be grateful for our more affluent donors who continue to support our work. In a number of cases these donors have stepped forward to do even more than normal to help those who are hurting due to the faltering economy.

Other donors have disappeared.

Our mission and purpose leads us to work on poverty every day, regardless the state of the economy.

We don't talk much about wealth here.

The complexities of both poverty and wealth are clear to me.

One thing I know for certain, as different as rich and poor may be on the surface, we are all neighbors and our community will work best when we regard one another as such.

What are you ideas about wealth?
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Check this out. . .

Working in inner city communities among "the poor" makes one aware of the huge and widening gap that exists between people of privilege and people of disadvantage.

Clearly, we all love reading success stories of those relatively few individuals who make it across, who get out.

But success stories that are told because they are so exceptional, so unique, don't change the fundamentals of the reality. In fact, they prove it up by their very existence.

Check out what follows. One message here is certain: the challenges and the disparities will continue to grow worse.

Solutions?

We're not done with it. . .we're just not

I enjoyed an amazing experience attending Tulane University's graduate school back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was a great place to study, to think and to learn. I'll forever be grateful to the university for all that I received.

Several times a year I receive an issue of Tulanian, the alumni magazine. It is always worth reading.

The Winter 2009 issue arrived not long ago. It contained a story about Tim Wise (BA--Political Science 1990).

Wise has become an expert on "white privilege."

His bibliography is growing and he delivers scores of speeches every year on the subject of racism and the continuing reality of white advantage.

To learn more about Wise, visit his website.

To experience him, take the time to watch and listen. You'll be challenged, no matter what you think, I promise.

bell hooks. . .Class Matters

bell hooks writes powerful, challenging, disconcerting, revolutionary stuff.

"Class" issues occupy her thought and analysis. She makes it very, very clear that we are not comfortable talking about these "class matters" and that we are in deep denial about them.

What follows is a sample of her work from her book, Where We Stand: Class Matters (Routledge 2000).

Nowadays it is fashionable to talk race or gender; the uncool subject is class… In less than twenty years our nation has become a place where the rich truly rule… While greed has always been a part of American capitalism,it is only recently that it has set the standard for how we live and interact in everyday life. Our nation is becoming a class-segregated society where the plight of the poor is forgotten and the greed of the rich is morally tolerated and condoned. (p. vii)

Everywhere we turn in our daily lives in this nation we are confronted with the widening gap between rich and poor… Yet there is no organized class struggle, no daily in-your-face critique of capitalistic greed that stimulates thought and action – critique, reform, and revolution.

As a nation we have become passive, refusing to act responsibly toward the more than thirty-eight million citizens who live in poverty here and the working masses who labor long and hard but still have difficulty making ends meet. The rich are getting richer. And the poor are falling by the wayside. At times it seem no one cares. Citizens in the middle who live comfortable lives, luxurious lives in relation to the rest of the world, often fear that challenging classism will be their downfall, that simply by expressing concern for the poor they will end up like them, lacking the basic necessities of life. Defensively, they turn their backs on the poor and look to the rich for answers, convinced that the good life can exist only when there is material affluence. (pp. 1-2)

More and more, our nation is becoming class-segregated. The poor live with and among the poor – confined in gated communities without adequate shelter, food or health care – the victims of predatory greed. More and more poor communities all over the country look like war zones, with boarded-up bombed-out buildings, with either the evidence of gunfire everywhere of the vacant silence of unsatisfied hunger… No one safeguards the interests of citizens there; they are soon to be the victims of class genocide. This is the passive way our country confronts the poor and indigent, leaving them to die from street warfare, sugar, alcohol, and drug addiction, AIDS, and/or starvation. (p. 2)

We live in a society where the poor have no public voice. (p. 5)

Solidarity with the poor is the only path that can lead our nation back to a vision of community that can effectively challenge and eliminate violence and exploitation. It invites us to embrace an ethics of compassion and sharing that will renew a spirit of loving kindness and communion that can sustain and enable us to live in harmony with the whole world. (p. 49)

Wealth built and maintained by the exploitation and oppression of others undermines a democratic vision of prosperity. (p. 79)

…the widening gap between the rich and the poor causes pain far beyond economic suffering, it rends and breaks us psychologically, tearing us asunder, denying us the well-being that comes from recognizing our need for community and interdependency. (p. 158)

Questions pressed on me by my experiences in urban Dallas or "questions my friends ask me". . .

1. Is the United States willing to elect an African American to be its leader?

2. Does anyone really understand poverty?

3. How many of our local, state and national leaders understand the challenges facing poor people when it comes to. . .

. . .finding and paying for child care?

. . .accessing health care?

. . .housing costs and quality?

. . .diet and nutrition?

. . .education?

. . .public safety?

. . .work and wages?

. . .transportation?

. . .hope?

4. How is it that when wealthy, upper class people bend rules, commit fraud, take short cuts to their advantage, set up systems that make them mega rich and break laws meant to protect all of us from financial disaster, they receive giant loans on extremely favorable terms, as well as awards that the rest of us eventually have to pay for to "bail them out"?

5. How is that when poor folks make mistakes in their lives they suffer alone, go to jail and/or never really recover?

6. Why do the biggest champions of charity seldom understand even the simplest principles of justice and equity?

7. Why is my very small, monthly food stamp allotment considered "welfare" and the bailout of a poorly run, failing corporation considered good public policy?

8. How can there be so many churches, so many small group Bible studies in a city like this and at the same time so little understanding of poverty or regard for those who live in it?

9. Why are city code rules "enforced" differently from neighborhood to neighborhood across the community?

10. Why do slum lords and absentee owners have more rights when it comes to the condition of their run down, ratty properties than the rest of the people who are forced to live in or around such eyesores?

11. What does it say about a city when over 90% of the students in the public school system are eligible for free and reduced cost lunches every day? How does poverty effect a child's ability to learn?

12. Why is the vast majority of growth and development still headed north in this area?

13. Why is the bulk of the land still open for development south of the city?

14. Why does US Highway 175 (an inner city freeway) take a 90 degree turn before the Hatcher Street exit? Where else in the city would such a safety hazard be tolerated?

15. What are the ongoing health consequences of the old lead smelter on West Dallas residents?

16. Why isn't there more discussion in Dallas about workforce training and skills development/improvement?

17. How many churches, synagogues mosques and other faith communities could justify their tax exempt status in terms of value added to the communities in which they are located?

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"Snooty" is never pretty--see for yourself!

The subject of my post today (below) is featured in at WFAA-TV Channel 8 news report.

Watch it here.

Amazing! Why am I surprised?

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